ĀQĀ ZANJĀNĪ, MĪRZĀ, also known as Ḵamsaʾī, a calligrapher active between 1286/1869-70 and 1307/1890. He belonged to the retinue of…

ĀQĀ REŻĀ HERAVĪ, a painter closely associated with Prince Salīm, the later Emperor Jahāngīr, during the latter’s residence in Allahabad…

ĀQĀ MĪRAK, Sayyed JALĀL-AL-DĪN ḤOSAYNĪ (or Ḥasanī) EṢFAHĀNĪ, prominent painter of the 10th/16th century in the workshop of the Safavid…

ʿALĪ or MĪR ʿALĪ TABRĪZĪ, 8th/14th century calligrapher who is often credited with the invention of the nastaʿlīq script. Little…

ʿALĪ-REŻĀ ABBĀSĪ TABRĪZĪ, 10th-11th/16th-17th century calligrapher born and trained in Tabrīz but active principally in Qazvīn and Isfahan. His birth…

ʿĀLĪ QĀPŪ (literally “lofty gateway”), a five-storied building overlooking the Maydān-e Šāh of Isfahan from the west (Figure 32). The…

ʿALĪ-QOLĪ JOBBA-DĀR, painter active in Qazvīn and Isfahan during the late 11th/17th and early 12th/18th centuries. According to Loṭf-ʿAlī Beg…

ʿALĪ QĀʾENĪ, usually known as SOLṬĀN-ʿALĪ, calligrapher active in Herat and Tabrīz during the late 9th/15th and early 10th/16th centuries….

ʿALĪ HERAVĪ, also known as MĪR ʿALĪ KĀTEB ḤOSAYNĪ, a calligrapher active in Herat, Mašhad, and Bukhara from the late…

AḤMAD MŪSĀ, 8th/14th century painter. Despite the prominence given him in modern scholarly writing, he remains a vague figure. All…

AFŻAL AL-ḤOSAYNĪ, painter active during the reign of Shah ʿAbbās II (1052-77/1642-66). The principal evidence of him comes from an…

AFŠĀN (“sprinkling”), the decoration of paper with flecks of gold and silver, sometimes called zarafšān “gold sprinkling” (an expression otherwise…

ABU’L-QĀSEM ʿABDALLĀH KĀŠĀNĪ, historian of the reign of the Il-khan Olǰāytū (r. 703-16/1304-16) and member of the Abū Ṭāher family…

ABU’L-FAŻL B. FAŻLALLĀH MAJD-AL-DĪN MOḤAMMAD SĀVAJĪ (1248-1312/1832-95), a scholar, calligrapher, poet, and physician active in Qajar court circles. His father…

ʿABDĪ NĪŠĀPŪRĪ, also known as ʿABDĪ QALANDAR and ʿABDĪ ŠĀHĪ, calligrapher and poet active in the first half of the…

ʿABDALLĀH ṢAYRAFĪ, influential calligrapher of the 8th/14th century in Iran (d. after 746/1345-46). He was the son of Ḵᵛāǰa Maḥmūd…

ʿABDALLĀH ŠĪRĀZĪ, painter and illuminator of the late 10th/16th century. According to Qāżī Aḥmad (p. 146; tr., pp. 189-90) he…

ʿABDALLĀH B. ŠAMS-AL-DĪN MOḤAMMAD MORVĀRĪD KERMĀNĪ, ŠEHĀB-AL-DĪN (d. Raǰab, 922/August, 1516), Timurid court official, poet, scribe, and musician. His father,…

ʿABDALLĀH BOḴĀRĪ, a painter active in Bokhara during the middle decades of the 16th century. His paintings are very similar…

ʿABDALLĀH HERAVĪ, ŠEHĀB-AL-DĪN (“Ṭabbāḵ” or “Āšpaz”), mid-8th/15th century calligrapher active in Herat, Samarqand, and Mašhad. His major contribution appears to…

ʿABDALLĀH ḤOSAYNĪ, a scribe and poet in the service of the Mughal emperors Akbar and Jahāngīr. While in their employ…

ʿABD-AL-VAHHĀB MAŠHADĪ, a calligrapher of the 10th/16th century who lived most of his life in Mašhad. His fame derives largely…

ʿABD-AL-VĀḤED MAŠHADĪ, calligrapher active during the first half of the 10th/16th century. He is said to have been a disciple…

ʿABD-AL-ṢAMAD ŠĪRĀZĪ, painter, calligrapher, and courtier; he entered the service of Homāyūn at Kabul in 956/1549 and remained an important…

ʿABD-AL-RAŠĪD DAYLAMĪ, a calligrapher and poet who served the Mughal ruler Shah Jahān (1037-58/1628-58). Born in Qazvīn to a family…

ʿABD-AL-RAḤMĀN KᵛĀRAZMĪ, calligrapher specializing in nastaʿlīq, active during the middle decades of the 9th/15th century. His earliest known work is…

ʿABD-AL-RAḤĪM B. ʿABD-AL-RAḤMĀN ḴᵛĀRAZMĪ, calligrapher and poet active in western Iran during the second half of the 9th/15th century. Apparently…

ʿABD-AL-MAJĪD ṬĀLAQĀNĪ, revered as the calligrapher who gave šekasta script its definitive form. Born in the Ṭālaqān district of Qazvīn…

ʿABD-AL-ḤAYY, ḴᵛĀJĀ, miniaturist of the late 8th/14th century and the beginning of the 9th/15th century. The earliest patron with whom…

ʿABD-AL-ḤAMĪD B. ʿABD-AL-MAJĪD B. ŠOKRALLĀH MALEK-AL-KALĀMĪ, calligrapher, poet, and government official. Born in Sanandaǰ in 1302/1884-85, he died in Tehran…

ʿABD-AL-BĀQĪ YAZDĪ, Safavid official and poet skilled in calligraphy, killed at the battle of Čālderān in Raǰab, 920/August, 1514. He…