Comparison of a Similar Chalipa Seating Method by Sultan Ali Mashhadi and Mir Ali Heravi*

Sultan Ali Mashhadi and Mir Ali Heravi are among the mostfamous Nasta’liq writers in the history of calligraphy whohave had influential innovations in the geometric structureof Nasta’liq and the cross form. Mir Ali’s relationship withSultan Ali is important in two ways. Firstly, the emergenceof Mir Ali Heravi coincides with the complete dominationof Sultan Ali Mashhadi throughout Khorasan so that hisstudents were practicing calligraphy in Mashhad and otherparts of Khorasan and Transoxiana, and Mir Ali, who livedin Herat, Mashhad, and Bukhara, was certainly influencedby Sultan Ali. The second important point is that Mir Ali wasa student of Zineuddin Mahmoud, a direct student of SultanAli. Therefore, recognizing the similarities and differencesbetween the works of these two masters of calligraphy leadsto a better understanding of the developments of Nastaliq.This study aims to investigate the formal structure of twosimilar chalipas from Sultan Ali Mashhadi and Mir AliHeravi, focusing on how they are seated. The method ofcollecting information is desk-based and has been donewith a descriptive-analytical approach. Among the worksof these two calligraphers, chalipas whose authenticity isnot in doubt were examined and two chalipas with the sametext and different compositions were used. The reason forchoosing these two chalipas was the existing similarities andthe differences, which makes possible a better comparison.The results show that in both chalipas, the seat of all rowsis curved, which can be considered as a cross-section of anellipse, with the difference that in Sultan Ali’s chalipa, theoval pattern of the first and third-row seats is the same andthe oval pattern of the second and fourth rows is the same.In the Mir Ali’s chalipa, the oval pattern of each of the fourlines is the same.In both chalipas, the arrangement of the figures is doneaccording to the curvature of the seat in each row, butthe effect of the figures is more than the curvature of theseat in Sultan Ali’s chalipa. So that the figures are rotatedrelative to the vertical axis and in some cases are deformed.In chalipa of Mir Ali, figures are regular and carefullyexecuted. Letters and words are executed repeatedly andaccording to defined rules.Sultan Ali’s chalipa is designed based on the oblique andfinal view; In other words, the chalipa is performed witha horizontal view and in line with the calligrapher’s view,but during the performance, the final and diagonal view ofthe chalipa is also considered, which creates a complex andtwo-point perspective, while in Mir Ali’s chalipa, each lineis designed with a horizontal view and the final view is notconsidered. Sultan Ali’s chalipa is designed based on theholistic view and the components serve the whole of thechalipa, but Mir Ali’s chalipa is partisan and the componentshave their own independence.