A Mughal Songbook: Art, Music and Empire

The songbook of Sophia Elizabeth Plowden, with lyrics of Rekhtah ghazal by Asaf al-Dawlah, Nawab of Avadh and Punjabi tappah, ink, opaque watercolours, and gold on paper, Lucknow, India, 1787-88, © Fitzwilliam Museum Cambridge.

A Mughal Songbook: Art, Music and Empire, is an upcoming display at the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge. It reveals the intricate pages of the illustrated songbook, which is a book that gave rise to a cross-cultural appreciation of Hindustani music. 

Containing seventy-seven songs written in Persian, Urdu, Classical Hindi, and Punjabi, this manuscript offers a window into the visual and performing arts of late Mughal South Asia, illuminating the relationships between singers, dancers, courtesans, poets, and the books and objects they cherished. 

At the core of A Mughal Songbook is the story of Sophia Elizabeth Plowden (1751–1834), and her exquisite book of lyrics and music notation, dated 1787–88. In it, Plowden recorded and illustrated the music she encountered in North Indian courtly gatherings during a period of transition between the Mughal and British Empires. 

The illustrated songbook ultimately gave rise to the colonial phenomenon of ‘Hindustani Airs’ – Hindustani songs adapted and performed by British elites on the harpsichord. This talk will give audiences a sneak peek at this upcoming exhibition and re-enliven the sensory world of Islamic and South Asian art, evoking the sounds, images, and textures emerging from late Mughal culture.

This event is in collaboration with Art, Resources and Teaching Trust.