Indian Paintings - A Short History

Disclaimer: This is a loose translation of the work Bharater Chitrakala by Sri Ashoke Mitra. No originality or credit is intended nor claimed for this piece.

The Land of Two Rivers: Balochistan and Sindh

In our country, it is not easy to view paintings as we desire. Most of the major paintings are in foreign hands; what little is available here are mostly in the collections of the rich and with the families of earstwhile kings. The only complete intact paintings are those located in caves which cannot be relocated. No library in our country has complete references on indigenous and foreign paintings. The kind of books required to understand the history, trade, economy and politics that influenced the paintings are also not available. Thus a student of art is often disoriented in her pursuit to understand such works.