Stylistic Analysis of the Margin Decoration in the Mughal Manuscripts:An Overview of the Aesthetic Legacy of the Great Mughals

Mughal court painting style of manuscript illumination was a combination of intra-cultural coordination within the Subcontinent and retained an aspirational element for contemporary and later artistic communities. Mughal manuscripts usually consist of historical scenes, royal portraiture, allegorical descriptions, hunting scenes, court scenes, genre scenes, animals and studies from the nature. This study attempts to understand the stylistic approach of the Margin decoration in the Mughal Manuscripts. The gist of this research is to access the aesthetic legacy of the Mughals through their manuscript production and style. It is being studied by the stylistic analysis of a folio by Shah Jahan’s period from the collection of Lahore Museum. The specific folio has been chosen due to its marginal decoration elements. Fourteen species of different flowers have been composed to illuminate the marginal area. Marginal illumination was practiced in many areas of the world like Central Asia, Europe, China and Japan etc. Margin decoration in Mughal art started to be practiced after the mid-sixteenth Century and achieved the highest level of mastery by the time of Shah Jahan’s reign. The conclusion evaluates that the major stylistic attributions of the Mughal marginal decorations can be categorized as refined, intricate, lyrical and naturalistic. It further reveals that marginal decorations were the individual iconic character of the Mughal style of illumination in comparison with the European and Persian styles. APA format has been adopted for citation of this research paper.