RAS question
Blue Pottery of Jaipur traces its origins to which cultural tradition, and who is credited with its revival in the 20th century?
Correct answer: (C) Turko-Persian tradition; revived by Kripal Singh Shekhawat.
Jaipur Blue Pottery traces its roots to the Turko-Persian tradition brought through Mughal artisans, and its 20th-century revival is credited to Kripal Singh Shekhawat.
Explanation
Jaipur Blue Pottery is not a clay-pottery tradition in the ordinary sense; it has Turko-Persian roots and arrived through Mughal artisans, while the Rajasthan Tourism page says blue pottery came to Jaipur from Persia and Afghanistan and is associated with Mughal-era arabesque designs. Its decline by the early 20th century makes the revivalist part of the question decisive. Business Standard's IANS report identifies Kripal Singh Shekhawat as the artist responsible for reviving the traditional craft of Jaipur Blue Pottery. That matches option C: origin in the Turko-Persian cultural stream and revival by Kripal Singh Shekhawat, who modernised designs while retaining traditional methods.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) Afghanistan appears in the wider transmission route, but the keyed tradition is Turko-Persian through Mughal artisans, and the revival is credited to Kripal Singh Shekhawat rather than Ram Gopal Vijayvargiya.
- (B) The transmission route points to Persia, Afghanistan and Mughal-era designs, not a Chinese porcelain origin, and Maharaja Sawai Man Singh II is not the named revivalist.
- (D) Blue Pottery of Jaipur is linked here to a Turko-Persian-Mughal craft lineage, not South Indian temple art, and the revival is attributed to Kripal Singh Shekhawat rather than Rajmata Gayatri Devi.
Concept
This tests Rajasthan's craft traditions, especially how courtly and trans-regional influences entered local art forms. It recurs in RAS because handicrafts such as Jaipur Blue Pottery combine cultural origin, patronage and modern revival in one exam-friendly fact cluster.