Maarg Manthan · Topic 3.11

Company School Painting (Colonial Era)

Art & Culture › Painting · Topic 3.11

Company School painting, also called Company painting or Kampani Qalam, is the style of Indian artists who worked for British East India Company officials from the mid-18th to the mid-19th century, mixing Indian miniature skill with European watercolour, perspective and realism. It recorded flora, fauna, monuments, costumes, trades and festivals. Major centres were Murshidabad, Patna, Delhi, Lucknow, Calcutta, Madras and Thanjavur. Famous artists are Sita Ram, Ghulam Ali Khan, Shiva Lal and Sewak Ram, and the Impey Album of Lady Impey, painted by Shaikh Zain-ud-din, Bhawani Das and Ram Das, is a landmark. Patna Kalam is its best known regional branch.

5 min read · UPSC Prelims · Art & Culture · Painting

At a Glance

Also called Company painting, Kampani Qalam
Period Mid-18th to mid-19th century
Patrons East India Company officers and families
Branches Patna Kalam, Delhi, Lucknow, Murshidabad, Thanjavur
Popular style Kalighat pat of Calcutta
Exam link UPSC Prelims, Art and Culture: Painting

Where Does It Fit?

This is the last topic of the painting macro. It shows how Indian artists adapted to colonial patronage, and sets the stage for the modern painters who reacted against European academic realism. Previous topic: Contemporary Paintings (Progressive Artists’ Group). Next topic: Natya Shastra, Brihaddeshi, Sangita…">Classical Indian Music.

How Is Company Painting Different From Mughal Painting?

Feature	Mughal miniature	Company painting
Patron	Emperors and nobles	British officers, merchants, officials and their families
Subject	Court, portraits, history, hunting	Flora, fauna, monuments, festivals, trades, costumes
Technique	Opaque colour, gold, flat layout	Watercolour, perspective, shading, European paper
Purpose	Royal albums and manuscripts	Records, souvenirs, scientific illustration
Artist identity	Named court masters	Often anonymous, with some famous names like Sita Ram
Style	Indo-Persian	Indo-European mix

Which Are the Main Centres and Artists?

Murshidabad: Nawab court and early Company contacts, after which artists moved to Calcutta
Patna Kalam: Patna school; painters Sewak Ram, Hulas Lal, Jairam Das, Shiva Lal and Shiv Dayal Lal; scenes of everyday life, festivals and trades; Ishwari Prasad Verma is called its last master
Delhi: Ghulam Ali Khan and Mazhar Ali Khan painted monuments for officers like William Fraser and Sir Thomas Metcalfe
Lucknow: court and Company patrons; portraits of nawabs
Calcutta: the capital of the Company; the Impey Album by Shaikh Zain-ud-din, Bhawani Das and Ram Das, commissioned by Lady Impey in the 1770s and 1780s
Sita Ram: painted for Lord Hastings during his tours in 1814 to 1815, and recorded monuments
Thanjavur and Madras: Tanjore Company paintings and botanical studies
Kalighat pat: bazaar painting of Calcutta, made near the Kalighat temple, bold lines and satire

What Else Should You Remember?

Natural history: Company officials like Roxburgh and Impey commissioned botanical and zoological paintings
Impey Album: paintings of birds and animals from the menagerie of Sir Elijah Impey in Calcutta, in realistic European style
Kalighat pat: scroll-like paintings on mill paper in swift brush strokes; subjects include deities and satire on the Bengal babu; a scandal of 1873 was depicted in the pats
Alternate terms: Company School, Company style, Company Kalam and Kampani Qalam are used for the same group
Patna Kalam decline: the rise of photography and lithography reduced demand for hand-painted pictures by the late 19th century
Mica paintings: Tiruchirappalli and Thanjavur made paintings on thin mica sheets for European buyers
Monument views: Delhi and Agra artists painted Mughal monuments for tourists
Previous school: after Mughal decline, painters shifted patronage, as in Tradition of Miniature Paintings in India
Later reaction: Ravi Varma’s academic style and the Bengal School’s nationalist revival followed, as in Modern Paintings (Bengal School, Raja Ravi Varma)
Museums: the British Library, the Victoria Memorial in Kolkata and the National Museum, New Delhi hold Company paintings
Folk link: Kalighat pat is related to the folk tradition described in Regional Paintings (Madhubani, Warli, Patachitra, Kalamkari, Phad, Gond)
Attribution note: exact attribution of many Company works remains uncertain, as most were unsigned
Study order: remember the chain of patrons: Mughal court, then regional nawabs, then Company officers, then the Indian middle class and nationalists, and attach one centre and one artist to each stage
Exam caution: do not treat Company painting as an anti-Indian style; it was made by Indian artists, and it preserved much visual record of colonial India, though it served European tastes
Why it matters: its natural history and monument paintings are used today by historians, botanists and conservators as visual records of the period

Why Does It Matter for the Exam?

