The Deeper Meaning of Jahangir Preferring a Sufi Shaikh to Kings
The artwork in question for this blog post, as per the full title, Jahangir Preferring a Sufi Shaikh to Kings , Bichitr, Jahangir, Mughal dynasty, 1615-1618, opaque watercolor, gold and ink on paper. The contents of the artwork include the floral border, the prominent, seated Jahangir, the four male figures on the left, both smaller and partially obscured by the borders of the piece, and the large hourglass that Jahangir sits upon. Both above and below the central image of the painting are phrases written in the Perso-Arabic script. There is also writing on the lower half of the hourglass. There are cupids, two on the bottom of the hourglass, clothed, and two above Jahangir, nude. This artwork is a representation of the goals that the Mughal court held, the most notable one being to uphold their legitimacy to rule the vast territories that had been conquered by previous emperors, and the power projection that the Emperor wields in international diplomacy....