2-738-926 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

Raja Bikram Singh of Guler (reigned 1661-85) Smoking, about 1680. An early example of portraiture in the western Himalayan court, this painting shows a regional king, with a distinctive pockmarked face, who has adopted hookah smoking, a courtly pleasure of his Mughal overlords. Raja Bikram Singh fought for the Mughal emperor Alamgir (reigned 1658-1707),so his accessories include Mughal weaponry, such as the long curved sword and piercing dagger. Both he and his attendant have Mughal sashes with lavishly embroidered flowering plants. The attendant is rendered smaller than the king, indicating his lesser importance. His trousers and tunic are tied under his arm in the Mughal style, and he holds a peacock-feather whisk over his king’s head—an ancient Indian emblem of nobility.