Akbar

Khord, Bandi and Tulsi's composite creation of Akbar attempts to depict the construction of a monumental building. The folio reflects workers cutting timber, carrying materials, digging foundations and erecting architectural structures under the supervision of an Mughal sepoy. Thus, the miniature on first instance seems like an aesthetically pleasing capture of common life under Mughal rule. But on deeper thought, we unveil a political technology that transforms imperial power into a visible and naturalised order. The composition is organised around hierarchy. The labouring bodies occupy the lower and middle registers, engaged in strenuous physical work. Supervisors, courtiers, and administrators stand above them, directing activity. The angular hold of the artist, alongside the monumnetalisation thereafter itself becomes a visual metaphor for sovereignty. The identity of the labouring bodies is swept to the margins. Such monumentalisation folios in Akbarnama converts extraction into cooperation. Conflict, coercion, and unequal access to wealth are absent. The image therefore presents the imperial governance as benevolent, universally productive and to an extent, necessary.