Says Susan Stronge, Senior Curator at London's Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A). Stronge's new book reveals the unbelievable grandeur of Mughal art under Emperors Akbar, Jahangir and Shah Jahan, holding within its pages some never-seen-before images

If Susan Stronge lived in the Mughal era, she would have liked to bump into Emperor Akbar. She should know who'd make the most interesting acquaintance. After all, Stronge, a Senior Curator at the Victoria & Albert's Asian Department, specialises in court art of the Indian subcontinent. Stronge has written three related worksu00a0-- The Art of the Sikh Kingdom (V&A, 1999), Painting for the Mughal Emperor (V&A, 2002) and Tipu's Tigers (2009).


Pic/Bipin Kokate

In Mumbai last week to release Made for Mughal Emperors: Royal Treasures from Hindustan, Stronge was getting used to the buzz surrounding itu00a0-- "the media here hypes book releases, unlike back home in London," Stronge confessed, while settling for a chat about Akbar's Hindu artisans, Shah Jahan's sublime style and the mysterious Jahangir.

Was this book a natural progression, based on your familiarity with court art?
It pulls together different strands of work from over 30 years. My book (Paintings for the Mughal Emperor) focused on the Mughal era's decorative arts, jewellery and its thrones. All of it was fed into this book. I was interested in understanding the inter-relationship of various arts.