[fl c. 1570–c. 1602). Indian miniature painter. A Hindu, he is best known for his copies and adaptations of European prints, of which the most famous is St Matthew the Evangelist (see fig.). Signed Kesu Das and dated AH 996 (AD 1587–8), this is based on an engraving by Philip Galle after Maarten van Heemskerck. Kesu Das’s understanding and transformation of European techniques in rendering volume and space made a decisive contribution to the evolution of the studio under the Mughal emperor Akbar (reg 1556–1605). Named fifth of the seventeen painters listed in order of seniority in the Ayin-i Akbari, a contemporary account of Akbar’s administration as it was c. 1590, Kesu Das was well established by the early 1580s and thus would have worked on the great Hamzanama (‘Tales of Hamza’; c. 1567–82, alternatively dated 1562–77). In the Darabnama (‘Story of Darab’; c. 1580–85; London, BL, Or. 4615, fol. 46r; attrib. Kesu Kalan) he painted a convincing male nude, unprecedented in Persian or Mughal painting, and his ability to draw from life is evident in the Razmnama (‘Book of wars’; c. 1582–6; Jaipur, Maharaja Sawai Man Singh II Mus., MS. AG. 1683–1850; single compositions fols 40, 113 (attrib. Kesu) and 147 (attrib. Kesu Das); as designer fols 70, 158 (attrib. Kesu Das) and 159–60 (attrib. Kesu Kalan); as colourist fol. 8 (attrib. Kesu with Daswanth as designer; also in the Harivamsa, ‘Life of Krishna’, c. 1585, Washington, DC, Freer)). So, too, is his elaboration of architectural settings, which was further developed in the double-page compositions for Celebrations after the Birth of Salim and Akbar’s Return to Fatehpur Sikri after the Victory in Gujarat in the Akbarnama (‘History of Akbar’; c. 1590; London, V&A, I.S.2.1896.117/78 and 79, 110 and 111 (attrib. Keshava Kalan)). These abilities were particularly relevant to the illustration of historical manuscripts, which demanded a new approach to material context and human participants (see his six designs in the Timurnama, ‘History of Timur’; 1584; Bankipur, Patna, Khuda Bakhsh Lib., fols 11v, 38r, 46v, 49r, 69v, 72r, all attrib. Kokesu Kalan; and Baburnama, ‘History of Babur’; c. 1590; London, V&A, I.M. 276 and A-1913 and dispersed). Concurrently, however, he contributed to literary manuscripts in which Safavid conventions of space and landscape predominated: Nizami’s Khamsa (‘Five poems’; miniatures c. 1585; Pontresina, Keir priv. col., fol. 186v) and Amir Shahi’s Divan (collected poems; c. 1588, alternatively dated c. 1595; Cambridge, MA, priv. col.). Two folios in the early stages of the Jami al-tavarikh (‘Compendium of histories’, known as the Chinghiznaman; 1596; Tehran, Gulistan Pal. Lib., fols 72r and 89v) and a double-page composition in the Baburnama (c. 1597; New Delhi, N. Mus., MS. 50.326ff, 185v–186r; attrib. Kesu) indicate that he was part of the imperial workshop at least until 1596–7. However, his absence from all the great literary manuscripts of 1596–8 suggests that about that time he died, or perhaps joined the workshop of the heir-apparent Prince Salim (later the emperor Jahangir, reg 1605–27), if an illustration to the Jog-bashisht, an illustrated Persian translation of a Sanskrit text on Vedanta philosophy commissioned by Salim at Allahabad (1602; Dublin, Chester Beatty Lib., Ind. MS. 5, f. 63) is correctly attributed. Other works also having the unusual feature of the artist’s signature include copies of European engravings found in Jahangir’s albums (the Muraqqa`-i gulshan or Gulshan Album; Tehran, Gulistan Pal. Lib., assembled before 1608; Paris, Mus. Guimet, MA 2476; Paris, Fond. Custodìa, Inst. Néer, inv. 1972-T-8; Amsterdam, Rijksmus., inv. MAK 521; St Louis, MO, A. Mus., gift of J. Lionburger Davis, 403.52; and the Berlin Album, Berlin, Staatsbib., formed after 1609), and two self-portraits (c. 1570, priv. col.; dated 1589, Berlin, Staatsbib., MS. 117, 25r).

• Kesu Das
  • Indian sub., §VI, 4(i)(b): Mughal ptg styles, 16th–19th centuries: Akbar period
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