ASIA
South Asia:
The Nehru Gallery
South Asia, Room 41 at the V&A (click image for larger version)
The Nehru Gallery provides an evocative architectural setting for the display of textiles, paintings, jewellery, furniture and precious objects from South Asia, dating from the 16th to the 19th century.
The great artistic developments and opulence of the Mughal Empire are a focal point of the gallery and feature outstanding examples of jade carving and manuscript painting. Also on display are arts of the Rajput kingdoms, the Muslim sultanates of the Deccan and the Sikh courts. The gallery ends with the material produced during the period of British rule in India and includes beautiful painted textiles (chintzes) and ivory-inlaid furniture.
Highlights include Shah Jahan's jade cup, Tippo's tiger and Ranjit Singh's golden throne.
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The Indian Sub-continent: Land and Culture
The Indian subcontinent is a vast area the size of Europe, and is today divided into the separate countries of India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. Within the subcontinent itself, there is a wide variety of peoples, languages and religions.
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India Before the Mughals
Before the Mughal invasion of 1526, the north of the subcontinent was divided up into several independent Hindu and Muslim kingdoms. Many of these were culturally very sophisticated, and paintings and architecture from many different areas survive to illustrate this.
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The Age of the Mughals
The Mughals originated in Central Asia, and were descended from the Mongol ruler Jenghiz Khan and Timur (Tamburlaine), the great conqueror of Asia. They were immensely proud of their pedigree, and it was the memory of Timur's raids on India in the fourteenth century that spurred Babur on to invade.
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Life and Art in the Mughal Court
Most of the paintings and objects on display in the gallery are not concerned with the bare facts of history but with the way people lived at the Mughal court. These works of art, made for courtly patrons, have survived because they were highly prized and kept carefully over many years.
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The Regional Courts
In the 150 years between the beginning of the Mughal empire and its greatest extent, the Mughal armies had to overcome opposition from local rulers in many parts of India. An important and powerful community was that of the Rajputs of western India.
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The British in India
The British East India Company - named to distinguish it from British trade in the West Indies - was founded in 1599 mainly to counter Portuguese domination of the spice trade. As soon as the British set up trading settlements in India, however, they were impressed by the quality of the textiles they found there.
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Nehru Gallery Reading List
Nehru Gallery recommended reading.
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Nehru Trust for the Indian Collections at the V&A
The Nehru Trust for the Indian Collection at the Victoria and Albert Museum was constituted in India in conjunction with the setting up of the Nehru Gallery of Indian Art at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, England in November 1990. In order to make the collections at the Victoria and Albert Museum more generally accessible and to encourage the display, study and preservation of India's art and cultural heritage, the trust makes a number of awards annually to assist individual scholars and museum professionals to extend their study, research and training, or to participate in collaborative ventures in these fields.