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Illustration of an Indian woman holding a flower
This exhibition is in the past. View our current exhibitions.

The exhibition

The Indian Subcontinent is an area encompassing modern-day India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan and Sri Lanka. It is home to some of the richest manuscript and painting traditions in the world. The works of art that you will see in this exhibition reflect its diverse cultures and compelling histories. They are typically small in scale and written or painted by hand. Unlike in Europe, the manuscript craft endured well into the nineteenth century in India. Later Indian printed books and photographs also included elements of earlier manuscript and painting traditions. Many of the finest examples in the Royal Collection were diplomatic gifts presented by Indian rulers to British sovereigns. These manuscripts and paintings are part of a shared history between Britain and the Indian Subcontinent which is explored throughout the exhibition.

This is indeed India! the land of dreams and romance… the country of a hundred nations and a hundred tongues, of a thousand religions and two million gods, cradle of the human race, birthplace of human speech, mother of history, grandmother of legend, greatgrandmother of tradition… the one land that all men desire to see, and having seen once, by even a glimpse, would not give that glimpse for the shows of all the rest of the globe combined


Mark Twain, <i>Following the Equator</i> (1897)
Shamsa or sunburst
Early Encounters

The art of the Great Mughals

f.5
Illustration from a manuscript of the Khamsa of Nava&rsquo;i (see RCIN 1005032).  
This painting is a reinterpretation of a Flemish engraving of c.1580 depicting the Last Judgement by Adrian Collaert, after Jan van der Straet. Jesus, flanked by Mary a
Divine Encounters

Hindu paintings from northern India

Illustration to Book 7 of the Bhagavata Purana, Chapter 2: Having sent his demons to terrorise the surrounding towns and villages, Hiranyakashipu tries to console his mother and sister-in-law as they lament his brother's death. 
For this series see RCIN 9
Political encounters

Art and the East India Company


Proshitapatika Nayika, the lady whose lover is away.
There are eight types of nayikas (heroines) in traditional Indian visual and performing arts, each representing different states or moods in relation to her nayak (hero). Seated in a palace chamber, th
Victorian Encounters

Gifts for the Queen Empress

Queen Tissarakshita, three-quarter length, sitting in front of the railings of the Buddhist monument at Sanchi.  


A note on the back of this painting gives the title &lsquo;The Queen of Asoka&rsquo; and notes &lsquo;King Ashoka was extremely fond of the
Encountering the Raj

Tradition and modernity


The income from your ticket contributes directly to The Royal Collection Trust, a registered charity. The aims of The Royal Collection Trust are the care and conservation of the Royal Collection, and the promotion of access and enjoyment through exhibitions, publications, loans and educational activities.