It is also significant due to its subject matter, as no other surviving Bijapur paintings portray the dynasty's members together, from the founder to the last ruler.

Genealogical paintings of this sort, emphasizing the rulers' lineage, are known in Mughal art, and one of the most famous examples of this is the Princes of the House of Timur in the British Museum.

Stuart Cary Welch thus describes the work as "a painted curtain call", as in, the last appearance of a group of actors to receive an ovation, before the play ended.

[1] The layout of The House of Bijapur seems to be taken from a painting by Govardhan dated to about 1630-1640, depicting Babur receiving the imperial crown from his ancestor Timur, as Humayun looks on.

[6] While directly inspired from Mughal art, the artists have deliberately incorporated traditional elements of the Bijapur school in the painting.

The shifts in scale and perspective, sometimes illogical, such as the stairs leading up to the carpet without any support, are meant to convey an otherworldly mood.

Some scholars are of the opinion that this alludes to the short period of time the Adil Shahis controlled the Goan coast, thus representing the kingdom at its zenith.

The slice of ocean also functions as an arrow, subtly pointing down towards the central figure of the painting, the dynastic patriarch Yusuf Adil Shah.

The painting portrays eight of the nine rulers of the Bijapur Sultanate, leaving out only Mallu Adil Khan, whose reign lasted for only seven months.

He is dressed in a green robe, the color symbolizing spiritual authority, and seated on a gilded throne, with a golden key in his right hand, a sword in his left, and with his right foot atop a globe.

However, scholars including Zebrowski assert that this inscription is a later, erroneous addition, and that the figure is likely Shah Ismail or Safi-ad-Din Ardabili.

Ibrahim II is shown as pale-skinned, with an elongated face, and wearing a bejeweled turban characteristic of the time period of his reign.

[7] At the base of the painting are two attendants resting their hands on a staff on the left, and a groom with a horse on the right, with a small staircase in the middle.