![Hot water seller](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/27/Hot_water_seller.jpg)
Patna School of Painting (also Patna Qalaam, or Patna Kalam) is a style of Indian painting which existed in
Bihar
Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West Be ...
, India in the 18th and 19th centuries.
Patna Qalaam was the world's first independent school of painting which dealt exclusively with the commoner and their lifestyle which also helped Patna Kalam paintings gain in popularity. The Principal centers were
Patna
Patna (
), historically known as Pataliputra, is the capital and largest city of the state of Bihar in India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Patna had a population of 2.35 million, making it the 19th largest city in India. ...
,
Danapur
Danapur is a Indian satellite town and one of the 6 sub-divisions (Tehsil) in Patna district of Bihar state.[Arrah
Arrah (also transliterated as Ara) is a city and a municipal corporation in Bhojpur district, India, Bhojpur district (formerly known as Shahabad district) in the Indian state of Bihar. It is the headquarters of Bhojpur district, located near ...](_blank)
.
Origin
Patna Kalam is an off-shoot of
Mughal painting
Mughal painting is a style of painting on paper confined to miniature (illuminated manuscript), miniatures either as book illustrations or as single works to be kept in albums (muraqqa), from the territory of the Mughal Empire in South Asia. It e ...
. The Mughal style of painting matured in the regime of
Jahangir
Nur-ud-Din Muhammad Salim (30 August 1569 – 28 October 1627), known by his imperial name Jahangir (; ), was the fourth Mughal Emperor, who ruled from 1605 until he died in 1627. He was named after the Indian Sufi saint, Salim Chishti.
Ear ...
, and his period was considered the golden era of Mughal paintings, but during the rule of
Aurangzeb
Muhi al-Din Muhammad (; – 3 March 1707), commonly known as ( fa, , lit=Ornament of the Throne) and by his regnal title Alamgir ( fa, , translit=ʿĀlamgīr, lit=Conqueror of the World), was the sixth emperor of the Mughal Empire, ruling ...
in the late 17th and early 18th century, artisans faced mass prosecution and aversion in art and painting. The painters migrated from
Delhi
Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...
looking for shelter in different places. One such group moved eastward and landed in
Murshidabad
Murshidabad fa, مرشد آباد (, or ) is a historical city in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is located on the eastern bank of the Bhagirathi River, a distributary of the Ganges. It forms part of the Murshidabad district.
During ...
under the patronage of the
Nawab of Bengal
The Nawab of Bengal ( bn, বাংলার নবাব) was the hereditary ruler of Bengal Subah in Mughal India. In the early 18th-century, the Nawab of Bengal was the ''de facto'' independent ruler of the three regions of Bengal, Bihar, ...
and other local aristocrats, though British patrons were also important.
![Holi being played in the courtyard, ca 1795 painting](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6b/Holi_being_played_in_the_courtyard%2C_ca_1795_painting.jpg)
In the mid-18th century, after the fall of The Nawab of Bengal and the subsequent decline of Murshidabad, the artisans started moving to the next biggest city in the east,
Patna
Patna (
), historically known as Pataliputra, is the capital and largest city of the state of Bihar in India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Patna had a population of 2.35 million, making it the 19th largest city in India. ...
. In Patna they came under the patronage of local aristocracy and often
Indophile
Indomania or Indophilia refer to the special interest that India, Indians and their cultures and traditions have generated across the world, more specifically among the cultures and civilisations of the Indian subcontinent, as well those of t ...
scions of the early
East India Company
The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Southea ...
.
Style
Patna Kalam is regarded as an off-shoot of
Mughal painting
Mughal painting is a style of painting on paper confined to miniature (illuminated manuscript), miniatures either as book illustrations or as single works to be kept in albums (muraqqa), from the territory of the Mughal Empire in South Asia. It e ...
, with influences from Persian and the
Company painting
Company style, also known as Company painting or Patna painting (Hindi: ''kampani kalam'') is a term for a hybrid Indo-European style of paintings made in India by Indian artists, many of whom worked for European patrons in the East India Company ...
style developed for British customers.
The portraits can be clearly seen having colours and linings from Mughal style, and the shading can be seen to be adopted from the British style. Diverging from the Mughal and Persian style of wide and exquisitely decorated borders, Patna Kalam primarily focused on the subject of the painting.
Unlike Mughal paintings, which focused on royalty and court scenes, flag bearers of Patna Kalam were deeply influenced by the daily life of the common man, also a common subject in Company painting. Their main subjects were local festivals, ceremonies, bazaar scenes, local rulers, and domestic activities. The paintings were done on diverse surfaces such as paper, mica, and even ivory diskettes, that were used as brooches.
![Shiv Lal](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e1/Shiv_Lal.jpg)
A distinguishing characteristic of Patna Kalam is the lack of any landscape, foreground or background. Another characteristic was the development of the shading of solid forms. Patna Kalam paintings are painted straightway with the brush without marking with a pencil to delineate the contours of the picture and the procedure of painting is popularly known as 'Kajli Seahi.'
Patna Kalam Today
Some well-known painters of Patna Kalam were Sewak Ram, Hulas Lall, Shiv Lal, Shiva Dayal, Mahadeo Lal, and Ishwari Prasad Verma.
There is currently no one to carry on the tradition. Only three collections of Patna Kalam paintings exist in Bihar, one at the
Patna Museum
Patna Museum is the state museum of the Indian state of Bihar. Started on 3 April 1917 during the British Raj to house the historical artefacts found in the vicinity of Patna, it is in the style of Mughal and Rajput architecture and is known l ...
and others at Khuda Baksh Library, Patna, and
Patna University
Patna University is a public state university in Patna, Bihar, India. It was established on 1 October 1917 during the British Raj. It is the first university in Bihar and the seventh oldest university in the Indian subcontinent in the modern er ...
’s College of Arts and Crafts. The Patna Kalam flourished only as long as its Western patrons existed.
Gallery
File:Painting of the Golghar Granary (Patna style).JPG, Gol Ghar
The Golghar or Gol Ghar (गोलघर), ("Round House") is a large granary located to the west of the Gandhi Maidan in Patna, capital of Bihar state, India.
History
According to a contemporary inscription at its base, the Golghar in Patna ...
, 19th Century Painting
File:Durga Puja, 1809 watercolour painting in Patna Style.jpg, Durga Puja, 1809 watercolour painting in Patna Style
File:Golghar at Bankipur, near Patna, 1814-15.jpg, GolGhar, 19th Century Painting
File:City of Patna, on the River Ganges, 19th century.jpg, Patna along The Ganges
File:Snake Charmer, India, Patna School, 19th century, Honolulu Museum of Art.JPG, Snake charmer, 19th century
References
Further reading
*{{cite book , author=Kossak , Steven , title= ''Indian court painting, 16th-19th century.'' , location=New York , publisher=The Metropolitan Museum of Art , year=1997, isbn=0870997831 , url=http://libmma.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/compoundobject/collection/p15324coll10/id/12335/rec/74 (see index: p. 148-152)
Schools of Indian painting
Culture of Bihar
Patna