Princes and Painters in Mughal Delhi, 1707–1857

Edited by William Dalrymple and Yuthika Sharma

Penguin Books India

224 pages, R2,499

The years between 1707 and 1857 saw the decline of the Mughal Empire and the emergence of the British East India Company as a formidable power. During this turbulent epoch, Delhi’s artists were increasingly employed by Company officials as well as the Mughal and regional courts, and thus became adept at improvising with a variety of techniques. Art historians are only now coming to recognise the richness and ingenuity of their work. Featuring essays by distinguished scholars, Princes and Painters is a stunning visual document of 18th- and 19th-century Delhi.