Category Archives: Medieval India

A short list of Indian period dramas

While doing posts on contemporary regional Indian period movies, I made a rough list of Indian period films. These are listed below. Some are historicals but the bulk fall into the 19th and 20th century.  The list is fairly rough … Continue reading

Posted in Actor, Ancient India, Bengali cinema, Bollywood, British Raj, Colonial, Costume, fashion, Film Costuming, historical costume, History, Independence, Indian Cinema, Indian Costume, Indian fashion, Islamic Dress, Medieval India, Movies, Mughal India, Old Bollywood, Regional cinema, Regional period drama, regional styles, retro, Sari, Sari Blouse, South Indian Cinema, Vintage, vintage cinema, vintage fashion | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Costume Books

I have been reading a couple of books on Indian costumes and thought I would write a bit about two of them. Queen Subada, Detail from Shahnamah, Sultanate School, 1450. Costume Details: Phiran: of transparent material, form-fitting and ankle length, … Continue reading

Posted in 1990s, 20th century, Accessories, Actor, Ancient India, antique, Art, Asia, Authors, Costume, Courtesan, Culture, Dancer, fashion, Hinduism, historical costume, historical dress, historical fashions, historical hairstyles, Illustration, indian art, Indian Dress, Indian History, Indian Illustrators, Indian Theatre, Indian Women, Jaina Literature, Jewellery, Medieval India, Sanskrit Drama, sari history, Theatre, Women | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

All About Hair

I had a bit of a meandering look at the history of hairstyles in India on tumblr and as always this post collates it on wordpress. curnakuntala (Sanskrit): locks or ringlets hair style. alaka-avali (Sanskrit): hair arrangement in spiral locks … Continue reading

Posted in 1600s, 16th Century, 1700s, 17th century, 1800s, 18th century, 1930s, 1940s, 1950s, 1960s, 19th century, 20th century, Accessories, Ancient India, Art, Asia, Bengal, Bollywood, Colonial, Contemporary Style, Culture, Dance, Dancer, fashion, Flowers, Hair, historical fashions, historical hairstyles, History, indian art, Indian fashion, Indian History, Indian men, Indian Women, Jewellery, Medieval India, miniature paintings, Old Bollywood, Paintings, regional styles, retro, retro hair, Sanskrit Literature, Sculpture, Sets, Tamil, Tumblr, Vintage, vintage hair, vintage jewellery | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

The Food Post

The iconography of Annapurna is given in the Agamas as a youthful goddess of red complexion having a face round like moon, three eyes, high breasts; the left hand carrying a vessel set with rubies and containing honey, and the … Continue reading

Posted in 16th Century, 17th century, 18th century, 1910s, 1940s, 1950s, 1960s, 19th century, Ancient India, British Raj, Colonial, historical art, historical costume, indian art, Indian Cooking, Indian Literature, Indian men, Indian Women, Medieval India, Mughal India, Paintings, Sanskrit Literature | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Spiritual Post

The word spiritual is a rather loose rubric for this post which encompasses women philosophers, traditions of mysticism and wandering minstrels. None of these is entirely exclusive of the other yet they are different ways of pursuing knowledge or the … Continue reading

Posted in 17th century, 18th century, 19th century, 20th century, Ancient India, Culture, Early 20th Century, Hinduism, History, Indian Cinema, Indian Dress, Indian Singers, Indian Women, Late 19th century, Medieval India, miniature paintings, Paintings, vintage art | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Tumblring

Its easy to post on tumblr, far more difficult to compose a wordpress post, hence the hiatus. Costumes in Deccan Paintings. There is a freshness and vigour to Deccan paintings and it’s always interesting to stumble across them. Dancing Ladies: … Continue reading

Posted in Early 20th Century, Indian Cinema, Indian Dress, Indian fashion, Indian History, Indian Women, Medieval India | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Hiatus

I am moving so next post will be a while coming. In the meantime, to round out the kickass ladies posts I had one earlier: The Rani of Jhansi Polo Playing Ladies of the 17th century

Posted in Costume, Culture, History, Indian History, Indian Women, Islamic Dress, Medieval India, miniature paintings, Sport, Women, Women Rulers | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The 18th Century Hunt

Note that in pic 1 (dated about 1775), the couple appear to be forest dwellers.  In most paintings women wear a short skirt of leaves or peacock feathers to indicate the forest setting. But the jewellery here may indicate a … Continue reading

Posted in 1700s, 1790s, 18th century, 700s, Culture, hunt, Illustration, Indian men, Indian Women, Medieval India, miniature paintings, Royalty, vintae art, vintage art, vintage fashion | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment