Raja Chattar Singh smoking c. 1680 Northern India, Himachal Pradesh, Pahari Kingdom of Chamba Page: 19.7 x 16.4 cm (7 3/4 x 6 7/16 in.); Image: 15.3 x 12.6 cm (6 x 4 15/16 in.) Purchase and partial gift from the Catherine and Ralph Benkaim Collection; Severance and Greta Millikin Purchase Fund 2018.109 DID YOU KNOW? The Raja wears a Central Asian robe instead of the popular Mughal jama. DESCRIPTION Raja Chattar Singh’s reign is considered a period of prosperity for Chamba which resulted in the expansion of boundaries and economic prosperity. He is best known for defying Aurangzeb’s orders to demolish all the Hindu temples in his realm, and instead installed copper gilts on the temples which exist to this day. INSCRIPTION śrī raja chatara sīgha cībeyaḷa INSCRIPTION TRANSLATION Raja Chattar Singh of Chamba INSCRIPTION REMARK Identification of the person in the portrait INSCRIPTION rājā catara siṃgha cambā vāla INSCRIPTION TRANSLATION Raja Chattar Singh of Chamba PROVENANCE ?-2012 (Doris Weiner, New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art) 2012-2018 Catherine Glynn Benkaim and Barbara Timmer, Beverly Hills, CA, partial sale and gift to the Cleveland Museum of Art 2018- The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH