An Analytic Study of the Inscriptions of two Important Qajar Structures in Shiraz (Nasir al-Mulk Mosque and Mushir al-Mulk Mosque)

Mosques are among the most important architectural structures in Islam. In fact, in the history of Islamic art and architecture, mosques, as religious buildings and worship places, have always presented the most supreme samples of architecture and decoration. The architectural decorations of the Islamic period function as a rich treasure of designs which, in addition to certain values and formal beauties, express a series of cultural and religious secrets which they hide. In this regard, the Holy Qur’an, as the most significant symbol of Islam, has always attracted the attention of artists. Qur’anic verses have mixed some geometric designs and arabesque decorations with each other in order to display the most beautiful and prominent artistic works in some mosques such as Nasir al-Mulk and Mushir al-Mulk in Shiraz. This paper presents a comparative study of the content, concepts, scripts, and decorations of the inscriptions of these two buildings. This study has been conducted following an analytic-descriptive method, and the required data has been collected from library resources and field studies. The findings of the research demonstrate that the inscriptions of both buildings can be classified info five groups. The two mosques are mainly similar to each other in terms of their decorations (plant and geometrical designs, and Banai Kufic, thulth, and nastaliq scripts). Both of them are among the most notable buildings of Qajar period regarding their architectural decorative designs, particularly, their inscriptions. However, the decorative richness and Qur’anic inscriptions of Nasir al-Mulk Mosque are superior to those of Mushir al-Mulk Mosque.