The Elephant Fight

The Mughals were fascinated by the elephant. Nay, their interest in the elephant almost verged on infatuation. As much as they were impressed with its sharp intelligence and indispensability in the battlefield, they enjoyed watching the deadly sport of the elephant fight.

In this painting, the artist has frozen the drama and fury of the moment when the royal elephant collides with the rebel one. We see the fight of two giant pachyderms, especially trained by their mahouts or even drugged. The elephants here have bulky bodies with large foreheads; their flapping ears are dramatically drawn with only one of them having tusks. In comparison to the gigantic bodies, the tails are short and thin. The intermingled trunks appear like the ram's horns. The elephant on the left is smaller in size, its rear limbs are a trifle awkwardly drawn but solves the purpose of showing strength exerted against the opponent.

The colours of the subject merge with that of the background, but for the sharp, thin lines that outline the animals.

This description by Renu Rana.