ʿABD-AL-JABBĀR B. ḤĀJJĪ ʿALĪ MONŠĪ ASTARĀBĀDĪ, calligrapher of the taʿlīq script and bookpainter. He worked at the court of Khan Aḥmad II of Gīlān (943-75/1536 to 1567-68) in the latter’s first period of government. After Khan Aḥmad rebelled against Shah Ṭahmāsp and was arrested, ʿAbd-al-Jabbār went to Qazvīn, the Safavid capital, where he established an atelier for painters. The apparently sole account of him indicates that he was much favored by the amirs and nobles, and his enjoyment of court life left him little time to work (Eskandar Beg, tr. Savory, p. 272). He returned to Gīlān with Khan Aḥmad, in the reign of Moḥammad Shah (985-89/1577-81).
Bibliography
T. Arnold, Painting in Islam, Oxford, 1928, pp. 142-43.
I. Stchoukine, Les peintures des manuscrits safavis de 1502 à 1587, Paris, p. 27.
Cite this article
D. Duda, “'Abd-Al-Jabbar Astarabadi,” Encyclopædia Iranica, I/2, p. 118; an updated version is available online at http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/abd-al-jabbar-astarabadi-16th-century-calligrapher (accessed on 15 January 2014).