Introducing the Manuscript of Divan-i Husaini Signed by Sultan 'Ali Mashhadi

Divan-i Hussaini is a collection of poems by Sultan Hussain Bayqara (842-911 AH) in Chagatai  Turkish (Chagatay Turkic or Eastern Turkish), which in addition to their literary and content value, are also remarkable in terms of richness of their book-decoration in handwritten versions of this literary masterpiece. One of its manuscripts is Document No. 12148, which is currently kept in the Department of manuscripts of the national museum of Paris- France. This transcript has been scribed in 890 AH (1485 AD) in 95 pages in the royal palace of Herat (or Dar-al-Saltane of Herat) in Nastaliq script by Sultan [=king] of calligraphers, Sultan 'Ali Mashhadi. And it has been decorated by unknown artists with various book-layout elements, including miniature, gilding, calligraphy, traditional margin-painting, illuminating, etc. Among the decorative features of this Divan, rich and magnificent elements of illumination can be seen in most of the pages, which can certainly be considered as the product of Timurid era artists.Therefore, the technical- artistic analysis of this Divan's illumination motifs is the current study's main purpose. To do so, this paper employed a stylistic approach and a descriptive-analytical method by referring to library resources and internet websites, which contribute to the conclusion of this research concerning: “What are the visual features of illumination motifs of Divan-i Husaini, and what are the stylistic attributions of this manuscript?”The process will, first introduce the mentioned version of Divan-i Husaini (890 AH), then, the illuminatio motifs will be structurally described, and lastly these depictions will be analyzed separately for the three elements of color, motifs, and composition.Like many other valuable artworks, after leaving the Timurids realms, this piece has traveled through various - either Iranian or foreign - courts; from Afshari and Safavid, to the royal courts of India and Europe. This can be deduced from the study of various royal stamps, annotations, and decorative appendants on different pages of this manuscript. The travels of this manuscript have led to changes and transformations that the most basic intrusion should be the onlaying on the texts and margins of the paper for restoration or beautification. Examining the appendants and adapting them to the book-decoration elements in later periods reinforces the suspicion that this onlaying took place in the Safavid period. So, it is worthwhile to consider calligraphy, illumination, miniatures and the page layout of this manuscript as attributes of the Timurid period and gilding and illumination of Toranjs in the margins as attributes of the Safavid period.Elements of illumination (Timurid period) can be seen in the Sun illustration (Shamse) in the dedication page, inscriptions and margins of the opening pages, the margins of the painted pages, the inscriptions and panels of the middle pages (poetry pages), the tablets and inscriptions of the colophon and Toranj-Lachak of the last page. The Shamse of the dedication page consists of eight tablet inscriptions around a circular axis, that like arms, (Bazubandi) stretch to the wide margins with azure niches (Sharafe) on the outside, and on the inside, have frames decorated with various Eslīmī [=Arabesque] and Khātāī [=Floral] motifs. Opening pages, two opposite pages with symmetrical composition, include two pairs of upper inscriptions, two pairs of lower inscriptions, two side panels, a three-sided ruling and Shafare. The margins of the illustrated pages (miniatures) are exactly the same as the margins of the two opening pages in terms of composition, motifs and color, and they are composed of twisted Arabesque frames and Khātāī flowers. Illumination elements in the middle pages are usually embossed in the margins of the Bazubandi frames of the inscriptions. These inscriptions can be found in all pages of poetry in the same shape and size but with different compositions. (Among the 148 inscriptions, there are 9 unique combinations.) In addition to the inscriptions, panels are drawn between or around the lines of the poem, which are seen in the chalipā (cruciform) arrangement of the page in a Lachaki (triangular) form, and in the columnar arrangement in the form of two symmetrical pairs. In the colophon, only two illuminated Lachaki are located on either side of the text and two illuminated panels, one at the bottom of the scribe and the other on both sides of the inscription. On the final page, a combination of Toranj and Lachak can be seen, which the composition is based on the symmetrical repetition of Arabesque frames and Khātāī stems. All these decorations are separated from each other and from the whole page, by various border lines and ruling. The grids in this Divan include: Muthanna rule (in the margins of the inscriptions), the three-side line rule (in Kamands [=the three-side grids] and the margins of the pages (annexed)), the Murassaˈ rule (in the margins of the poems (annexed) and the innermost margins of the opening pages) and the Muharrar rule (between lines of poems).In an overview of this Divan, it can be said that Arabesque motifs have played a greater role in the decoration of the pages, which in a way shows the influence and the style of the Timurid artists to far eastern decorations (Chinese decorations). Arabesque Vagīreh (repeating a fundamental and borrowed regional pattern) provide a space for the circulation of Khātāīs, and this space is completed with floral spirals. In fact, arabesque types such as simple two-branch arabesque [=Eslīmī-ye do-shakhe-ye sāde], snake arabesque [=Eslīmī-ye māri] and Dragon-mouthed arabesque [=Eslīmī-ye dahān-aždarī] have been used in the structure of frames, borders and Nishans (marks) on the Lachaki tablets and Bazubandi inscriptions. And Khātāīs, including buds [=qoncheh], multi-feathered flowers [=gol-e chand-par], cotton flowers [=gol-e panbe-i], and Shah Abbasi, have been used to decorate them. To dye these motifs, in the first rank, two colors of gold and azure, and in the second station, white, red, pink, orange, green, blue, and black colors have been used. (The features of the illuminated pages of this Divan can be seen in the tables below.)in conclusion, it must be acknowledged that the stylistic features of the illumination motifs of Divan-i Husaini manuscript correspond to the illumination features of other exquisite manuscripts of the Timurid period. Some of these features include: the predominance of golden and azure colors in the whole work, the variety and richness of the decorations, especially in the inscriptions, the application of a naturalistic approach in the use of Khātāī motifs (tendency to use floral patterns with the arabesques), the tendency to apply Chinese motifs in presentation of arabesques, and complex and harmonious compositions.