A princess seated in an interior, possibly Desavarati Ragin

“A Princess seated in an Interior, possibly Desavarati Ragini” is a beautiful work of Mughal art, attributable to Mihr Chand, the esteemed Awadhi Mughal artist who served in the court of Shuja ud-Daulah. The work depicts a woman, likely Desavarati Ragini as evidenced by the woman arching her back while raising her arms over her head, the common way in which Desavarati Ragini was depicted in Indian aesthetics. The woman is depicted beautifully, with sparkling golden ornaments, and a delicate sari with a sheer shawl. We see other women surrounding her, each similarly dressed, caught up in their own world. One woman is shown holding a fan, while another has a parrot in her hand. We see thus the luxury and hedonism of the Awadhi court embodied strikingly well by this work. Mihr Chand was a well known master in the Allahabad school of painting. He was trained in the school by his father, Ganga Ram, who was possibly a painter in Late Mughal Delhi. In 1759, he wound up in Allahabad, likely serving under the Mughal Prince Ali Gauhar. He later moved to Faizabad, which was held by Shua-ud-Daulah, the Nawab of Awadh, who was turning the city into a cultural center. Important here was his service as the head of the personal atelier of Antoine Polier, who was an EIC officer and chief engineer at the court of Shuja-ud-Daula.