Matthew Thomas
Senior Specialist
Lot 181
Maharajah Man Singh of Jodhpur (reg. 1803-43) with Prince Chattar Singh and noble attendants, including the royal guru Dev Nath, before an image of the immortal ascetic Jallandharnath Jodhpur, circa 1810-1815
6 October 2015, 14:00 BST
London, New Bond StreetSold for £3,750 inc. premium
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Maharajah Man Singh of Jodhpur (reg. 1803-43) with Prince Chattar Singh and noble attendants, including the royal guru Dev Nath, before an image of the immortal ascetic Jallandharnath
Jodhpur, circa 1810-1815
Jodhpur, circa 1810-1815
gouache and gold on paper, floral border, nagari inscriptions verso
208 x 283 mm.
208 x 283 mm.
Footnotes
The text on the reverse reads:
Maharajah Man Singh Ayasji [an honorific title] Devnathji maharaj
Prince Chattar Singh Sayabnath maharaj [probably Bhimnath]
With hands clasped in reverence Maharaja Man Singh of Jodhpur is paying homage to the image of the yogic saint Jallandharnath.
(Painter : in the style of Bulaki).
Man Singh was a devotee of the Nath Sampraday. The Nath sect had its beginnings in the 12th-13th Century and became popular to the extent of being the best-known yogis. The sect revered powerful immortal ascetics, known as mashasiddhas (great perfected beings). These figures, covered in ash and wearing large earrings, wandered the earth, encountering mortals and often conferring power and grace on those who revered them. As Debra Diamond observes, 'Man Singh's reign as Jallandharnath's supreme devotee was thus an extreme but not unprecedented spiritual affiliation for a Hindu ruler.' (Garden and Cosmos, p. 32). For Man Singh and the Nath sect, see D. Diamond, C. Glyn, and K. Singh Jasol, Garden and Cosmos: the Royal Paintings of Jodhpur, London 2008, pp. 141-171 in general; and in particular pp. 146-147, no. 32 and pp. 148-149, no. 33, for two portrayals of Jallandarnath worshipped by Man Singh and seated alone.
The tall figure to the left is Dev Nath, Man Singh's guru and adviser, who was murdered in 1815. As his spiritual confidant, Dev Nath was also elevated to temporal power, as were later gurus, awarding them land grants and fiefdoms over which they exerted their own power independently. See Garden and Cosmos, p. 34, and pp. 160-161, nos. 36 and 37.
On the Muslim artist Bulaki, one of Man Singh's court painters who specialised in small, almost minimalist devotional Nath paintings, see p. 38.