through his participation in textile

through the metaphor of cloth. Writing of representations of the king in early medieval India, Daud Ali describes how “his sovereignty was conceived of as adhering to his person like a vast array of ornaments,” and we might say the same for later Mughal paintings, too. Textiles adorning the strong and fit body of the emperor symbolized the vastness and economic health of the empire, which burgeoned further through his participation in textile trade. Abu’l Fazl, Akbar’s court historian, noted that the emperor devoted “much attention” to numerous textiles that were regional specialties since pre-Mughal times. Indeed, Akbar heavily supported textile production in his empire. But given the importance of textile patronage in early modern South Asia สล็อต