[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Studies](https://indike.org/pramana/ins) › [Architecture and art](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art) › [A History of Fine Art in India and Ceylon, from the Earliest Times to the Present Day](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.smith-1911) › c19.s3 # A History of Fine Art in India and Ceylon, from the Earliest Times to the Present Day c19.s3: Section IV. Calligraphy and Decorative Reliefs A History of Fine Art in India and Ceylon, from the Earliest Times to the Present Day c19.s3 - **Language:** English ### Section IV. Calligraphy and Decorative Reliefs ### [c19.s3.1](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.smith-1911.c19.s3.1) The Arabic alphabet in its various forms, as used for writing both the Arabic and Persian languages, is so well adapted for decorative purposes, as will be explained more fully in Chapter XIV, that almost every Muhammadan building of importance is freely adorned with texts from the Koran or other inscriptions arranged decoratively to form part of the architectural design, and often signed as the work of famous calligraphists. A good early Indian example of such calligraphic decoration is afforded by the great arch of the Ajmēr mosque (\*ante\*, Pl. XCI), where the outer line of writing is in the angular Kufic script, while the other lines are in a more rounded Arabic character. ### [c19.s3.2](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.smith-1911.c19.s3.2) Later examples from Indo-Muhammadan buildings of all styles and ages might be multiplied indefinitely. It will suffice to exhibit in a single plate three small choice specimens, one from Bengal, and two from edifices of the early Mughal period; the latter being exquisitely combined with floral devices (Plate XCIX); and in another plate an example on a larger scale (Plate C). In some cases, as in the \*mihrāb\* illustrated, the effect was heightened by gilding and colour, with charming results. ### [c19.s3.3](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.smith-1911.c19.s3.3) Musalman figure sculpture in the round has, as we have seen, slight artistic value and is interesting chiefly as a curiosity. But Musalman decorative sculpture in bas-relief applied to architecture may fairly claim on its merits to take at least equal rank with first-rate Italian work of the kind. ### [c19.s3.4](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.smith-1911.c19.s3.4) ‘L'on ne saurait,’ writes M. Migeon, ‘trop recommander l'étude des arts de l'Islam aux artistes décorateurs et aux ouvriers d'art. Par la puissante beauté de ses ### [c19.s3.5](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.smith-1911.c19.s3.5) Plate C. Inscribed principal \*Mihrāb\*, Jām'i Mosque, Fathpur-Sīkrī. (E. W. Smith, \*Fathpur-Sīkrī\*, Part iv, Pl. XLII.) ### [c19.s3.6](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.smith-1911.c19.s3.6) formules, par sa fantaisie toujours régie par les lois les plus rigoureusement logiques, par le rayonnant éclat de la couleur, il n’est pas d’art qui offre plus de richesse décorative et plus de souveraine harmonie. Il renferme des germes féconds qui transplantés doivent fructifier à l’infini.’ ¹ ### [c19.s3.7](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.smith-1911.c19.s3.7) ¹ \*Manuel d’art musulman\*, t. ii, p. 454. ### [c19.s3.8](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.smith-1911.c19.s3.8) The validity of the concluding proposition may be doubted, and it seems to me by no means certain that the teaching of Musalman art to European craftsmen would produce satisfactory results. But, however that may be, M. Migeon’s enthusiastic praise of the decorative quality of Muslim art generally may be accepted. The best Indian specimens, with which alone we are concerned at present, could not be surpassed as pure decoration. The general absence of all human interest and expression in the infinitely varied patterns is, of course, a great drawback, but if we are content to regard the works simply as surface decoration intended to please the eye they cannot be beaten. Among all the many varieties of Muhammadan decorative designs none are more agreeable than the best of those carved in relief on the Mughal buildings, from the time of Akbar to that of Shahjahān. The work of Akbar’s time being more naturalistic, is more interesting than that of the later period, which is formally conventional, with a tendency to monotony. ### [c19.s3.9](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.smith-1911.c19.s3.9) The choicest Italian work does not surpass, if it equals, the superb carving on the white marble cenotaph of Akbar, which occupies the centre of the topmost story of his mausoleum at Sikandarah. ### [c19.s3.10](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.smith-1911.c19.s3.10) ‘The two oblong sides and the top are adorned with the ninety-nine titles of the Creator in alto-rilievo, set in delicate Arabic tracery (Plates XI and XV of \*Akbar’s Tomb\*). The words \*Allāhu Akbar jalla jalālahu\* are inscribed on the head and foot, set in panels surrounded by most beautiful and delicate floral ornamentation (\*ibid.\*, Pl. XVI, XVII; \*ante\*, Pl. XCIX, Fig. C). The carving, which is most exquisitely done, is in very low relief, and savours of Chinese workmanship. Amongst other flowers and plants portrayed one recognizes the lily, the almond, and the dahlia, all of which are found carved or painted upon Akbar’s palace at Fathpur-Sīkrī. In the left-hand corner of each of the panels, cloud-forms carved after a most distinctive Chinese type are noticeable. Similar cloud-forms are met with upon the dado panels in the Turkish Sultānah’s house at Fathpur-Sīkrī, and it is generally supposed that they were executed by Chinese workmen.’ ### [c19.s3.11](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.smith-1911.c19.s3.11) But forms of a like kind so often appear in Persian art that it is unnecessary to assume the employment of Chinese craftsmen by Akbar. ### [c19.s3.12](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.smith-1911.c19.s3.12) ‘Small butterflies and insects flitting from flower to flower are carved upon the panels. Upon the top of the cenotaph a \*qalam-dān\* or pen-box is sculptured, signifying that the tomb is a man’s, in distinction from a woman’s, which is generally provided with the \*takhtī\* or slate.’ ² ### [c19.s3.13](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.smith-1911.c19.s3.13) ² \*Akbar’s Tomb, Sikandarah\*, p. 15. ### [c19.s3.14](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.smith-1911.c19.s3.14) A good specimen of the conventional Persian vase motive, which became fashionable from Jahāngīr’s reign, is found on a panel of the south side of the east wall of the eastern false gate of Akbar’s tomb (Pl. CI). ### [c19.s3.15](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.smith-1911.c19.s3.15) Shahjahān’s architects relied on inlay rather than relief sculpture for decoration; ### [c19.s3.17](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.smith-1911.c19.s3.17) but at the Tāj dados are very effectively adorned by conventional flowers cut on red sandstone in low relief (Plate CII, Fig. A). ### [c19.s3.18](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.smith-1911.c19.s3.18) The same plate illustrates the totally different style adopted in the much earlier Sārangpur mosque at Ahmadābād, erected about A. D. 1500 (Plate CII, Figs. B, C). The tree motive is characteristic of Ahmadābād. The whole design is far more Hindu than Muhammadan, and even the ancient Persepolitan bell capital as adopted by Hindu art appears in the pilasters. --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.smith-1911.c19.s3](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.smith-1911.c19.s3) · Pramāṇa