Indian Epigraphy c7.s4: 4. Palaeography and Calligraphy
Indian Epigraphy c7.s4
- Language
- English
4. Palaeography and Calligraphy
c7.s4.1
As in other parts of the Muslim world,¹ Arabic and Persian epigraphy in India is interesting from the historical and paleographic points of view. It exhibits a diversity of scripts often beautifully executed and ingeniously ornamented. As specimens of extraordinary calligraphy, some of the inscriptions can favourably compete with certain records on paper.
c7.s4.2
¹ Cf. ibid., 1913-1914, Appendix C, p. 46. For illustrations of a few inscriptions from foreign countries, see M. Ziauddin, *Moslem Calligraphy*, Calcutta, 1936.
c7.s4.3
The scripts principally used in the Muslim epigraphs are Kūfic, Nasta'līq, and Naskh including its variety called Thulth. Each of these writings was executed with its distinctive conventional style which varied according to the period and locality as well as the ingenuity of particular calligraphists.² We have only a few inscriptions in Kūfic which was written in a simple and an ornamental style.³ The inscriptions of the pre-Mughal period are mostly written in Naskh.⁴ The characters are vigorous, rigid and also bold at times. The Naskh script, as used in such areas as those under the Sulṭāns of Bengal and Gujarat, developed an individuality of its own. The decorative Tughrā style of Bengal, which is also noticed in a large number of records from Gujarat, exhibits distinctive ornamentation.⁵ In this style of writing, the elongated shafts and curves of the letters are arranged so as to form different motifs. The arrangement of the curved letters across the arrow-headed ones representing the motif of bow and arrow is commonly found, so that some scholars prefer to call it 'the bow-and-arrow style'. A slightly modified form of this motif is that of the arches or railings.⁶ Another motif represents the parade or march of an army with raised banners, 'the flags being either conspicuous or disturbed by the intervention of a row of knotted ropes representing the halters sometimes hung below banner heads, the cluster of letters at the foot of the straight-drawn vertical lines presenting the thick mass of soldiers which in old times formed an interwoven group during a march.¹
c7.s4.4
² See *Ancient India*, No. 9, Plates CXIII and CXIV.
c7.s4.5
³ Cf. ibid., Plate CXIII-A. Kūfic took its name from the town of Kūfa on the Euphrates, which was famous for its copyists (D. C. Phillott, *Higher Persian Grammar*, p. 35).
c7.s4.6
⁴ For its different forms, cf. *Ancient India*, No. 9, Plates CXIII-B and CXIV-C.
c7.s4.7
⁵ See ibid., Plate CXIV-A.
c7.s4.8
⁶ *Ep. Indo-Mosl.*, 1935-1936, Plate XXXVI-a.
c7.s4.9
¹ Ibid., 1923-1924, p. 18 and Plate VII.
c7.s4.10
In the Tughrā style, sometimes the letters look like the outlines of birds and animals, the forms being intended to serve as a security against evil. The lion and tiger, which are the symbols of the valour of 'Alī, 'the Lion of God', are often found carved on forts in the Deccan, which were rebuilt in the 15th and 16th centuries by the Muslim kings of the Shiite faith. Such inscriptions generally contain a prayer comprising a religious text or a passage quoted from the holy Qurān, the Nād-i-'Alī being a frequent quotation.²
c7.s4.11
² Ibid., 1935-1936, p. 44, Plate XXX-a.
c7.s4.12
Nasta'līq is seen in inscriptions from the first half of the 16th century A.D. It is a beautiful combination of the Naskh (the ordinary hand) and the Ta'līq or the 'hanging' writing which is the elegant court hand of the Persians.³ During the following two centuries, it almost entirely replaced Naskh, although the latter's artistic variety known as Thulth was used for religious epigraphs in Arabic exactly as Kūfic was employed in the earlier period.
c7.s4.13
³ D. C. Phillott, op. cit., p. 36.
c7.s4.14
Inscriptions in beautiful Thulth and Nasta'līq have been found in all parts of the country.⁴
c7.s4.15
⁴ Cf. Ancient India, No. 9, Plates CXIII-C and CXIV-B. The Shikasta or 'broken' hand is the name of the cursive writing, in which the dots are omitted and the letters are joined together so that it is difficult to read (D. C. Phillott, op. cit., p. 36).