When1: 780
When2: 1100
What: calligrapher
Where: Iran
works\ aqlam al-sitta or six hands style [780 to 1100]
Detail: Islamic cursive calligraphy had six hands or styles {aqlam al-sitta} used in Iran before ta'liq style: Naskh, Thuluth, Muhaqqaq, Rihani, Tauqi, and Riqa.
Naskh is regular and balanced. Seljuks in Iran used Naskh for correspondence and literature. Ibn Muqla [? to 939] of Shiraz applied rules to existing naskh. Letters fit into a circle whose vertical diameter represented the alef letter. Calligraphers measured lines by dots. Ahmad-i Nayrizi and Ibn al-Bawwab [? to 1022] wrote proportioned naskh scripts. Mirza Ahmad Nayrizi [1800 to 1850] used naskh.
Thuluth is an impressive script used mosque, monument, and plaque titles. Rounded letters can intersect above and below lines. Imamzadeh Mahruq used thuluth. The Safavid calligrapher Ali Reza Abbasi used thuluth in Isfahan and Mashhad mosques. Muhaqqaq is narrower than thuluth. Rihani is like muhaqqaq, but smaller. Riqa is a small script used in documents.
Ta'liq and nasta'liq appeared in Iran in 14th century and dominated in 15th and 16th centuries. Ta'liq has short thin verticals and broad horizontals. In 14th century, Mir Ali Tabrizi developed nasta'liq from ta'liq for poetry.
Sayyid Shafua of Herat changed nasta'liq to shikastah (broken script) in 17th century. Shikastah fills spaces between words and sentences.
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Date Modified: 2022.0224