The Deccan Sultanate, which made a distinguished mark in the history of South India, is all set to make a mark in the heart’s of art lovers of New York, USA.
Art lovers can have a glimpse of the magnificent era at an exhibition of paintings and artefacts of that period, that opened on April 20 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and would continue till July 27 under the title, “Sultans of Deccan, India 1500-1700: Opulence and Fantasy”.
“The museum is too far to visit, but for art passionate, it is a great opportunity to peep into the golden history of Deccan Sultanate”, said Rehaman Patel, faculty, Department of Studies in Visual Art, Gulbarga University. He said that though some 200 art works are being displaced, of them, 60 are of Bijapur (now Vijayapura) district.
Navina Najat Haider, the organiser of the exhibition of Indian-origin, mentioned that the artefacts on display are one’s which were taken away from India, pre- or post-Independence. Most of the objects belong to 16th and 19th century.
“Some of the paintings taken from Bijapur belonging to Ibrahim Adil Shah-II, are being displayed at the exhibition. One of the pictures, which depicts a hunting scene, is a masterpiece”, he said.
Other rare artefacts displayed are a 16th century dagger with cast copper hilt, chased, gilded and inlaid with rubies. Portraits of Sultan 'Ali 'Adil Shah of Bijapur 1558-80 show him wearing similar zoomorphic hilt daggers. In the ruby-studded hilt, a dragon whose tail wraps around the grip attacks a lion, which in turn is shown attacking a deer.
Expressing happiness that these valuable pieces of history are still available for public-viewing, Dr. Patel also expressed his sadness that these artefacts are not in India.
“These are our property which was stolen by foreigners years ago. The government must do something to bring them back. Just look at the irony of Indian art lovers that they have to visit far off places to view and research on our own history”, he deplored.
