Mansur, “Chameleon,” Mughal court at Lahore or Allahabad, ca. 1595–1600, opaque watercolor and ink on paper. Via The Epoch Times
![Turkey cock by Mansur, Mughal, c. 1612. Opaque watercolour and gold on paper. This painting of a North American turkey cock was done in 1612, when the Mughal emperor Jahangir received a consignment of exotic birds and animals. Jahangir wrote: “as these animals appeared to me to be very strange, I both described them and ordered that painters should draw them in the Jahangir-nama [“Book of Jahangir”, the emperor’s memoirs], so that the amazement that arose from hearing of them might be increased. One of these animals in body is larger than a peahen and smaller than a peacock. When it is in heat and displays itself, it spreads out its feathers like the peacock and dances about. Its beak and legs are like those of a cock. Its head and neck and the part under the throat are every minute of a different colour. When it is in heat it is quite red - one might say it had adorned itself with red coral - and after a while it becomes white in the same places and looks like cotton. It sometimes looks of a turquoise colour. Like a chameleon it constantly changes colour.” The painting, signed by the leading artist of the court Mansur, was preserved in an album, probably during the reign of Jahangir when the floral borders were added to it. Via V&A.](http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m3sfcfpDgd1r3bizmo1_500.jpg)
Painting from “Avatars - The Birds of India” by Walton Ford
Walton Ford, The Forsaken
Watercolour, gouache, pencil, and ink on paper, 1999
From Pancha Tantra
Nandan Ghiya, via Art Stage Singapore
Gustave Moreau (1826-1898), Study of Indian falconer on horseback. Notebook of Oriental Studies, graphite, watercolor and white gouache. Via Islamic Arts Magazine
India, Kota, 18th century | Preparatory Drawing of a Seated King | Opaque and transparent pigments on paper | Via Vivante Drawings
Young Durjan Sal Slays a Lion, attributed to the Kotah Master, Rajasthan, Kotah, c. 1735 (via tektrader49)
Maharana Fateh Singh’s hunting party crossing a river in a flood (1893). By the artist Shivalal
This spectacular panoramic vista, of a royal hunting party forging a flooded river, is a composition unprecedented in the history of Indian painting. It is a surprisingly modern work, possibly inspired by innovations in panoramic photography in which multiple views are composed into a single vision.
Shivalal specialized in hunting scenes in which the sequence of events is presented dramatically in an expansive landscape. One of the artist’s greatest strengths is the realistic, topographically accurate rendering of the landscape around Udaipur.
Rama’s Army crosses the ocean to Lanka, from the Ramcharitmanas of Tulsidas, Jodhpur, c. 1775. From the exhibition: Garden and Cosmos: the Royal Paintings of Jodhpur. Mehrangarh Museum Trust. Via Suite 101
Farrukh Beg, Sultan Ibrahim Adil Shah II riding his prized elephant, Atash Khan; Bijapur, Deccan, ca. 1600; opaque watercolor and gold on paper. Via Studio and Garden
Makhan in an enchanted garden, embraced by an ifrit. Illustration from an illuminated manuscript of Nizami’s Khamsa. Central Asia, dated1648, by an anonymous artist from Bukhara, with possible influences from Mughal painting. Via dic.academic.ru
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Mythical peacock with a woman’s head, c. 1750 (via thesandiegomuseumofartcollection)