Paintings of Razmnama: In the Birla Academy of Art & Culture, Kolkata: The Book of War

Razmnama, The Book of War is the Persian translation of one of the great Hindu epics of India, the Mahabharata. The Mughal emperor Akbar took a personal interest in the translation project and a lavishly illustrated copy was prepared for his personal use. Of the three copies made, the three-volume Razmnama in the Birla Academy of Art and Culture, Kolkata, is the only copy that is complete and has 81 miniatures, and text that bears the name of the scribe and the date of completion-1605. The paintings combine the finest elements of the Mughal court style with the narrative style of storytelling. The painters chose some of the most popular stories of the Mahabharata and incorporated the different stages of narrative details within the frame of a single image. The 1605 Razmnama is a key document for the study of Mughal painting at the beginning of the seventeenth century.