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Manuscript/Mixed Material Sample calligraphies

About this Item

Title

  • Sample calligraphies

Names

  • Hakim Sayyid Hamid 'Abbas al-Taqawi al-Bukhari

Created / Published

  • 18th-19th centuries

Headings

  • -  Calligraphy, Arabic
  • -  Calligraphy, Persian
  • -  Manuscripts, Arabic--Washington (D.C.)
  • -  India
  • -  Calligraphy, Indian
  • -  Arabic script calligraphy
  • -  Illuminated Islamic manuscripts
  • -  Islamic calligraphy
  • -  Islamic manuscripts

Notes

  • -  Sample calligraphies from India, Central Asian and Persia (Shared Content) Arabic, Persian, Turkish, Urdu and Uzbek)
  • -  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.
  • -  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.
  • -  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.
  • -  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.
  • -  Script: various
  • -  1-2004-713.15.8a

Medium

  • 1 volume ; none given

Repository

  • Library of Congress African and Middle Eastern Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA

Digital Id

Library of Congress Control Number

  • 2019714565

Online Format

  • pdf
  • image

Additional Metadata Formats

IIIF Presentation Manifest

Rights & Access

The contents of the Library of Congress Selections of Arabic, Persian, and Ottoman Calligraphy are in the public domain or have no known copyright restrictions and are free to use and reuse.

Credit Line: Library of Congress, African and Middle East Division, Near East Section Persian Manuscript Collection

Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

Hakim Sayyid Hamid 'Abbas Al-Taqawi Al-Bukhari. Sample Calligraphies. 18th-19th Centuries. Manuscript/Mixed Material. https://www.loc.gov/item/2019714565/.

APA citation style:

Hakim Sayyid Hamid 'Abbas Al-Taqawi Al-Bukhari. Sample Calligraphies. 18th-19th Centuries. [Manuscript/Mixed Material] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/2019714565/.

MLA citation style:

Hakim Sayyid Hamid 'Abbas Al-Taqawi Al-Bukhari. Sample Calligraphies. 18th-19th Centuries. Manuscript/Mixed Material. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/2019714565/>.