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Folio from a ragamala: Nandana putra son of Malkos. Kurnool, circa 1750. Opaque watercolour and tooled gold on wasli. Folio 38.5 x 22.1cm; image 29.7 x 16.6cm
The inscription in Persian at the top transliterates as nand pansra haftam malkos, in English 'Nanda seventh son of Malkos'. The iconography does not conform to the established North India ragamala systems. This may be due to them having from the 18th century been commissioned for Deccani artists to paint who had no texts to refer to so instead guessed at what should be featured.
From the same ragamala series Sorath ragaputra of Dipak is published in 'The Mughal and Deccani Schools, Indian Miniature Painting from the Collection of Edwin Binney, 3rd', 1973, cat no. 165.
With thanks to the kindness of Tarun Pant for his translation; to Claudio Moscatelli for information that this series is thought to be from Kurnool, south of Hyderabad.
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Above: tooled gilt detail reflecting light
Images and text © Peter Blohm