The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of March 28, 2024

Portrait of Suraj Singh Rathor, Raja of Marwar and Maternal Uncle of Shah Jahan: A Page from the Prince Khurram Album

Portrait of Suraj Singh Rathor, Raja of Marwar and Maternal Uncle of Shah Jahan: A Page from the Prince Khurram Album

c. 1600
Location: not on view

Did You Know?

Emperor Shah Jahan himself wrote the label inscription under the painting.

Description

This true-to-life portrait depicts the maternal uncle of the Mughal prince Khurram (1592-1658), who would later become the emperor Shah Jahan. His clothing and accessories-especially the six-pointed wrapped tunic made of prized translucent muslin-reveal his wealth and status. The artist’s skillful brushwork conveys the varied textures of the fabrics and sensitively renders his patient, somewhat weary expression. Prince Khurram selected this painting for inclusion in an album he assembled in 1612. Suraj Singh was a Hindu prince from Marwar, a Rajput kingdom under the auspices of the Mughal empire. His sister, a Marwar princess, was the third wife of the Mughal emperor Jahangir. Intermarriage with Hindu families is one example of the ecumenism of the early Mughal emperors, who adhered to a liberal form of Islam. Suraj Singh died of natural causes while on a military campaign with Prince Khurram in the Deccan in 1619.
  • Glynn, Catherine Ann. "The Painting Tradition in Jodhpur." In Peacock in the Desert: The Royal Arts of Jodhpur, India. Karni Jasol, et al., 136-157. Houston: The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, 2018. Reproduced: P. 139, fig. 6.2
  • The Cleveland Museum of Art (7/31/2016-10/23/2016); Art and Stories from Mughal India, cat. 32, p. 230.
    Main Asian Rotation (Gallery 245); July 2, 2014 -
    "Art of the Indian Subcontinent from Los Angeles Collections," University of California Los Angeles (1968).
  • {{cite web|title=Portrait of Suraj Singh Rathor, Raja of Marwar and Maternal Uncle of Shah Jahan: A Page from the Prince Khurram Album|url=false|author=Bishandas|year=c. 1600|access-date=28 March 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2013.313