On Jan. 26, 2024, 12:30 p.m. hamed:
The history of Persian calligraphy is a long and rich one, dating back to the pre-Islamic era when Zoroastrian-influenced Persian culture valued beautiful and clear writings. After the introduction of Islam in the 7th century, Persians adapted the Arabic alphabet to Persian and developed the contemporary Persian alphabet, which has 32 letters. Around one thousand years ago, six genres of Iranian calligraphy were created, namely “Tahqiq”, “Reyhan”, “Sols”, “Naskh”, “Toqi” and “Reqa”. These genres were common for four centuries in Persia. In the 12th century, the “Naskh” and “Reqa” styles were combined and a new genre of Persian calligraphy named “Ta’liq” was invented.
In the 14th century, Mir Ali Tabrizi combined two major scripts of his time, i.e. Naskh and Taliq, and created a new Persian calligraphic style called “Nas’taliq”. This style is considered the most attractive and elegant Persian calligraphy style, and has been the predominant style for writing the Perso-Arabic script for the past 500 years. In the 17th century, a new genre called cursive Nasta’liq or Shekasteh Nasta’liq was created, which is more flexible and curved than Nas’taliq. Persian calligraphy is not only a beautiful and functional art, but also a reflection of the Iranian identity, values, and worldview.