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royal court of the Vakataka dynasty. The painting Mogul painting combined Islamic, Hindu and
style used at one site, Ajanta, later spread from European elements into an original and expres-
India into Afghanistan and Central Asia. Figures sive style.
are realistically painted and firmly outlined. Another style of manuscript painting developed
Colour is used for shading and to suggest the in the courts of the Rajput rulers in northern
body’s solidity. The scenes seem to project out India. These works continued to follow older
from the painted wall. Hindu themes. But, they also adopted some
Manuscript Illustration Mogul traditions, such as portrait painting. Some
Mogul court-painters went to Rajput kingdoms in
Illustrated manuscripts were made in India
the Pahari hills when Mogul power declined in
beginning in the 1000’s. Early manuscripts had
the 1600’s. A Pahari school of manuscript
writing surfaces made from palm leaves. Some
illustration developed in the 1800’s that used
schools of manuscript illustration tried to imitate
pastel colors rather than the bright, intense colors
the complex colours and solidly modeled shapes
of earlier Rajput paintings.
of earlier wall paintings. In western India, how-
ever, a different style of manuscript painting SCIENCE IN ANCIENT INDIA
developed. There, manuscripts that told the life One of the oldest civilizations in the world, the
stories of saints of the Jain religion were used as Indian civilization has a strong tradition of
offerings in temples. Their illustrations had science and technology. Ancient India was a land
flattened shapes and areas of pure, bright colour. of sages and seers as well as a land of scholars
Illustrations made in this style stand out from the and scientists. Research has shown that from
making the best steel in the world to teaching the
text. They can be easily understood by the
viewer. world to count, India was actively contributing to
the field of science and technology centuries long
before modern laboratories were set up. Many
theories and techniques discovered by the
ancient Indians have created and strengthened
the fundamentals of modern science and tech-
nology. While some of these groundbreaking
contributions have been acknowledged, some
are still unknown to most.
Manuscript Illustration Here is a list of few contributions, made by
The Mogul (Mughal) dynasty came to power in ancient Indians to the world of science and
the 1500’s. It ruled much of India until the British technology, that will make you feel proud to be
took control in the 1850’s. Mogul rulers followed an Indian.
the Islamic faith. They brought Islamic artists 1. The Idea of Zero
from Iran to train talented Indian painters. The Little needs to be written about the mathe-
literary works commonly illustrated in the Islamic matical digit ‘zero’, one of the most impor-
world that were very different from the religious tant inventions of all time. Mathematician
texts illustrated by Indian artists. Many were Aryabhata was the first person to create a
myths or histories of kings. Akbar, one of the symbol for zero and it was through his
most famous Mogul rulers, encouraged painters efforts that mathematical operations like
to record the world around them. During his rule, addition and subtraction started using the
Social Science-6 101
