Akbar was a keen hunter and outdoor sportsman but he was also interested in music, poetry, art and architecture. He was taught to paint by two Persian artists, Mir Sayyd Ali and Khanaja Abdul Samad, and then established extensive art workshops so that these Persian masters could work with local Hindu artists. The school rapidly became quite independent from Persia and was then known as the Mughal School. The style of paintings from the school is much richer and more detailed than Jain painting style followed up to then by Indian artists, and the themes are more varied. Akbar's court sponsored large illustrated books, like the famous Hamsa Nama (a Persian romantic poem) which had 1,400 illustrations on cloth, and the Akbar Nama (Akbar's life history). Other paintings show stories… Click here to read more