| PREVIOUS | NEXT | NEW SEARCH |
Selections of Arabic, Persian, and Ottoman Calligraphy
|
Sample calligraphies
AUTHOR/CREATOR
Calligrapher: Hakim Sayyid Hamid 'Abbas al-Taqawi al-Bukhari
CREATED/PUBLISHED
18th-19th centuries
NOTES
Script: various
This panel's main inscription is contained in an elongated oval and reads: Khan Bahadur Sayyid 'Ayn al-Din Sahib Madar al-Mahamm Riyasat Ditya Dama Iqbaluhu. The ruler's name Ditya (?) and his many titles including "center of important affairs" (madar al-mahamm) establish his high rank. The term bahadur in particular points to a Mughal Indian provenance, as this honorific designation was the sixth highest title conferred to Mughal officers and, later, also given to the second class of the Order of British India.
The inscription is executed in a number of different scripts, which are labeled by small notes in black ink immediately above or below the word to which they correspond. For example, the terms Khan Bahadur are written in rayhani script (khatt-i rayhan), 'Ayn al-Din in ghubar (dust) script (khatt-i ghubar), Sahib in afshan (gold sprinkling) script (khatt-i afshan), Madar al-Mahamm in gulzar (flower garden) script (khatt-i gulzar), and Riyasat Ditya Dama Iqbaluhu in mahi (fish) script (khatt-i mahi). The sheer variety of scripts, some of which include flower and fish motifs, reveals the calligrapher's mastery of the art.
The calligrapher Hakim Sayyid Hamid 'Abbas al-Taqawi al-Bukhari has included his name in the center of the bottom horizontal margin, where he states that he has written the work (katabahu). Although he is unknown, his name suggests that he was originally from the city of Bukhara in modern-day Uzbekistan. He probably migrated to India to seek patronage from a Mughal patron such as Ditya, for whom he executed this panel of his honorifics.
Panels executed in a variety of scripts, especially those which utilize the flower and fish scripts, seem to date from the 18th and 19th centuries and were made in Iran and India. For example, a calligraphic panel executed by the Persian calligrapher Husayn Zarrin Qalam in 1212/1797-8 held in the collections of the Library of Congress (1-85-154.95) also includes a number of whimsical scripts and motifs. Panels such as these appear to have been used as wall hangings, as this fragment indicates by the remaining attached string at the top of the panel. Perhaps also intended for their protective powers, they could include specific Qur'anic verses such as ayat al-kursi (the Throne Verse, Qur'an 2:255), part of which appears in the center of the fragment's top horizontal margin.
SUBJECT
Arabic script calligraphy
Illuminated Islamic manuscripts
Islamic calligraphy
Arabic calligraphy
Islamic manuscripts
MEDIUM
none given
CALL NUMBER
1-2004-713.15.8a
REPOSITORY
Library of Congress, African and Middle Eastern Division, Washington, D.C. 20540
DIGITAL ID
ascs 256
http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.amed/ascs.256
| PREVIOUS | NEXT | NEW SEARCH |