Painting of a princess and ladies hunting on horseback, opaque watercolour and gold on paper, Hyderabad, ca. 1730

Painting in opaque watercolour on paper, a princess and her ladies out hunting on horseback. Two male retainers assist them on foot. The princess, followed by two of her ladies, is chasing a blackbuck and two does. Another lady on horseback appears on the upper right of the painting with a hawk on her fist, hunting birds. She is dressed in a very similar way to the princess though she lacks the plume on her turban, and is riding a horse of the same colour. Three hares are running away from the male retainers in the foreground. The hills are green and purple in colour and a river runs at the bottom of the scene. The painting is on a decorated album page with panels from a book of Ruba'iyat above and below it.

A princess and ladies hunting on horseback.

This unusual and energetic painting shows a princess and women hunting on horseback. The princess is identified by an inscription as the daughter of 'Ali 'Adil Shah, ruler of Bijapur (presumably the second of that name, who reigned 1656-1672). Bijapur was the capital of one of the Sultanates of the Deccan in southern India, until absorbed into the Mughal empire in 1686. The princess is chasing a black buck and two does. Hares run from two male servants in the foreground. There are panels of verse above and below the painting, and on the back there is a drawing showing an ascetic with disciples, mounted with two sheets of verse.

IS.293-1955