An Indian kingdom in all its richness
The watercolour Maharana Sangram Singh II and Maharaja Sawai Jai
Singh of Jaipur Feasting in Camp is attributed to Jai Ram (1732).
The luxurious lifestyle of the maharanas is mirrored in an ornate collection, writes Steve Meacham.
It's a scene of opulence and grandeur, but also one of serenity and spiritual devotion. Two of the greatest warlords of 18th-century Rajaputana - modern Rajasthan - feast in a magnificent crimson-tented camp on a summer's day. They're surrounded by their courtesans and their generals, their musicians and their chefs, their horses and their elephants.
Look more closely, however, and you'll see that one of the leaders seated under the canopy is more exalted than the other. On the left is the Maharaja of Jaipur, ruler of one of the greatest kingdoms in all India. But he - like all maharajas of Rajaputana - has to defer to the man on the right, the Maharana of Mewar, hierarchical head of this fiercely proud Hindu region.
Alone of the Rajput kingdoms, Mewar refused to succumb to any invader, neither Muslim moghuls of the 13th century nor the Christians seeking to establish their British Raj 500 years later. Mewar chieftains became the symbol of Hindu culture and independence - taking the title maharana (meaning great warrior) to distinguish them from mere maharajas (great rulers).
Even if you've never heard of the maharanas or Mewar, you'll have heard of their capital city, Udaipur, and seen pictures of their Lake Palace, one of the most romantic buildings in the world.
Today it is a luxury hotel, a place for honeymooners - a potent reminder that, since independence in 1947, India has been ruled by democratically elected politicians, not medieval monarchs.
However, the culture of the maharanas still flourishes. The direct descendant of the man in this painting - the modern Maharana of Mewar, His Highness Arvind Singh Mewar - is the 76th member of his family to take the title. Legend has it that, like his forebears, he is descended from the Sun God through Lav, son of Rama, seventh incarnation of Vishnu (hence the glowing nimbus shown around the Maharana's head in the picture).
Fanciful, perhaps. But what is indisputably true is that he is the living embodiment of the oldest royal dynasty in the world. By comparison, the Windsors are social upstarts.
From tomorrow you can experience the majesty that was the court of maharanas in a new exhibition, Rajput: Sons of Kings, at the Art Gallery of NSW. In all, 76 paintings and drawings from the National Gallery of Victoria will be on display, most of them purchased in 1980 from the Mewar royal collection with additions from other Rajput courts such as Bikaner, Marwar (Jodhpur), Jaipur and Kotah.
"This is a rich culture which has captured the imagination [of travellers] forever," says Jackie Menzies, head curator of Asian art at the gallery.
"A culture full of romantic stories, of princesses being killed, of warriors and their battles, and of fabulous palaces."
Most of the paintings - in the traditional medium, opaque watercolour and gold paint on paper - depict court ritual. Some show political meetings and spiritual processions, with the Rajput leaders surrounded by their advisers. Others show them at play - hunting tigers, watching elephant fights, being entertained by dancing girls. The Rajputs (meaning sons of kings) had a word for it: tamasha, as in "commotion" or "show" - an expression which captures the joy and the ostentation of the maharanas' exuberant and colourful lifestyle.
Many of the court scenes have a false sense of perspective, so that the full glory of the Moghul-influenced palace architecture can be shown in the painting as well as the regalia and pomp of the brightly clad figures.
Some of the more intimate portraits show a more private side of the Indian royals, particularly the princesses surrounded by their trinkets and perfumes. But beware. They could be a ferocious bunch, these Mewar women. It is said that when one Maharaja of Jodhpur returned to his castle after fighting valiantly but unsuccessfully against his kingdom's enemies, he found the gates firmly closed.
His wife, a princess from the House of Mewar, told him in no uncertain terms that he should have chosen a glorious death rather than the humiliation of life.
Rajput: Sons of Kings is at the Art Gallery of NSW from tomorrow until September 4.