The Institutes of Akbar 73.9

73.9

The eighth character which I have to mention is the Nasta’liq: it consists entirely of round lines. They say that Mir ’Alí of Tabriz, a contemporary of Timur, derived it from the Naskh and the Ta’liq; but this can scarcely be correct, because there exist books in the Nasta’liq character, written before Timur’s time. Of Mir ’Alí’s pupils I may mention two: Mauláná Ja’far of Tabriz, and Maulana Azhar; and of other caligraphists in Ta’liq, Mauláná Muhammad of Aubah (near Herat), an excellent writer; Mauláná Baqí of Herat; and Mauláná Sultán ’Ali of Mashhad, who surpasses them all. He imitated the writing of Maulana Azhar, though he did not learn from him personally. Six of his pupils are well known: Sultán Muhammad i Khandán; Sultán Muhammad Núr; Maulana ’Aláuddin of Herat; Maulana Zainuddin (of Níshápúr); Mauláná ’Abdi of Nishápúr; Muhammad Qásim Shádí Sháh, each of whom possessed some distinguishing qualities.