Prelims 2019 · Q17
EasyWho among the following Mughal Emperors shifted emphasis from illustrated manuscripts to album and individual portrait?
Answer & explanation
Answer: (c) Jahangir
Akbar's large workshop mass-produced illustrated manuscripts such as the Hamzanama and Razmnama. Jahangir preferred fewer, finer works by a single master, and under him individual paintings and portraits mounted in albums (muraqqas) became the fashion.
- ✓ (c) Jahangir's atelier favoured single high-quality paintings by one master artist; muraqqas, albums of individual paintings with gold-illuminated margins, became popular under his patronage.
- ✗ (b) Akbar formalised Mughal painting through a big atelier that mass-produced illustrated manuscripts of political and religious importance.
- ✗ (d) Shah Jahan continued album-making (his reign added ornate borders to earlier album paintings), but the shift itself came under Jahangir.
Remember · Akbar = illustrated manuscripts from a big workshop; Jahangir = albums (muraqqa), portraits and naturalistic studies by single masters like Abul Hasan and Mansur.
📘 Read it in NCERT: Class 12 An Introduction to Indian Art, Part II, Ch 3 (practise this chapter) · Class 12 An Introduction to Indian Art, Part II, Ch 3 (practise this chapter)
Sources
- NCERT Class 12 · An Introduction to Indian Art, Part II, Chapter 3 “In contrast to the Akbar's atelier, where the works were mass produced, Jahangir's atelier gave preference to a lesser number and better quality of artworks produced by a single master artist.”
- NCERT Class 12 · An Introduction to Indian Art, Part II, Chapter 3 “in albums became popular under Jahangir's patronage. The margins of the paintings were highly illuminated in gold and embellished with flora, fauna, and often poised human figures.”
Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2019, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink ·