Taming Wilderness: The Mughal Hunt and Cultural Landscapes of the Shikārgāh / Shaha Parpia.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Parpia, Shaha, author.

Series:

Handbook of Oriental Studies. Section 1 The Near and Middle East ; 193.

Middle East and Islamic Studies E-Books Online, Collection 2026.

Handbook of Oriental Studies. Section 1 The Near and Middle East ; 193

Middle East and Islamic Studies E-Books Online, Collection 2026

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Art--History.

Art.

Middle East and Islamic Studies.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (320 pages)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Leiden ; Boston : Brill, 2026.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

The Mughal hunt may be understood as an interaction with the wilderness and conservation that comprehends empire building, the promotion of welfare and agricultural causes, scientific pursuits and engendering spiritual connections with nature. Countering traditional definitions of a hunting ground as an untamed, amorphous space, this book delves into the details of the Mughal shikārgāh conceived as an ecologically modified landscape with spatial and cultural relationships to gardens, agrarian lands and irrigation projects, and as an intermediate space that existed between cultivated lands and forests. Replete with colourful hunting anecdotes and richly illustrated, Taming Wilderness is an insightful study of this fascinating subject.

Contents:

Acknowledgements

List of Maps and Figures

Notes to the Reader

Simplified Genealogy Table: the Great Mughals (1526–1707)

1 Mughal Hunting Culture

An Introduction

1 Courtly Culture

2 The Peripatetic Court and Encampment

3 Hunting Culture

4 Hunting Landscapes

5 Plan of the Book

2 Ancient Persian, Early Islamic, and Indian Hunting Traditions

1 Achaemenid and Sassanian Pairidaēzas

2 Early Islamic Hunting Practices

3 Ancient Indian Hunting Culture

4 Ghurid and Sultanate Hunting Practices in India

3 The Hunting Legacy of the Ilkhanids and Timurids

1 Ilkhanid Hunting Traditions

2 Timurid Hunting Practices

Human-Animal-Environment Nexus

1 From Wilderness to Favoured Shikārgāh: the Process

2 Hunting Techniques and Landscapes

3 Hunt and Habitation

4 The Tamed Landscape

5 Lion, Cheetah, and Elephant Hunts

Dynastic Identity and Legitimation

1 The Lion Hunt

2 The Art of Hunting with Cheetahs

3 Mughals and Elephants

6 Politics of the Hunt

Good Governance, Sovereignty, Intimidation

1 The Hunt and Symbolic Links to Good Governance, Justice and Kingship

2 Affirmation of Authority in the Shikārgāh

3 War and Intimidation

7 Shikārgāh , Garden, Qūruq Interfacing Boundaries

1 Evolution of the Bāgh and Chahārbāgh Garden

2 Typology of the Mughal Garden

3 Hunting in ‘Garden’ Contexts

4 Qūruq and Its Link to Gardens, Encampment, and Hunting

8 Shikārgāh , Forest, Cultivated Land

Attitudes, Territorial Delineation

1 Shikārgāh and Agricultural Lands – Harmonious or Conflictual Spaces?

2 Extending Agricultural Lands and Shikārgāhs – at the Expense of Forests?

3 The Hunt and Social Costs to the Agricultural Sector

4 Landscapes of Ambivalence

5 Forests and Attitudes

6 Mughal Irrigation Policies and Hunting Spaces

9 The Artist’s Vision

Portraying Mughal Hunting Landscapes

1 Taṣwīr and Narrative Art

2 Depicting the Hunting Landscape

3 Portraying the Imperial Hunter in the Shikārgāh

4 Organisation of the Hunting Painting

5 Visualisation of the Encampment

6 Depictions of the Cityscape

7 Two Hunting Motifs

8 Ancient Persian and Timurid Legacy

10 The Hunt and Intellectual, Scientific, and Technological Pursuits

1 Scientific Inquiry at Court – the Background

2 Zoological Encounters on the Hunting Field

3 Science and Ethics at Court

4 Technological Innovations

11 Legal, Spiritual, and Moral Implications in Hunting Contexts

1 Animals in Scriptural Foundations

2 A Threat to Humans?

3 Hunting and Spirituality

4 Hunting Treatises – Shikārnāmas

Epilogue

Glossary

Bibliography

Index.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

90-04-74905-5

9789004749054

OCLC:

1561171638

Publisher Number:

10.1163/9789004749054 DOI