Mughal painting is a classical Indian art form and a style of South Asian (particularly North India) miniature painting that usually took the form of book illustrations or single sheets preserved in albums (muraqqa). Mughal art is known for its sophisticated designs and diversity in subjects and themes.
Mughal painting originated in the courts of the Mughal Emperors between the 16th and 19th centuries and emerged from the Persian miniature painting tradition with additional Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain influences. Miniature painting was already evolving under the Delhi Sultanate (16th century), but it began to adopt a more realistic style of portraiture & drawing plants & animals under the Mughal empire.
Mughal painting was a synthesis of Indian & Persian elements. Battles, legendary stories, hunting scenes, wildlife, royal life, mythology, as well as other subjects have all been often depicted in paintings. One of the prominent subjects of Mughal painting was realistic portraiture, normally in profile, and influenced by Western prints. Another popular subject area was realistic studies of animals and plants, mostly flowers. Under the reign of Akbar, a large number of heavily illustrated books in Persian were introduced as well.