Located within the City Palace complex and nestled amidst old buildings, temples and the palace quarters, this museum was founded in 1959 by Maharaja Sawai Man Singh II. The exhibits comprise of the ancestral collections built up by the successive rulers of Amer and Jaipur, and is presently run by a public charitable trust. A small selection of paintings, manuscripts, weapons and armours was displayed in the 'Pothikhana' (library) and the 'Silehkhana' or armoury (both of these in their present form, were established in 1952) of the palace.

However, the collection remained exclusive and was shown only to selective visitors and dignitaries with the special permission of the Maharaja. In 1959, this private museum consisting of the Pothikhana and the Silehkhana was thrown open to public and a new Textile and Costume gallery was added to it.

General Information
Main Attraction
Ancestral Collection Of House Of Amer, Jaipur.
Location
Inside City Palace, Jaipur, Rajasthan
Best Time
9.30 A.M. to 4.45 P.M.
Timing : 9.30 A.M. to 4.45 PM.

Exhibits / Collection
The Art Gallery is housed in the Diwan-i-Aam constructed for holding important State functions. A variety of objects-miniature paintings, illustrated manuscripts, decorated bookcovers, palm-leaf and Sanchipat manuscripts, old printed books, gigantic Mughal carpets, gold and silver Takhis-Rawan (movable throne), covered Ambabadis and open Howdahs, palanquins and carriages with richly embroidered velvet coverings are displayed in this gallery. The museum has a splendid collection of miniature paintings including two unique and priceless manuscripts of the Persian translation of the two Hindu epics, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. The latter work, specially made for the use of Emperor Akbar, known as the 'Razmnama', contains illustrations made by the greatest Mughal painters and is reported to have cost seventy two thousand gold mohurs in 1584-85 AD. Besides the finest miniatures of Amer-Jaipur school, evident in the illustrations of the Ragamala, Bhagavata Purana, Devi Mahatmya etc., good examples of early and later Mughal schools, Deccanese schools and fair specimens from Bikaner, Malwa, Bundi, Kota, Jodhpur, Kishangarh etc., are also represented. A fine collection of astronomical books in Arabic, Persian, Latin and Sanskrit acquired by Sawai Jai Singh for study of the planets and their movements, an old copy of the Ain-i-Akbari and its Hindi translation done in 1797 AD and a rare manuscript on 146 forms of Saligram, Surdas' Padavali (contemporary copy) and the earliest copy of Bihari's Satsai are also on display. This manuscript collection consists of nearly 16,000 volumes.
There are rare bird and animal studies by Ustad Mansur and court scenes, battle scenes, portraits and mythological paintings by famous Mughal painters. Important examples of the Jaipur school consisting of life size portrait-studies of the Maharajas by Sahib Ram and the leading painters of the courts of Maharaja Ishwari Singh, Madho Singh I, Pratap Singh and Lagat Singh have been displayed in the gallery.

The large carpets displayed against the eastern and western walls of the art gallery were manufactured in the Mughal carpet factories at Agra and Lahore during the reign of Emperor Shahjahan. These are said to have been collected by Mirza Raja Jai Singh to decorate some of his newly-built palaces at Amer. Attention should be drawn here to the large Kishangarh masterpieces of Raja Sawant Singh and Bani Thani personified as Krishna and Radha and to a set of large cloth paintings from Hyderabad and Jaipur. Other objects on display in this section include book covers, paper cuttings, postage stamps and coins of the old Jaipur State, old photographs and negatives, old furniture, glassware and other decorative objects of art.

The 'Silehkhana' or the Armoury of the museum is housed in a beautifully decorated suite of rooms. It has one of the largest and finest collections of edged weapons and antique handguns in the country. The edged weapons include swords, curved Persian Unnas, slightly curved Mughal Shamshers, 'talwars', double-edged 'Khandas', pointed 'Guptis' and 'Asas', dagger-broad 'Jamdhars', curved 'Jamkhas', long and narrow 'katars', hiltless 'hanbwas' and 'Chhuris', lances, axes, knives and arrows of various shapes and sizes.