Comparative study of the paper inscriptions available in the museum of Abdolazim holy shrine and the tile inscriptions located in the veranda of Imamzadeh Taher’s shrine, by Mohammd Ebrahim Tehrani applying Nastaliq script

The Shrine of Abdolazim located in Ancient historical city of Ray is a complex including holy shrines of Immamzadeh Taher, Immamzadeh Hamzeh and Abdolazim Hassni. Immamzadeh Taher’s shrine is placed at the north side of the complex and at the east side of Abdolazim Hassni’s shrine and the museum of the complex also is at the south east of Mosalla (praying room for muslims) which is ornamented with decorative arrays. The complex is one of the most valuable treasures of architectural works and related arts. Its construction dates back to the second half of third Hijri century and it has been developed and evolved up to the present century. The complex has been greatly decorated with some artistic works. Some of the most significant of which are inscriptions by "Mohammd Ebrahim Tehrani known for Mirza Amo" who has been one of the outstanding and well-experienced inscription creators of Qajar era in Iran. The inscriptions were executed by applying Nastaliq script, and are considered important documents in the study of the development of Nastaliq scripts. They were written and made in two calligraphic and architectural methods, respectively, on papers and on seven-color tiles. Nastaliq as a favorite script has appeared in architectural designs attributed to Qajar era along with Thulth script. Thus recognition and awareness of prevalent Nastaliq inscriptions and their transformations are considered crucial needs for calligraphy and architecture communities, but the subject has been neglected by most researchers. Evaluation of calligraphic transformation through paper inscriptions which are directly written by calligraphers is an excellent and professional case study. Furthermore, since the quality of scripts undergo some changes or defects when transferring to tiles, stones or other things, analysis and comparison of paper inscriptions and seven-color tile inscriptions should be paid close attention to. Actually, it is a new look at epigraphy on seven-color tiles in which not only the calligrapher but the tiler also is involved. It can not be denied that production of calligraphic works specially Nastaliq script, is influenced by understanding transformations of scripts and manuscripts in form and structure over time; hence epigraphy and its transformation especially in holy places and the conformity of Nastaliq script with characteristics and requirements of epigraphy as well, have been overlooked by researchers. The purpose of this survey is to distinguish the differences between two methods of epigraphy, on papers and on tiles, and to realize transformations of Nastaliq letters and words when they were transferred from paper sheets to tiles. Library-based and field study resources as well as observational descriptive and analytical methods have been implemented to conduct the study. Some questions should necessarily be answered to obtain the aim of this study. Firstly, what are the differences between Mohammd Ebrahim Tehrani’s paper inscriptions kept in the museum of Abdolazim Hassani’s holy shrine and his seven-color tile inscriptions located in the veranda of Imamzadeh Taher’s holly shrine in terms of writing form of Nastaliq and its composition (tarkib)? Secondly, which attributes should be taken into consideration to classify these inscriptions? The result of evaluation in both types of epigraphy indicated some stylistic features and visual standards for the works available from second period of the Qajar era, namely, writing big sizes of words and letters plus relative structural coherence in Nastaliq writings. It was revealed that slight variations exist between the two types of epigraphy. In the tile inscriptions, for instance, letters and words were written smaller in size and they were also executed bolder in comparison to the paper inscriptions. The stretched letters (kashidas) are noticed to be elongated shorter in this type of epigraphy, though. Individual letters such as ra and vav "ر،و" are not attached to the letter of ha "ه". Additionally, the angel between calligraphy pen and the paper while writing dots (noghte) varies between 36 and 50 degrees. Furthermore, fewer ‘seating’ lines (korsi) and the same type of gemination, the doubling of a consonantal sound, were conceived in composition (tarkib) of the tile inscriptions. It was observed that words and letters underwent minor changes when they were transferred from the papers to the tiles, due to direct supervision of the calligrapher and his expertise in writing on variety of surfaces in addition to the skillful tiler who neatly created the tile inscriptions. Tehrani also has signed his paper inscriptions (1291 Hijri), available in Abdolazim Hassani’s Shrine, as "Mohammd Ebrahim Tehrani" which is the calligrapher's full name. He has utilized black ink on the pale gold background papers to make the inscriptions. Another notable feature is that two types of curved and angular frames are perceived in his paper inscriptions. His tile inscriptions (1301 Hijri), however, have been signed as "Mohammd Ebrahim, Mashhor Be Mirza Amo" which includes calligrapher’s first and nick names. White ink, navy blue backgrounds and curved shape frames were noted as the characteristics of the tile inscriptions by Tehrani.