A Comparative Study of Calligraphy Styles in Shahnameh Manuscripts of Rashida and Davari

Although Nastaliq script was used as a significant writing style along other six types of calligraphy until the mid-Safavid era, it was gradually more welcomed and turned into the most important script in the succeeding eras. "Rashida Shahnameh", written by Abdul Rashid Deylami, falls within the Shahnameh manuscripts in the Safavid era while "Davari Shahnameh", written by Mirza Mohammad Davari in Nastaliq script, is the last manuscript of Shahnameh in the Qajar era. The calligraphy styles performed in these two versions demonstrate a part of the history of calligraphy in Iran from which some of the changes and developments in script and calligraphy during the Safavid and Qajar eras can be detected. Resorting to library-museum resources, this study seeks to investigate the differences in writing styles, shapes of letters and words written in Nastaliq, and also the connections between the scripts and the graphics in the two aforementioned versions of Shahnameh, through a historical-comparative and analytical study. The results of the analyses reveal that the script of "Rashida Shahnameh" was directly influenced by the Miremad Style, prioritizing visual beauty over text readability, in which a continuous connection was established between written and textual spaces. Contrary to the popular tradition in manuscripts, Davari Shahnameh was not ordered by any rulers; rather, the artist's taste was the main cause of creating this manuscript and it also prompted fundamental changes among its audiences. Text readability, visual beauty, and lack of consistent connection between text and graphics were observed in this version of Shahnameh. Moreover, the letters and words, despite their similarity to the third-Qajar-era style (the Kalhor Style), are structured independently of it, and, seemingly, the corrections attributed to Kalhor, which are also seen in the works of some of his contemporary calligraphers, had been a prelude of Davari’s style.