Jewelry In Mughal India

Mughal jewelry in world has been equivalent to splendor herself . Across faiths and classes , gems and jewels were an integral aspect of daily life; thry adorned beautify every part of the body in both secular and sacred spheres. However, jewellery was also part of an entire ensemble – it was not just something that was worn. Mughal India was made up of a mass of splendid paraphernalia – art, architecture, furniture, arms and armour, and its jewellery is a manifestation of all of those things that reflect the richness .
Mughal emperors, as absolute rulers at the centre of court , are of vital importance to an understanding of the Mughal tradition of wearing jewelry. The emperor was the greatest patron for jewellery (up until the fall

1628-58), from his father Jahangir (r. 1556-1605). The blade is inscribed in inlaid gold with one of Shah Jahan’s titles, sahib qiran-I thani (Second Lord of the Conjunction), and an image of an umbrella, a royal motif. The hilt, cut from a single block of jade, is carved with the curly head of a young boy, possibly inspired by one of the cherubs depicted in the allegorical paintings of the Jahangir period. The dagger is one of the most valuable pieces in the Al-Thani Collection. As Dr Jaffer explains, ‘The high quality of the jade carving and our knowledge of the history of piece make it a real rarity’. The dagger is depicted in a number of portrait miniatures of Shah Jahan, hanging from his belt on a long cord. It is a rare example of a well-documented imperial possession owned by at least two Mughal

The Mughals, conquerors from Central Asia, brought with them both the technical knowledge of gem-setting and in order to cement their recently acquired power through extravagant displays of wealth. Precious metals and gems became a medium to denote the Mughals’ divine right to rule and to indicate their unsurpassable social status. To this end they passed various Sumptuary Laws, decrees that limited the wearing of jewellery to the ruling classes, cementing jewellery’s high status in Indian society. Identification of early Mughal jewellery is based on evidence in Mughal miniature paintings Portrait miniatures, the highest Imperial art form, were often commissioned explicitly to record the jewellery that they depict. They attest to an item’s importance–it provided the idea of what kind of jewelry was worn in what context. The pictures illuminate the jewellery style of the early Mughal period and provide a setting and a narrative for each and every piece, and a further layer of information about the material culture, craftsmanship, and taste at the imperial