The modern gaze encompasses a peculiar arrogance as we look back at the past. We view history as a linear narrative of progress; a transition from the primitive to the sophisticated or from puritanical ideology to liberal beliefs. However, a closer inspection of visual and literary archives from the Indian subcontinent reveals that the past wasn’t as monolithic as we believe it to be; there is plentiful evidence of queer intimacies in India that subvert our constructed narrative about sexuality and gender. Ancient temple carvings, Urdu and Persian poetry, Sanskrit literature, Mughal miniature paintings, amongst other records of queer intimacies aren’t merely astounding due to their remarkable artistry, but also because they reflect a sense of comfort with queer desire that even modern society often fails to express.
This 17th century painting’s sensual composition captures a quiet and intimate moment between two women reclined on a bed in the terrace. The jewels adorned by them both allude to their aristocratic status as one has her arm wrapped around the other and shares a loving gaze. Their physical intimacy is accompanied by elements such as a glass of wine and a peacock feather fan in their hands, common visual motifs in amorous Mughal-style paintings. This painting is attributable to Govardhan, a celebrated Mughal-style painters patronised by prominent Mughal emperors like Akbar, Jahangir, and Shah Jahan.
During the Mughal rule, specifically from the 16th 18th century, Mughal miniature paintings flourished in the Indian subcontinent. Commissioned by emperors and wealthy aristocrats, these illustrations were compact but intricate, coloured in with opaque watercolours and powdered gold. The unique perspective used to depict the subjects distinguished these illustrations from most art styles; typically, the face was drawn in profile and the body was positioned frontally or in a three-quarter angle. Initially painted in the North Indian Mughal courts, by the 1700s this style of painting diffused across India, reaching as far as the Deccan courts in the south. While the illustrations maintained minute regional differences, they were primarily inspired by Mughal art. Since these paintings were commissioned by the nobility, they were not made for mass consumption, but for archives and libraries in the courts or the personal use of aristocrats.
Within these royally patronised paintings lies an oeuvre of work depicting female intimacy and homoeroticism within the zenana, the women’s headquarters or harem in the palace. Most of these paintings features a central Sapphic pair gazing into each other’s eyes, a common trope in heterosexual Mughal paintings, often amidst maidservants serving them wine or fanning them. The 18th century Mughal-style painting above features two amorous female couples in the zenana accompanied by maidservants: the couple in the centre are the focus of the painting as one kisses the other’s cheek and cradles her cheek, whereas the couple on the right are pressed together as they clutch onto one another. The couple positioned centrally are attended by two maidservants on the left serving them wine, a common element in amorous Mughal paintings. It is believed that red wine symbolises desire and love’s intoxication; the deep red symbolising the longing for a lover’s lips and their red heart. Another common trope in Mughal-style Sapphic painting is crossdressing, as depicted in the painting below. At first glance, the painting seems to depict a heterosexual couple surrounded by maidservants. However, on closer inspection, it is revealed that the one wearing a turban is a woman cross-dressed as a man; the sheerness of her attire reveals her breasts, and the henna on her feet also attests to her femininity.
Unlike Mughal-style paintings and portraits of men, illustrated with elaborate details that portrayed their individual characteristics, women were painted without any distinctive attributes. Following a uniform template, women were illustrated as idealised beauties with unremarkable features. Since the women in these illustrations are unidentifiable, it is implausible to interpret these paintings through personal histories. The lack of detailed calligraphy adds to the obscurity surrounding these paintings and makes it difficult to ascertain the context of their production. However, most intimate paintings depicting domestic spaces and personal lives were made for muraqqas, albums, rather than court manuscripts; they were
There are several conjectures about the source of these paintings. It is presumptive that sexually explicit homoerotic paintings were commissioned for a voyeuristic gaze by noblemen since these paintings are attributed to male painters who were typically patronised by wealthy aristocratic men or rulers. While it was relatively uncommon for female aristocracy to commission paintings, it was not entirely unheard of; wealthy patricians used to commission paintings for personal muraqqas. Although the scant information about the context of these paintings cannot be used to draw conclusions, it can be speculated that these paintings were reflective of the life within the zenanas and the homosocial and homoerotic intimacies within this women-exclusive sanctuary. Perhaps, some of the instances depicted in these paintings were the lived realities of the women there.
Most homoerotic Mughal-style paintings were acquired by British officials from the East India Company, and thus eluded the national archives. The British had an austere ideology with regarding gender and sexuality, and were appalled by the gender fluid expressions in South Asia. Following the conservative Victorian-Christian morality, they criminalised homosexuality and gender-nonconforming identities. Although it seems contradictory, the British officials presumably collected these illustrations not as symbols of hidden romance, but as Oriental fascination. To the British eye, these paintings were a reflection of the exotic decadence of South Asian culture and evidence for the ‘licentiousness’ that required the imposition of Victorian morals. Even now, most of these paintings are exhibited internationally in galleries like the Victoria and Albert Museum, London or auction houses like Christie’s.
The narrative generally imposed by the conservatives in India views the concept of queerness as a “Western import” or a consequence of colonialism. However, gender-nonconforming identities and queer intimacies were more common in South Asia before the colonial rule. Apart from being an exquisite visual archive, this oeuvre of Mughal miniatures suggest that homoeroticism and same-sex intimacies were never alien to Indian culture. Instead, queer narratives were marginalised from the narrative constructed for the nation which conveniently fuelled the conservative rhetoric.
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