Raja Bikram Singh of Guler (r. 1661–75) Smoking a Hookah

c. 1680

Raja Bikram Singh of Guler (r. 1661–75) Smoking a Hookah, c. 1680. Northern India, Himachal Pradesh, Pahari Kingdom of Chamba. Gum tempera and gold on paper; page: 21.7 x 28.8 cm (8 9/16 x 11 5/16 in.); image: 17.2 x 24.4 cm (6 3/4 x 9 5/8 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Purchase and partial gift from the Catherine and Ralph Benkaim Collection; Severance and Greta Millikin Purchase Fund 2018.89 The portrait of Raja Bikram Singh is the earliest depiction of a Guler chief and was produced in Chamba, possibly under the patronage of Raja Chattar Singh (r. 1664–90). The painting bears several features of early portraiture in Chamba—a straight Hookah pipe, striped trousers, large bolsters, and the sitting posture of the raja. Raja Bikram Singh was famed for his physical strength and could break a coconut into pieces with his fingers