ii. ART AND ARCHITECTURE The development of centers of Islamic culture and learning in the Deccan under the Bahmanid sultans…

ʿABD-AL-KARĪM B. ʿABD-AL-RAḤMĀN ḴᵛĀRAZMĪ, a poet and calligrapher living in western Iran during the late 9th/15th century (Plate III). He…

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

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

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

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…

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

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

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

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

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

Figure 1. General View of Ali Qapu Palace, Real Photo Postcard, 1930s, Unknown publisher (Personal Collection of Amirali Ardekanian) ʿĀLĪ…

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

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

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

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

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 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 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…

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

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…

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

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

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

ESKANDAR SOLṬĀN b. ʿOmar Šayḵ b. Tīmūr (786-818/1384-1415), Timurid prince who ruled a succession of cities in western Persia between…

CINTĀMAṆI, the “wish-fulfilling jewel,” a motif consisting of either a single globe with a pointed extension at the apex or…

BEHZĀD, KAMĀL-AL-DĪN, master painter, proverbial for his skill, active in Herat during the reign of the Timurid Ḥosayn Bāyqarā (875-912/1470-1506)….

BĀBĀ JĀN ḴORĀSĀNĪ, also known as Ḥāfeẓ Bābā Jān Torbatī, calligrapher, poet, and craftsman the first half of the 10th/16th…

HAFEZ xii. HAFEZ AND THE VISUAL ARTS The extensive scholarship devoted to the poetry of Hafez has not yet extended…

ḠĪĀṮ-AL-DĪN NAQQĀŠ, a painter (naqqāš) active in Herat in about 822-30/1419-30, where he was in the employ of the Timurid…

BAHRĀM MĪRZĀ (923-57/1517-49), youngest son of Shah Esmāʿīl by a Mowsullū Turkman wife and full brother of Shah Ṭahmāsb; he…

ART IN IRAN, History of vii. Islamic pre-Safavid This article will present the broad history of artistic development in Iran…

BĀBĀ SHAH ESFAHĀNĪ, calligrapher and poet who lived in Isfahan and Baghdad where he died in 996/1587-88. He was famous…

ETTINGHAUSEN, RICHARD (1906-79), a German-born and educated scholar specializing in the study of Islamic art (Figure 1). His career was…

EBRĀHĪM ṬEHRĀNĪ, also known as Mīrzā ʿAmū, a calligrapher specializing in the nastaʿlīq script. One of the principal students of…

EBRĀHĪM SOLṬĀN b. Šāhroḵ, Timurid prince, ruler of Shiraz, military commander, and renowned calligrapher (796-838/1394-35). At his instigation and with…

DĪVĀNANAQQĀŠ, 15th-century painter whose work is known primarily from single-page paintings preserved in the Topkapı Sarayı library, Istanbul. His name…

“DEMOTTE” ŠĀH-NĀMA, illustrated manuscript, now dispersed, of Ferdowsī’s epic poem, often identified by the name of a former owner, the…

DECORATION, the use of consciously designed patterns to embellish building surfaces and objects for aesthetic effect, one of the most…

COLOR (Pers. rang). i. Color symbolism in Persian literature. ii. Use and importance of color in Persian art. i. Color…