Cleveland Museum of Art

Raja Sansar Chand of Kangra and courtiers

Date

c. 1783

Medium

gum tempera and gold on paper

Culture

Northern India, Pahari kingdoms

Department

Indian and Southeast Asian Art

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

Ruler of the western Himalayan kingdom of Kangra from 1775 to 1823, Sansar Chand (1765–1823) is seated on a red dais. As a youth at around 18 years of age, he still has not grown a beard, and his distinctive curly bushy hair is visible beneath his pink turban. This portrait may commemorate the Mughals relinquishing control of Kangra in 1783. This painting once belonged to Cleveland attorney George P. Bickford, who endowed positions at the CMA and Harvard.

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