Akbarnama - Elements of Mughal Dress in an End of Period Illumination.

More examination today from the collection at the Cleveland Museum of Art - this from an Akbarnama. The image is A Circumcision ceremony for Akbar’s sons, painting 126 from an Akbar-nama (Book of Akbar) of Abu’l Fazl (Indian, 1551–1602), c. 1602-1603. Like other images from the museum's collection, there's no description of action in the online presence.

This particular image does have a name for its artist - Dharam Das. The colors here pop beautifully - and the image is well-preserved, complete with goldworked borders.

Of interest in my Mughal women's dress research are the dancers. I've seen several examples of late period long dressed with the plunging neckline, but most of them have been depicted in pink or red. Here, a green example emerges. The women are wearing boqta or taqi hats with veils, apparently underneath or tacked to the back of the hat, while dancing. Perhaps at this juncture (in the last decade before 1600) the hats were a throwback, traditional wear for ceremonies and celebrations.

Note the lady in the green has a spread plume, which would bring it more in line of the idea of feathers instead of horsehair.

The artist's details in depicting the sheer muslin or silk veils is particularly lovely.

There's also this lady to the right side, presumably in another room. Her sheer veil is definitely coming off the top and back of her hat, and she appears to have no underveil or neck strap.

SHE'S WEARING A BINDI.

For the most part, bindi don't appear on Mughal women in period. Yet here is this woman, in her taqi hat and veils, long dress (which does not appear to have the plunging neckline), jewels and a mark on her forehead. Looking through the entire illumination, all the women appear to have bindi - but none of the men do.

So did Dharam Das depict these women with bindi, or were they added later?