The Cleveland Museum of Art
Collection Online as of April 19, 2024
Raja Sansar Chand Attacking Kangra Fort
1782
Painting: 81.3 x 264 cm (32 x 103 15/16 in.)
Location: not on view
Did You Know?
The king is 17 years old, beardless, riding a dark brown steed in front of the camel at the far right.Description
Kangra is a small kingdom in the western Himalayan foothills that was historically ruled by one dynasty of Hindu kings since at least the AD 400s. The siege depicted in this painting shows the decisive battle when Sansar Chand (1765–1823), a descendant of the Kangra royal family, fought to retake his ancestral kingdom from the Mughals who controlled the territory since 1620. He succeeded in definitively ousting the Mughals the following year, in 1783, with the help of the Sikhs.The leftmost panel shows the residents of Kangra fleeing the conflict with their belongings on their heads to the safety of the walled fortress at the far left, from the ramparts of which cannon are being fired. Sansar Chand’s forces advance from the right. The main temple, built of gray stone, is in the middle of the composition, marked by red banners.
- ?-1976Purchased January 1976 from Charles Ewart, London, by Catherine Glynn and Ralph Benkaim2018-The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH1976-2018Catherine Glynn Benkaim and Barbara Timmer, Beverly Hills, CA, partial sale and gift to the Cleveland Museum of Art
- Martial Art of India (Indian Painting rotation). The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (February 11-August 21, 2022).
- {{cite web|title=Raja Sansar Chand Attacking Kangra Fort|url=false|author=|year=1782|access-date=19 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}
Source URL:
https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2018.120