Branch to place: Patna Kalam to Bihar, Kalighat to Calcutta
Patron: East India Company officers
Artist: Sita Ram, Ghulam Ali Khan, Shiva Lal
Subjects: natural history, monuments, trades
Common errors: calling Company painting a Mughal court style or Kalighat pat a Patna school

As an analytical point, Company painting shows both adaptation and loss. Indian artists found new patrons and learned new techniques, but their anonymity and the decline of the style under photography point to the colonial economic limits on indigenous art.

Why Is This Topic Important?

Branches Patna and Kalighat
Patrons Colonial officials
Style Indo-European mix

What Came Next?

This is the last topic of the macro; the next macro moves from painting to music. Next topic: Classical Indian Music.

Key People and Terms

Company painting Colonial-era Indo-European art
Patna Kalam Patna school of Company art
Pat Painting on cloth or paper
Impey Album Natural history paintings
Kalighat pat Calcutta bazaar painting
Perspective Depth in painting

Study this topic together with these linked topics from other subjects.

British Social and Cultural Policy in India (Modern History)

Exam Corner

Points to Remember

Company painting: mid-18th to mid-19th century.
Patna branch: Patna Kalam.
Impey Album: Lady Impey, Calcutta.
Kalighat pat: Calcutta, bazaar painting.
Used watercolour and perspective.

Do Not Confuse With

Company painting and Mughal painting European-style records versus Indo-Persian court art
Patna Kalam and Kalighat pat Bihar Company school versus Bengal bazaar painting
Company school and Bengal School Colonial patronage versus nationalist revival

Memory Hook

Company clerks buy views of Patna, plants and trades; Kalighat sells satire.

Mains Angle

Questions ask about adaptation under colonialism. These points give a frame.

Adaptation New patrons
Documentation Natural history
Decline Photography

A Question You May Face

An original practice question, not a past paper question.

“Examine how colonial rule changed the patronage and style of Indian painting, with reference to Company School painting.”

How to Answer

Intro Define Company painting.
Features Subject and technique.
Centres Patna, Delhi, Calcutta.
Close Decline and reaction.

GS Relevance

Prelims: Company painting, Patna Kalam, Kalighat, artists, patrons. GS Paper 1: Indian heritage and culture, art under colonial rule.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Company School painting?

Company School painting, also called Company painting, is a style of the mid-18th to mid-19th century in which Indian artists worked for British East India Company officials. It combined Indian miniature skills with European watercolour, perspective and realism, and recorded plants, animals, monuments, costumes and everyday life.

What is Patna Kalam?

Patna Kalam, or the Patna school, is a regional branch of Company painting in Bihar. Artists such as Sewak Ram, Hulas Lal and Shiva Lal painted everyday life, festivals and trades for European patrons. It declined in the late 19th century, with Ishwari Prasad Verma often called its last master.

What is the Impey Album?

The Impey Album is a famous set of natural history paintings commissioned by Lady Impey, wife of the Calcutta judge Sir Elijah Impey, in the 1770s and 1780s. It was painted by Shaikh Zain-ud-din, Bhawani Das and Ram Das, and it shows birds and animals in a realistic European style.

What is Kalighat painting?

Kalighat painting, or Kalighat pat, is a bazaar painting style of Calcutta that grew near the Kalighat temple in the 19th century. It uses bold lines, flat colours and swift brush strokes on mill-made paper to show deities and satirical scenes of urban Bengali society.

What is the difference between Company painting and Mughal painting?

Mughal painting was made for emperors in an Indo-Persian style, with gold, flat colour and royal subjects. Company painting was made for British officials in a hybrid style, with watercolour, perspective and shading, and covered natural history, monuments, trades and festivals as visual records.

Why is Company School painting important for UPSC?

Prelims asks about its patrons, Patna Kalam, Kalighat pat and key artists, and Mains asks about art under colonial rule. Remember mid-18th to mid-19th century, East India Company patrons, Sita Ram, the Impey Album, Patna Kalam in Bihar, and Kalighat pat in Calcutta.

PYQ Practice — Statement Analysis

1 Patna Kalam is a branch of Company painting.

True

A school in Bihar.

2 Company paintings were made for Mughal emperors.

False

They were made for British officers.

3 Kalighat pat developed in Calcutta.