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Manuscript Painting:
contd..

One of the major contributions to the art of painting in Assam was the Lava kusar yuddha. The manuscript is undated. Its pictorial style is developed better than that of the Citra bhagavata and those executed between 1683 and 1732 A.D.

The illustrious Ahom King, Svargadeo Rudra Sinha (1695-1713 A.D), commissioned the services from artists outside the Ahom kingdom, rehabilitated them in his court to constitute the royal atelier. One of the artists produced the paintings of the Gajendra -cintamani in 1713 A.D. Its text was again illustrated in 1734 A.D. under the title Hastividyarnava by Dilbar and Dosai. Another copy of the Hastividyarnava was illustrated during late 18th century by an unknown artist well-versed in the court palette. The manuscript is presently owned by Auniati-sattra in Majuli.


The region of the Ahom king, Svargadeo Siva Simha, was remarkable for his patronage towards the development of the court style of painting. He supported the rendering of as many as six manuscripts in line and colour. The manuscripts are the Sankhacudavadha (1726), Brihatushagita (1730), Hastividyarnava (1734), Dharmapurana ,(1735),Bhagavatapurana VI (1737) and Saila parva (1735-1744).

The emergence of Chaliha Bareghar sastta as the house of artists in the very vicinity of the Ahom capital at Gargaon enriched the satriya school with its contributions of Visnurana"s Ajamilopakhyananata (1715), Adhyatma-ramayana (a few folios have survived) and Purnakama"s Sundarakanda (1767) of the Adhyatma-ramayana. Purnakama"s Sundarakanda represents the grand assimilation not only of the local court and the sattriya styles but also several elements derived from different schools of Indian painting.

In 1769 the Moamariya rebels usurped the Ahom throne and caused the collapse of the court atelier. Chaos and restlessness continued to rule the society for several decades. A few artists of the court moved to some sattras where they resumed their work a new and produced the Udyogaparva, the Kirtana (1771) of Checha sattra and the Sanskrit Bhagavata purana VI (1785) of Karchung sattra. During the period of unrest in the Ahom territory, the Darrang court under Krishnanarayana patronized and supported a few artists of the sattriya tradition for rendering painting in the paper of the Bhagavata purana, VIII (1804), Tirtha-Kaumudi and Anadi Patana. The style of these manuscripts present slovenly draughtmanship and an inferior palette alongwith folk treatment of forms.

The 19th century, which was also a period of unrest particularly its first few decades, contributed a lot and enriched the repertoire of Assamese painting. The illustrated Kirtana (1800) of Nogora-sattra, the Parijata harana (1836) of Ai-bheti Na-sattra, the Bhakti pradipa and Nimi nava siddha samvada (1817) of Samaguri-sattra are some of the examples worthmentioning. In 1836 the Ahom prince, Purandar Simha, whom the British company placed on the throne for a very short period after the fall of the Ahom kingdom during the Burmese aggression, commissioned the services of one Durgaram Betha for illumination work in the folios of the Brahmavaivarta purana (now in the British library,London). It was a masterpiece of the 19th century. According to J.P. Losty, "this is the last of the great ones, in which the native Assamese style has triumphantly reasserted itself over the desiccated Ahom court style" (Marg.Vol.XXXVI,No.1,p.27).






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