Som Prakash Verma is former Professor at the Department of History, Aligarh Muslim University, India and superannuated in 2004. He was Senior Academic Fellow at the Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR) (2013-15); Tagore National Fellow (2010-12); Emeritus Fellow at the University Grants Commission (2007-9); Senior Fellow at ICHR (2007-9); and Fulbright Fellow at the Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC (1986-7). He is also a practising artist and recipient of two awards from the Academy of Fine Arts, Calcutta (1981) and the Indian Academy of Fine Arts, Amritsar (1982). His publications include The Illustrated Baburnama (2016); Mughal Paintings (2014); Interpreting Mughal Painting: Essays on Art, Society and Culture (2009); 1857: An Illustrated History (2008); Painting the Mughal Experience (2005); Mughal Painter of Flora and Fauna: Ustad Mansur (1999); and Mughal Painters and Their Work: A Bibliographical Survey and Comprehensive Catalogue (1994).