Preface
The art of calligraphy is considered to be an evolutionary and living art in the world of
fine arts. The Act of writing and inscription of words started even before civilizations had taken
shape. After the advent of Islam, the Quran became such an inspirational source for the
promotion of the art of calligraphy, which raised it to new heights of glory. Originally the Arabic
script became the reference for the promotion of this art and later on, the Muslim calligraphers of
the subcontinent and South Asia contributed to glorify this art. Simultaneously the calligraphers
of Iran and Pakistan, through their hard work, attained the highest degree of perfection in
Nastaliq style, along with the promotion of Urdu language.
On 24 January this year, National History and Literary Heritage Division in co-operation
with the National Book Foundation organized a historic three day National Calligraphy
exhibition, the basic purpose of which was to introduce the public with the artistic endeavors of
renowned calligraphers. In this exhibition, 120 artistic pieces of 48 calligraphers were presented.
A large number of youngsters and families from different walks of life attended this three day
National Calligraphy Exhibition and expressed great interest in the artistic pieces. The National
History and Literary Heritage Division has arranged to present these artistic pieces presented in
this first “National Calligraphy Exhibition "ن والقلمbook form. This book will not only help
readers to get information, about the evolutionary journey of the art of calligraphy, but will
introduce them to artists and calligraphers.
I am sure that this book published in context with the National Calligraphy Exhibition by
National History and Literary Heritage Division, will not only be of interest and add to the
information of the reader but will also promote the art of calligraphy and provide assistance and
guidance to the new generation for learning this art.
Irfan Siddiqui
Advisor to the Prime Minister, Islamic Republic of Pakistan
Acknowledgments
National History and Literary Heritage Division, in the short period of fifteen months of
its existence, has paid special attention to the performance of its departments. Arrangement of a
three day National Calligraphy Exhibition early this year, is also an important part of this
evolutionary journey. The publication of this book in context with this exhibition by the National
History and Heritage Division is an attempt to introduce and pay tribute to those renowned
calligraphers on a national and international level whose exquisite pieces of art have been
appreciated by art lovers.
I am grateful to all those persons of National History and Literary Heritage Division and
National Book Foundation who co-operated in the arrangement of this exhibition and the
publication of this book. I specially appreciate the efforts of Dr. lnamul Haq Javed, Managing
Director National Book Foundation, Mr. Abdul Majeed Khan Niazi Joint Secretary, Syed Junaid
Akhlaqjoint secretary, Mr. Nazir Ahmad, Deputy Secretary and Wasil Shahid, Calligraphist, who
have played a very important role in the publication of this book.
This beautiful book, based on the National Calligraphy Exhibition will surely enhance
knowledge of its readers, because there is nothing more valuable than a good and informative
book.
I hope that emerging artists of the new generation associated with the art of calligraphy
will benefit from this book.
At the end l would personally like to thank Mr. lrfan Siddiqui, Advisor to the Prime
Minister for National History and Literary Heritage Division by whose personal interest and
guidance, the publication of this book was made possible.
Engineer Aamir Hassan
Secretary, National History and Literary Heritage Division
Introduction
In 12" Century BC, the phonations had given birth to a revolutionary era in the world of
writing by introduction and adopting of alphabets. The Aramis is further refined and expanded it
which gave rise to many off shoots including the modern Hebrew, Arabic, Khorshi, Brahmi and
the (old Persian) Pahlavi script.
At that time the criteria for development of a civilization, was its script. In this
perspective, by tradition, Iran had a strong legacy of cultural, intellectual and literary heritage.
After the dominance of Islam and the end of the Sassanian Reign in Iran, the ancient pehlavi
script also ceased to exist and the Arabic script was adopted for writing pehlavi language.
Arabic Language Period:
Along with the Arabic Language, the Arabic script also quickly became popular and
quickly found its place in Iran and therefore the Arabic script not only encompassed the whole
scenario of life in Iran but efforts began for its improvement. All the evolutionary stages of the
Arabic script were quickly crossed due to the nature of the local complexion and the high
degrees of taste in Iran. Therefore by the fourth century, six different styles of the script had been
invented which were given the name of “Khutut-e-Shashgana" i.e the “Six styles of Writing".
These styles were the accomplishment of Hasan bin Hsuain Ali Farsi, commonly known as lbne-Muqlah.
