Category: Fiction
Rights: All rights available
Set in 1640 in Agra, Mirar is among an elite circle of painters illustrating a chronicle of Shah Jahan’s reign.
When he loses a treasured instrument of his craft, his search for a substitute leads him to a forgotten clutch of drawings. They date from his apprenticeship in Kashmir with a celebrated master, Nadir uz-Zaman Abu’l Hasan, over the summer into autumn of 1627. As long-buried memories begin to surface, Mirar is forced to confront the events, some more devastating than others, that have shaped his ambitions and his life as an artist.
Told through an unreliable narrator and moving between two days separated by time and place, Mirar explores how memory, art and self-invention can reshape the past. It is a companion to Mansur: A Novel (2022), returning to the world of Mughal miniature painting while offering a distinct and deeply personal portrait of the artist behind the image.
The authors: Vikramjit Ram