Selections of Arabic, Persian, and Ottoman Calligraphy: Calligraphers of the Persian Tradition

The Library of Congress has a collection of more than 100 single-page calligraphic sheets containing poetic excerpts in Persian.  These sheets appear to have been extracted from albums (muraqqa^cat) of calligraphies and paintings, fragments of which are maintained in other libraries and art collections such as the Sackler Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.  Unlike the Qur’anic fragments, these sheets do not cover an extremely broad expanse of time and location of production; rather, the signed calligraphies tend to date from the Safavid period (1501-1722) in Iran.

The only calligrapher of the pre-Safavid period whose name emerges in the collection of Persian poetic fragments is that of Sultan ^cAli al-Mashhadi (d. 1514), who was active in a number of Turkman (ca. 1378-1502) and Timurid (ca. 1370-1506) courts, including that of the last Timurid ruler, Sultan Husayn Bayqara (r.1470-1506) in Herat.  He transcribed royal manuscripts, designed inscriptions for buildings, and authored a treatise on calligraphy.  One undated fragment signed by Sultan ^cAli contains the lyric poems (ghazals) of Amir Khusraw Dihlavi written in a small script and in diagonal format (1-84-154.33). Another page signed by Sultan ^cAli, as well as by his pupil Sultan Beyazid (d. 1578), includes verses composed by the mystical poet Hilali delicately written in black or white ink on beige- or blue-colored paper (1-87-154.158). The latter piece exhibits how a master and his pupil may have worked collaboratively, or how fragments may have been arranged onto a gold-flecked album page at a later date to demonstrate the transmission of the craft from one generation of calligraphers to the next.^[ii]

Many more examples of signed calligraphies from the Safavid period exist in the Library of Congress.  Four fragments are signed or attributed to Mir ^cAli Heravi (d. 1544-45), who practiced calligraphy in Herat until he was taken to Bukhara (modern-day Uzbekistan) in 1528-29.  He typically signed his works with the diminutive epithet al-faqir (the “poor” or “lowly”).  His signature is noticeable in a quatrain of Rumi (1-88-154.65) and another series of poetic verses (1-87-154.159) mounted on album pages either decorated with stenciled designs or white-and-blue marbling.

Shah Mahmud al-Nishapuri (d. 1564-65), a celebrated master of nasta^cliq active during the reign of Shah Tahmasp (r. 1524-76), also executed a quatrain (ruba^ci) mounted onto an album page filled with registers of poetic verses (1-87-154.155).  Verses by Amir Khusraw Dihlavi written by Muhammad Husayn, a calligrapher patronized by Shah Isma^cil II (r. 1576-77), and dated 1590, are preserved on a similar album page (1-85-154.89).  Shah Mahmud’s colleague Malik Daylami, who joined him in transcribing a lavish copy of the Haft Awrang (Seven Pavilions) of Jami, ca. 1556-65,^[iii] also seems to have written at least one page of the Munajat (Supplications) of ^cAbdallah Ansari (1-87-154.91), which he signed mashq-i Malik (“composition of Malik”).

Shah Tahmasp’s respected “elderly secretary” (Ikhtiyar al-Munshi), Kamal al-Din Husayn (d. 1566-67) was not only a master of nasta^cliq but also of ta^cliq and tarassul, both epistolary scripts (scripts used for writing letters).  Two of his compositions eulogizing a ruler—in this case certainly the Safavid monarch—show the dexterity of a mature calligrapher who, although blind in one eye, mastered the challenging “outlined” script in gold (1-87-154.157) and in light blue (1-04-713.19.36).  Kamal al-Din arranges his compositions with unequaled artistic flair and technical finesse.

Shah Muhammad al-Mashhadi, a calligrapher originally from the holy city of Mashhad in northeastern Iran, later migrated to India.  In 1560-61 he transcribed a number of poetic verses on beige paper decorated with plants and animals painted in gold and later mounted onto a decorative album page (1-87-154.161).

Shah Muhammad’s contemporary, the famous and prolific Safavid calligrapher Mir ^cImad al-Hasani (d. 1615),^[iv] is well represented in the collections of the Library of Congress; at least seven fragments bear his name.  One item includes verses in Persian and Chaghatay Turkish (1-84-154.3), and a second item contains verses set on a vertical or longitudinal album page typically described as a safinah (literally, “boat”) shape (1-85-154.77). A third fragment consists of a calligraphic practice sheet (siyah mashq) executed on a pale ground signed by Mir ^cImad in a playful fashion (1-84-154.43)--in this instance, he signed his name four times as if he were perfecting the contours of his own autograph. At this time, siyah mashq sheets, which include repeated letters or combinations of letters, became respected as collectible works of art mounted onto album pages rather than considered disposable preparatory calligraphic exercises (1-84-154.44 et seq).^[v]

Rukn al-Din Mas^cud al-Tabib, active at the turn of the 17^th century, is another noteworthy Safavid calligrapher. Rukn al-Din was a royal physician (tabib) to Shah ^cAbbas I (r. 1587-1629) in the Safavid capital city of Isfahan.  After losing favor with the monarch, he journeyed to Balkh (modern-day Afghanistan) and eventually settled in India.  One of his two signed works in the Library of Congress includes a eulogy to a king, perhaps Shah ^cAbbas I, later overpainted and mounted onto a Mughal album page (1-88-154.153). 

Rukn al-Din’s move to India, like that of Shah Muhammad al-Mashhadi’s, helped solidify the Indo-Persian nasta^cliq school.  A selection of 18^th-century fragments calligraphed in nasta^cliq and shikastah serve as a testament to the development of this school over several centuries.  Fragments include twenty-two signed epistolary (insha’) compositions (1-84-154.49 R et seq), as well as calligraphic items signed by ^cAbdallah Lahuri (1-04-713.15.1) and Munshi Ram (1-04-713.19.54).

Nasta^cliq continued to be practiced in the Indian subcontinent while calligraphers active in Iran during the 18^th and 19^th centuries investigated further graphic aspects of script styles and techniques.  As noted previously, one experiment included the revival of naskh (especially within a Qur’anic context); another explored the artistic potential of combining a variety of scripts in a genuine spectacle of calligraphic bravura.  For example, the calligrapher Husayn Zarrin Qalam (The “Golden Pen”) explored the gulzar (literally, “full of flowers”) script in a panel dated 1797-98 (1-85-154.95).  The panel includes plants, animals, and human beings inserted into the calligraphed letters, thus proving itself more inventive than al-Bukhari’s calligraphic panel of Indian provenance (1-2004-713.15.8a).