RAS question
Nihal Chand was a famous painter of which school?
Correct answer: (A) Kishangarh.
Nihal Chand was the master painter associated with the Kishangarh school of Rajasthani painting.
Explanation
Nihal Chand belongs to the Kishangarh school. Britannica identifies Kishangarh painting as an 18th-century school of the Rajasthani style that arose in the princely state of Kishangarh, and it names Nihal Chand as the master artist largely responsible for turning his patron's romantic and religious passions into a distinctive visual language. The standard exam clue is the same: Nihal Chand is linked with the famous Bani Thani portrait, while Kishangarh painting is recognised for its refined, individual facial type and devotional Radha-Krishna mood. Therefore, when the question asks for Nihal Chand's painting school, the substantive answer is Kishangarh, not a general Rajasthani category or another court tradition.
Why the other options are wrong
- (B) Bundi is a separate Rajasthani painting centre, but Nihal Chand and Bani Thani are specifically linked to Kishangarh, not Bundi.
- (C) Jaipur had its own court painting tradition and different painters, whereas Encyclopaedia Britannica names Nihal Chand in the Kishangarh context.
- (D) Mewar is associated here with Sahibdin, while Nihal Chand's exam-relevant identification is with the Kishangarh school and the Bani Thani image.
Concept
This tests Rajasthan's miniature-painting schools and their signature artists. RAS repeats such pairings because art-history questions often hinge on matching a court style with its best-known painter or work.