Image: Contemporary painting of Guru Tegh Bahadur by Ahsan, ca.1668

Description: Guru Tegh Bahadur’s contemporary painting, prepared by Ahsan, the royal painter of Shaista Khan, governor of Bengal in 1668 C.E. Discovered by Dr. Trilochan Singh in 1958 and published in his book, Guru Tegh Bahadur: Prophet and Martyr (1967). According to Sikh lore, the painter encountered difficulty painting the facial features of the Guru to complete the painting due to the perceived perfection of the Guru which stunned the artist and left him unable to finish the painting, so the Guru himself painted the final details of his own face for him. Dr. Trilochan Singh dated the painting to ca.1669 in his publication of it and describes it with the following caption: "Original painting prepared by a painter of Shaista Khan's court at Sangat Tola Gurdwara, Dacca [Dhaka]". "A contemporary painting of Guru Teg Bahadur ji traditionally known as the Dhaka portrait. The watercolour was commissioned by the mother of Bhai Balaki Shah, the host of Guru Teg Bahadur, who engaged Ahsan, a royal painter of Shaistakhan, to paint a portrait of the ninth Guru during his stay in Dhaka, between 1667-68. This painting is featured in Sikh Heritage: Ethos and Relics." (description taken from: link) "Contemporary portrait of the 9th Sikh Guru, Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji. Painted in 1668 by royal painter Ahsan, during a visit the Guru made to the Deccan (south India) [Editor's correction: Guru Tegh Bahadur was actually visiting the Assam region in eastern India, not the Deccan region in southern India]. Modern paintings often portray the 9th Guru in saintly clothing in contrast to the 10th Guru who wore royal and martial attire. This portrait shows that this dichotomy is probably not correct. One notion this painting dispels is that certain turban styles are more “religious” and ordained by the Guru than other more “cultural ones.” Here the Guru Sahib is wearing a pagh/dastar style common among Mughal and Rajput royalty at the time. I.e., very much a “cultural” style." (description taken from: link) "A painting of Guru Teg Bahadur, traditionally known as the Dhaka portrait. The watercolour was commissioned by the mother of Bhai Balaki Shah, the host of Guru Teg Bahadur, who engaged Ahsan, a royal painter of Shaistakhan, to paint a portrait of the ninth Guru during his stay in Dhaka, between 1667-68." (quote taken from page 45 of Sikh Heritage: Ethos and Relics) Professor Anurag Singh discusses this painting at-length at the following blog post: link "A painting of Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur Sahib Ji. Commissioned by the mother of Bhai Bulaki Shah, who engaged Ahsan, a royal painter." (quote taken from page 351 of Sri Dasam Granth: Facts Beyond Doubt published by the 'Sri Guru Granth Sahib Academy' from Malaysia) The painting is presently held in the collection of The Victoria Memorial Hall, Kolkata: link Images of this artwork can be viewed at: link 1, link 2, link 3
Title: Contemporary painting of Guru Tegh Bahadur by Ahsan, ca.1668
Credit: 1) link (initial upload) 2) link (re-upload)
Author: Ahsan
Usage Terms: Public domain
License: Public domain
Attribution Required?: No