The earliest remains of painting in India belong to prehistoric times and it has not been possible to ascribe any precise date of them. Therefore, a hiatus of thousands of years intervenes before we come to an authentic example of painting properly and strictly so called, of the historic period. The oldest so far known are wall-paintings of the Yogimara caves of Ramgarh Hill in Madhya Pradesh.
From early Buddhist records we find that paintings added to the gaity of popular festivals in ancient India. The themes of the Ajanta paintings are almost exclusively Buddhist religious lore. The frescoes Gwalior are conteporary with the closing years of Ajanta glory
Another important searies of wall painting surviving in South India is to be found in Rajrajesvara or Brihadesvara temple at Tanjore completedabout the year 1000 by the great Chola ruler Rajaraja I. The subject are devoted to the saivite religion in which Siva is represented as Nataraja.
A center of miniature painting flourished in the western part of country. As the majority of the extant temples in this style come from Gujarat or Jain.But the same style of manuscript illstration that was practised in Gujarat was also prevalent with local varitions, in Rajastan, Mandu, Jaipure and many other areas.
Islam condemnded painting as sacrilege painting as against the precepts of the Qur'an, wich excepressely frobid the representation of animate nature in art. There is therefore, no real evidence of any school of painting encouraged by the Muslim Kings of India.It is undoughtely the enthusiasm of Akbar the Great that really laid th foundations of the mughal School of painting in India. The sympathetic attiude of emporor encouraged artists from Gujrat , Rajastan, Gwalior and Kashmir and from other countries as well to come to the imperial court as well to come to the imperial court to carry their art activity under enlightened patronage. In this manner started an imtermingling of persian and Hindu streams.
The region of Jehangir (1605-1627) is generally regaded as the Golden age of Mughal painting. While artists of both persian and Indian origins were combining to evolve a genuine synthesis of the Persian, Hindu and Western traditions , it was Jehangir's personal taste that determined the course of Mughal painting in his time. His painters aimed primerrily at depiting portaits, the personal preoccupations of the Emperor and incidents of chase.
uring te formative period of the Mughal style, a school of painting flourished activity in the Deccan states of Ahmednager, Bijapur and Golkunda. it continued independent of the mughal court painting till far into the 17th Century. In the mean tim,painting in western india was evolving an essentially Hindu style.Paintings of this style came from Rajasthan,inspired by a renassance of popular Hindu culture on the grab of Vaishnavism which from 15th Centuary dominated the art and literatyre of the region.
Though Rajput artists contituned to show a preference for Mughal techniques, the art slowely changed into a Rajput one.The most popular subjects of the paintings were loves of Krishna and Radha revealed amorously and yet tempered with refinement.