Reflection of the Elements of Authority and Spirituality in the Mughal Empire Portraiture

Transmission of idea and inner reality is an important feature of images. This fact has always been accompanied with the display of mental and ideological tensions in historical images. Representing historical characters is one of the most significant features of the Indian Mughal miniature, which has been the manifestation of Mughal emperors’ tastes and interests. There are some crucial points in such portraits which are remained unknown due to reliance on the mere superficial structures and implications. Actually, two important features, i.e. authority and spirituality, are of immense significance in these portraits. Adopting a descriptive-analytical methodology, the present article is to answer the following question: What are the main visual elements relating to authority and spirituality in the Mughal portraits in India? Studying 30 portraits as case studies in this research, the results show that the manifestation of authority and spirituality in the trinity of emperor, sheikh and yogi were considered more than others, and this has been represented in the portraits of the king more conspicuously.