Raja Sansar Chand attacking Kangra Fort (after 1782): Art, History and Details

Raja Sansar Chand attacking Kangra Fort (after 1782) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

In 1782, the 17-year-old king of Kangra fought to retake his ancestral kingdom from the Mughals, who had controlled the territory since 1620. He rides a dark brown horse in front of the camel at the far right, blending in among his army and allies. The leftmost panel shows the residents of Kangra fleeing the conflict with their belongings on their heads to the safety of the fortress at the far left, from the walls where cannons are being fired. The main temple, built of gray stone, is in the middle of the composition, marked by red flags.

Object facts

• Title: Raja Sansar Chand attacking Kangra Fort
• Date: after 1782
• Culture: Northern India, Pahari kingdom of Kangra
• Type: Painting
• Technique: Gum tempera, ink, and gold on cotton cloth
• Dimensions: overall with border: 81.3 x 264 cm (32 x 103 15/16 in.); Painting only: 73 x 256.5 cm (28 3/4 x 101 in.)
• Collection: Indian Art
• Department: Indian and Southeast Asian Art
• Accession number: 2018.120

A detail from the museum

The king is 17 years old, beardless, riding a dark brown steed in front of the camel at the far right.

Collection credit

Purchase and partial gift from the Catherine and Ralph Benkaim Collection; Severance and Greta Millikin Purchase Fund

Further reading listed by the museum

• Griswold, William, Cameron Kitchin, Chase F. Robinson, Cleveland Museum of Art, Cincinnati Art Museum, and National Museum of Asian Art (Smithsonian Institution). Pahari Paintings: Art and Stories, edited by Sonya Rhie Mace, Sarang Sharma, and Vijay Sharma. Cleveland, Ohio: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2026.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.