A firman (imperial decree), paper, written in Tawqi and Taliq
Iran, probably Isfahan; 816 H = 1414
H: 600; W: 50 cm
Inventory number 211/2006
In this firman, the Timurid prince and governor in Shiraz – Iskandar Sultan – exempts the sayyids (descendants of Muhammad) from paying taxes.
The six-meter-long decree is introduced by three lines written in gold Tawqi followed by 39 lines in gold Taliq, which was developed as a chancellery script under the late Il-Khanids. A further development of Taliq in the Iranian cultural sphere was Nastaliq, which was used especially for poetry. This firman demonstrates imperial ambitions with regard to both its size and the golden script. Iskander Sultan demonstrated them as well, and in 1414 he was deposed and blinded by his uncle and liege lord, Shah Rukh.
The six-meter-long decree is introduced by three lines written in gold Tawqi followed by 39 lines in gold Taliq, which was developed as a chancellery script under the late Il-Khanids. A further development of Taliq in the Iranian cultural sphere was Nastaliq, which was used especially for poetry. This firman demonstrates imperial ambitions with regard to both its size and the golden script. Iskander Sultan demonstrated them as well, and in 1414 he was deposed and blinded by his uncle and liege lord, Shah Rukh.
Published in
Published in
Sotheby’s, London, 27/4-2005, lot 12;
Ilker Evrim Binbas and Will Kwiatkowski: “Iskandar b. ‘Umar Shaykh’s Farman in the David Collection” in Journal of the David Collection, 2021, 5, pp. 26-79;
Joachim Meyer, Rasmus Bech Olsen and Peter Wandel: Beyond words: calligraphy from the World of Islam, The David Collection, Copenhagen 2024, fig. 24, p. 39;
Ilker Evrim Binbas and Will Kwiatkowski: “Iskandar b. ‘Umar Shaykh’s Farman in the David Collection” in Journal of the David Collection, 2021, 5, pp. 26-79;
Joachim Meyer, Rasmus Bech Olsen and Peter Wandel: Beyond words: calligraphy from the World of Islam, The David Collection, Copenhagen 2024, fig. 24, p. 39;
The Timurids and the Turkmen
A copy of Nizami’s Makhzan al-asrar, the first book in his Khamsa. Copied by Mir Ali ibn al-Yasi al-Tabrizi al-Bawargi
A copy of Farid al-din Attar’s Mantiq al-tayr
Double frontispiece painting from a copy of Firdawsi’s Shahnama. ‘A Princely Couple with Courtiers in a Garden’
Miniature from Abd al-Rahman al-Sufi’s Kitab suwar al-kawakib. ‘The Constellation Gemini’