Farrukh Chela
Anand Krishna (Author)
(fl c. 1580-c. 1604). Indian miniature painter. Not to be confused with the contemporary master Farrukh Beg, he was a middle-rank, prolific painter who contributed to most of the major illustrated manuscripts produced for the Mughal emperor Akbar (reg 1556-1605), starting from the Dārābnāma (‘Story of Darab’; c. 1580; London, BL, OR 4615) and ending with the Akbarnāma (‘History of Akbar’; c. 1590; London, V&A, IS.2:1896). His personal style can be detected in certain leaves of the Hamzanāma (‘Tales of Hamza’). He seems to have been a disciple (chela) in Akbar’s new religion, the Tauhid-i Ilahi. He sometimes used the epith khurd (‘younger’), which would distinguish him from another Farrukh with the epithet kalan (‘elder’), presumably Farrukh Beg. Like other painters of Akbar’s court, Farrukh Chela must have been fully trained in the given style when he entered the imperial studio, yet he retained his personal (perhaps traditional) style, which is well projected in his paintings. A single-handed painting from the ..
Encyclopedia Article, 2003
Oxford Art Online, 2003
Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2003