Akhairaj with Courtiers and Musicians in a Garden

Object Details

• Court

  Marwar Court

• School/Tradition

  Rajput school

• Description

  Akhairaj, a minor noble in the state of Jodhpur (Marwar), is sitting on an English-style chair in an unidentified garden, listening to musicians and enjoying flowers. Below, a servant gathers fruit, and a sadhu sits by a fire in a corner of the garden, near a well. Red border.

• Marks

  Verso: Five and a half lines of writing at the top. Below is a circular stamp in purple ink: around the edge: KUMAR SANGRAM SINGH x OF NAWAL GARH x. In the middle: Painting No. Below the stamp: S Singh [written in blue ink]; 35 [written in pencil and circled]; Title: Raja Akahi Raj [stamped and written in blue ink]; School: Jodhpur [stamped and written in blue ink]; Artist: x [stamped and written in blue ink].

• Inscriptions

  1. (From the Seller's Invoice, September 1999) Five line inscription in nagari characters on reverse.

  2. (Milo C. Beach, 6 December 1999) Akhairaj and other courtiers are identified by an inscription on the reverse. (Details to follow after translation of inscription.)

• Label

  This painting is in an early phase of the style that became general at the royal court of Jodhpur, as well as in outlying dependencies.

  Following the death of Maharaja Vijay Singh of Jodhpur in 1793, a succession battle took place that centered on Bhim Singh and Man Singh, two grandsons (but by different fathers) of the deceased ruler. Bakshi Singhvi Akhairaj was a partisan of Bhim Singh, whom he helped to place on the throne on July 20, 1793. During the next years, he led several campaigns aganst the continually rebellious Man Singh, whose side he joined in 1798. Captured and imprisoned by Bhim Singh, he had again joined Man Singh when the Maharaja died in 1803, and helped to insure Man Singh's succession--not difficult, since Man Singh was the only surviving heir in the family. As the Marathas became more powerful in the area, Akhairaj joined a coup d'etat to prevent Man Singh's intended alliance with Bapuji Scindia, and forced Man Singh's abdication in favor of his son, the yuvraj Chattra Singh. Eventually the British negotiated a treaty with Jodhpur, signed on January 6, 1818, that ended Scindia trouble-making, replacing the tributes demanded by the Marathas with tribute to the British. Because of the English chair, this painting probably post-dated that alliance.

• Provenance

  From at least 1967

  Kumar Sangram Singh of Nawalgarh, Jaipur, from at least 1967 [1]

  Stuart Cary Welch, Cambridge, Massachusetts and Warner, New Hampshire [2]

  To 1999

  Terence McInerney Fine Arts Ltd., New York to 1999

  From 1999

  Freer Gallery of Art, purchased from Terence McInerney Fine Arts Ltd. in 1999

  Notes:

  [1] In 1967, the object was seen and photographed by Milo C. Beach in the collection of Kumar Sangram Singh; his seal is on the reverse (according to Curatorial Note 4, Milo C. Beach, December 6, 1999, in the object record).

  [2] The object was acquired soon after 1967 by S.C. Welch, and sold through Colnaghi's (according to Curatorial Note 4, Milo C. Beach, December 6, 1999, in the object record).

• Collection

  Freer Gallery of Art Collection

• Exhibition History

  East of Eden: Gardens in Asian Art (February 24 to May 13, 2007)

• Previous custodian or owner

  Kumar Sangram Singh (Thakur of Nawalgarh)

  Stuart Cary Welch (1928-2008)

  Terence McInerney Fine Arts, Ltd. (active 1990-2013)

• Origin

  Jodhpur, Rajasthan state, Marwar, India

• Credit Line

  Purchase — Charles Lang Freer Endowment

• Type

  Painting

• Restrictions and Rights

  Usage Conditions Apply

  There are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page.

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1820s

• Name

  Singh, Kumar Sangram, McInerney, Terence, Welch, Stuart Cary

• Place

  Rajasthan state, Marwar, Jodhpur, India

• Topic

  Musical instruments, South Asian and Himalayan Art, Art, Fruit, Music, Rathore dynasty (1459 - 1947), Gardens, Sadhu, Lute

• Culture

  Himalayan peoples, South Asians

• Object Type

  Paintings