The first effort for correction in the Arabic script was made by Khawaja Abdul Ali Back
who invented ""چ"گ." پand " "ژ, while simultaneously making improvements in the “Taliq"
style. By invention of new letters, on the one hand where Arabic letters harmonized with Persian
sounds, it also added to the beauty of Taliq.
Continuous improvements in Taliq, even led to a misconception among some researcher
and they started referring khawja abdul Ali as the inventor of the Taliq style. The name of
Maulana Darvesh is also very important in connection with Taliq. A part from him Khawaja
Abdullah Sarfi, Mullah Mohy-ud-din Shirazi, Mullah Abdulla Ash Parharvi, Mullah Abu
bakr,Mullah Shiekh Mahmood, Hafiz Hafeez and Khawaja Abdullah Marvarid have also been
renowned figures in Taliq.
Taliq for personal use and Naskh for transcribing of religious books became specific in
Iran, while Sulus was used for decorative purposes. Other styles were also visible at some places.
After the acceptance of Islam, the Persians also adopted the Arabic script. At that time
Kufic style was in practice in Arabic script. When Kufic found its way in lran, greater attention
was paid to its vertical portions, rather than its horizontal and flat angularities. This resulted in a
comparatively different Kufic style in lran and so much attention was devoted to its decorative
aspect, that when a word transformed into a sentence, an unfelt symmetry doubled its beauty.
These were early formations and the Quranic Copies of that period, written on leather and their
resemblance with decorative styles of a much later period, bears testimony to the taste and skill
of the Iranians.
Period of the Suljuks:
The Suljuki period from the beginning of 5th century Hijrah till the end of the 6th century
Hijrah, also proved very beneficial for calligraphy. In this period Kufic seems to reach the height
of its glory. In this period.
The Kufic was a favorite art of the ancestors. Therefore Babar learned it himself and was
given the title of “Haft Qalam”. When Babar came to India, he not only brought along with him,
painters, Sculpturers, architects„, poets, writers and historians, but khawaja Abd-al Samad, Mir
Syed Ali, Sheikh Zain Khawani also accompanied him as calligraphers. Humainyun also tried to
patronize the art of calligraphy in the way that babar had layed its foundation, but he did not live
that long.
Apart from Abdul Haee, the renowned calligrapher of the Humaiyun's period, Khawja
Sultan Ali was also a part of Humaiyun's court, which was later given the title of “Afzal Khan"
by Akbar.
The period of Akbar is in fact, the golden period of the Fine Arts. Here, calligraphy
crossed the evolutionary stages in Asia; Akbar was very fond of painting, and therefore new
dimensions of decorative calligraphy appeared and expressed themselves in painting.
At that time the trend of expressing poetry through painting was evolving. Therefore,
many books appeared with decorative calligraphy and painting, in which experts of art portrayed
their skill. Many artistic works of such painting based calligraphy are even found today in many
libraries across the world, especially the “Metropolitan Museum of America”.
Many calligraphers belonged to the Mughal period which include Muhammad Husain
Kashmiri, Khawaja Abd-ul-Samad, Vaswant, Maulana Abdul Aziz, Khawja Muhammad Sharif,
Abdur Rasheed Valmi, Amanat Khan Shirazi, Mirza Abdul Rahim Khan-e-Khanan, Mir
Masoom Qandhari, Maulana Maqsood Harvi, Tamkeen Kabuli, Ahmad Husain chishti, Ali
Ahmad Har kanna, Mirza Muhammad Husain Noor Allah, Mir Abdullah Tabrezi, Khusro
Shahzadah, Sultan Parvez Shahzadah, Muhammad Din lshaq, Ahmad Ali Arshad, Abdul Bazi
Madar, Arif Yaqut Raqam, Mir Muhammad Kashi, Muhammad Saleh Kashmiri, Syed Ali Khan
Husaini and many other eminent calligraphers.
The art of calligraphy continued to develop, even after the establishment of Pakistan and
many calligraphers achieved world fame, however all this was done on an individual level. The
present government has felt a strong need to gather & unify all calligraphers on a single
platform. For this purpose, the first ever Calligraphic Exhibition in the history of the country was
organized by the National History and Literary Heritage Division. The book in hand comprises
Copy Rights Reserved
National History and Literary Heritage Division
Govt. of Pakistan
Electronic Version, 2020
Developed By: Ch. Ghulam Rasool Tahir
Edited By: Muhammad Usman Sajjad
Proofed By: Iqbal Baloch
Reviewed By: Nazir Ahmad, Deputy Secretary
Supervised By: Muhammad Salman, Senior Joint Secretary