Portrait of Raja Jagat Singh of Nurpur (reigned 1618–46), by Bichitr, probably 1619
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Portrait of Raja Jagat Singh of Nurpur (reigned 1618–46)

attributed to Bichitr (Indian, active c. 1615–50)

probably 1619

Medium
Gum tempera and gold on paper
Classification
Painting
Dimensions
Painting only: 19.1 x 11.6 cm (7 1/2 x 4 9/16 in.); Page: 41 x 32.7 cm (16 1/8 x 12 7/8 in.)
Culture
Mughal India, Court of Jahangir (reigned 1605 - 27), possibly Lahore
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art, Indian and Southeast Asian Art
Credit line
Gift in honor of Madeline Neves Clapp; Gift of Mrs. Henry White Cannon by exchange; Bequest of Louise T. Cooper; Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund; From the Catherine and Ralph Benkaim Collection
Rights
Public domain (CC0), as the museum states it.
Who can see it
Tweens profiles and older: its subjects are known and suit older children. How works are placed

View at the Cleveland Museum of Art

About this work

Jagat Singh was a prince from a small kingdom in the western Himalayan foothills who grew up at the imperial Mughal court of Jahangir and his queen Nur Jahan. He was given the title of prince in 1619, and this painting may commemorate that event. Very few nobles from the hill states had positions at the Mughal court at this time, so his portrait is a rare imperial Mughal painting.

The emperor and his favorite wife frequently visited Nurpur, named “City of Light” in their honor, to hunt and relax, and Prince Jagat Singh was a favorite of the queen. She interceded on his behalf in 1624, when he joined a rebellion to dethrone her husband.