No Dogra artwork from before the Mughal-era has been found or been preserved. At the height of the reign of the Dogras, artists were patronized and temples and fortresses were decorated with mural paintings, such as the temples of Krimchi, Babbor, and in the fort at Bahu. Artwork flourished under the Dogras due to two main reasons: contact with the Mughals and the ascendance of the Jammu State. Exchanges between the Dogras and the Mughals led to the transmission of Mughal manners, methods, and tastes regarding artwork, to the Dogras. The first Pahari ruler to directly interact with the Mughals was Raja Bhupat Pal of Basohli State (r. 1598–1635), who was imprisoned by Jahangir from 1613–1627, during which he likely witnessed Mughal artwork. This led to the
art of painting to arise first in Basohli State, with the successors Raja Sangram Pal (r. 1635–73) and Raja Kirpan Pal (r. 1678–93) further developing Basohli as a centre of painting. The tradition of painting later developed in the hill states of Jasrota, Mankot, Lakhanpur, Samba, Bhoti, Bandralta, Bhadrawaha, Poonch, and Rajauri. As for Jammu State, the first paintings seem to date to the reign of Raja Hari Dev (r. 1660–90). As Jammu became a powerful and hegemonic entity within the region above the rest, this brought upon peace, prosperity, and stability, which attracted painters to the Jammuite court, leading to the developing of Jammu State as a painting centre in the hills region. Raja Dhruv Dev's four sons were all patrons of painting, especially Raja Balwant Singh of Jasrota State. When Mughal officials sought refuge in Jammu State, they possibly brought Mughal miniature paintings with them and had an impact on the local fashion of Jammu, which is revealed in the miniature paintings produced after their arrival. The extant wall-paintings of the territories of J&K State all date back to the reign of Gulab Singh, however there are miniature paintings that pre-date this time. The brothers of Gulab Singh, Dhian Singh and Suchet Singh, were patrons of wall-paintings. Gubab Singh's son and successor, Ranbir Singh, kept an atelier of artists. The Dogra nobles were rich in wealth, this allowed them to pay for the patronization of artists. Petty Rajputs and aristocrats also emulated the royal-class by patronizing artists. The patrons of temple construction, usually the mercantile-classes belonging to the
Vaishya varna that were engaged in trade and industry, had the temple walls decorated with murals. Many of the extant Dogra wall paintings cover religious themes as this was the primary reason for executing them, to pay respect to the divinity of the deity, area, or temple.
Vaishnavism,
Shaivism, and
Shaktism (especially veneration of
Vaishno Devi) were prominent streams of Hinduism amongst the Dogras and local people. The worship of Vishnu and his avatars can be evinced in the early portraits of the Jammuite rulers Raja Ananta Dev and Raja Dhruv Dev, who bear Vaishnavist-orientated
tilaks in their painted portraits. During the Sikh-period in Jammu, the Jammuite nobles venerated the Sikh gurus and respected the
Guru Granth Sahib, with them patronizing the painting of Sikh themes, such as paintings depicting
Guru Nanak. However, there are secular paintings related to hunting, which was a popular past-time that involved many members of the noble-class, officials, and even the commoners. Other secular themes relate to music and dance, which is evident from murals found at Ramnagar Palace. Since miniature paintings often were part of
dowries, artists would often travel with princesses to various royal courts of the surrounding region. Commoner women acted as models for artists as noble women did not appear before artists for this purpose. There are few to nil cases of other castes patronizing wall paintings, however a temple at Purmandal was constructed under the purview of a Brahmin and was decorated with murals but this Brahmin was engaged in a trading profession in Gujarat rather than traditional Brahmin customs. Some prominent artisan families that were employed by the Dogra rulers are the
Seu-Nainsukh family. The Seu-Nainsukh family was the dominant artisan family in the hill states of the Western Himalayas during the 18th and 19th centuries, including in Jammu. Seu's son, Nainsukh, was directly employed by Balwant Singh of Jasrota, whom was the youngest son of Raja Dhruv Dev of Jammu State. Nainsukh later moved to Basohli to work under that state's patronage. Nainsukh and his son Ranjha (also an artist) worked under Raja Amrit Pal of Basohli State in the mid-18th century. Ranjha's sons, Gur Sahai and Sukh Dayal, went to Jammu State to work as artists. Three artists named Arjun, Ruldu, and Kanchu worked under the patronage of Ranbir Singh's court. A prominent artist of late 19th century Jammu was Jagat Ram Dube, who was nicknamed as Chuniya and was of a Brahmin background. Another artist was Haricharan, possibly a member of the family of the artist Sajnu who worked under Mandi State patronage. As per lore, a
Tarkhan artist named Hiru
mistri of Suneeta village was the one who carried out the painting work of the walls of Ramnagar Palace. Three artisan families based out of the Kangra region had sent their sons to work under Jammuite patronage but there is no evidence that they carried-out mural work. The Dogra wall paintings of that era were likely painted by more than one person, with the artisan families possibly travelling from place-to-place in a nomadic fashion, such as by working in one house and then moving to another to work when the work is completed. The walls of the Ram-Ji-Ka-Mandir were painted by artists who hailed from Jaipur. The local Radhakrishna temple of Mule Chak, Jammu region were painted by Muslims, with a Muslim painter named Aziz known to have worked in the vicinity. Traditional architects tended to have knowledge of executing wall paintings. Artists were paid in the form of grain for their services but ones attached to the royal-courts were paid in-cash. Examples of land deeds bestowed upon any particular artists have not been found in this region. When the Jammuite rulers would leave for religious pilgrimages, such as the
tirth-yatra, such as to Prayag, Haridwar, or Gaya, their artists would accompany them, as evidenced by the genealogical registers present at popular religious destinations, such as the
bahis of the
pandas in Haridwar. ==See also==