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Manuscript/Mixed Material Petition to a ruler

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About this Item

Title

  • Petition to a ruler

Created / Published

  • 17th-18th centuries

Headings

  • -  Calligraphy, Arabic
  • -  Calligraphy, Persian
  • -  Manuscripts, Persian--Washington (D.C.)
  • -  India
  • -  Pakistan
  • -  Calligraphy, India
  • -  Arabic script calligraphy
  • -  Illuminated Islamic manuscripts
  • -  Indian ta'liq
  • -  Islamic calligraphy
  • -  Islamic manuscripts

Notes

  • -  A Persian literary compositions (munsha'at) in praise of ruler. Written in Indian ta'liq script.
  • -  Dimensions of Written Surface: 12.4 (w) x 19.7 (h) cm
  • -  The composition is executed in black Indian ta'liq script framed by cloud bands on a beige paper. The ink from another calligraphic fragment, formerly contained in the same album of calligraphies, seems to have bled onto this piece. Several lines in reverse writing have stained the central calligraphic panel. The text appears on a background painted in gold ink, is framed by a plain blue border, and is pasted to a pink sheet backed by cardboard.
  • -  This fragment probably formed part of a collection of literary compositions (munsha'at) showing how to write appropriate praises and petitions to a ruler. Like this piece, a number of these calligraphies appear to have been executed in ta'liq script in India during the 17th and 18th centuries (see 1-85-154.94). Other works of insha' providing exempla of how to compose letters to a friend made in India at this time also are held in the collections of the Library of Congress (see 1-87-154.146a R et seq.).
  • -  This particular fragment shows how to compose a formal praise (na't or munajat) to a ruler using his many honorific epithets (alqab). A number of laudations of the ruler's power (mulkuhu) and his rulership (sultanuhu) precede the formal request or petition ('ardh or 'arz). In the penultimate diagonal line appears the date of 14 Jumadah I, although no year is specified nor is the piece signed by its calligrapher.
  • -  Script: Indian ta'liq
  • -  1-84-154.4

Medium

  • 1 volume ; 19.4 (w) x 28.5 (h) cm

Repository

  • Library of Congress African and Middle Eastern Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA

Digital Id

Library of Congress Control Number

  • 2019714524

Online Format

  • pdf
  • image

Additional Metadata Formats

IIIF Presentation Manifest

Rights & Access

The contents of the Library of Congress Selections of Arabic, Persian, and Ottoman Calligraphy are in the public domain or have no known copyright restrictions and are free to use and reuse.

Credit Line: Library of Congress, African and Middle East Division, Near East Section Persian Manuscript Collection

Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

Petition to a Ruler. 17th-18th Centuries. Manuscript/Mixed Material. https://aj.sunback.homes/item/2019714524/.

APA citation style:

Petition to a Ruler. 17th-18th Centuries. [Manuscript/Mixed Material] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://aj.sunback.homes/item/2019714524/.

MLA citation style:

Petition to a Ruler. 17th-18th Centuries. Manuscript/Mixed Material. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <aj.sunback.homes/item/2019714524/>.