Daswanth or Dasavant (d. 1584) was a Mughal-era painter in the service of Akbar.

Umar Defeats a Dragon, from the Akbar Hamzanama manuscript

He was a Hindu, probably of humble origin and was trained by the Persian master painter Khwāja ʿAbd al-Ṣamad. He was the son of a palanquin-bearer.[1] Of the large number of painters who worked in the imperial atelier, Daswanth and Basāvan were documented by name.

Arjun hits the fish By Artist Daswanth and kesho

Daswanth played the leading part in the illustration of the Jaipur originating family of folk tales called Razm-nāmeh, which is the Persian name for the Indian epic known as the Mahabharata.

The wounded monkey bites prince from Tutinama by Daswanth

A miniature in the Cleveland Museum of Art’s manuscript copy of the Ṭūṭī-nāmeh (“Parrot Book”) has also been attributed to him.[2]

Childhood of Timur by Artist Daswanth and Jagjiwan kalan.

Daswanth also illustrated one miniature in 'Tarikh-i-khandan-i-Timuriya' of Patna with other Artist Jagjiwan kalan.[3] Of unstable mind, he killed himself in a fit of madness.[4]

References

  1. ^ Beach, Milo Cleveland (1982). "The Mughal Painter Daswanth". Ars Orientalis. 13: 121–133. ISSN 0571-1371.
  2. ^ Daswanth - Painter in Bénézit
  3. ^ Milo beach (1982). The Mughal painter Daswanth. Washington: Freer gallery of art. pp. 121 and fig 1.
  4. ^ Dasvant in the Encyclopædia Britannica


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