Manohar Das (born in 1568), was a highly skilled and sought-after artist of successive Mughal ateliers, reaching artistic maturity in his late 20s.

His father Basawan was already revered under the Mughal Emperor Akbar and was regarded as one of his most influential painters. While nepotism might have brought Manohar to Akbar’s atelier, his skill kept him there. It was common for Mughal painters to follow their fathers to court, but what gives testament to Manohar’s prowess is that, in the Akbarnama alone, he contributed 14 (if not more) of the 170 illustrations present.

Like his father, Manohar was also employed early on in studying the European manuscripts and paintings that had been given to Akbar by Portuguese Jesuit missionaries, in their mission to the Mughal court at Fatehpur Sikri in 1580. Philip I of the Iberian Union was looking to broaden his empire. The Portuguese had already taken control of Goa in 1510 and much farther west at Hormuz in 1507. When Akbar took over Gujarat in 1573, it brought the two kingdoms closer to each other.

While the most prolific of the artists that studied European styles remains Kesu Das, Manohar’s........

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