history of Islamic art in Timurid era

https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/M/bo17703325.html

Hundreds of exceptional cartographic images are scattered throughout medieval and early modern Arabic, Persian, and Turkish manuscript collections. The plethora of copies created around the Islamic world over the course of eight centuries testifies to the enduring importance of these medieval visions for the Muslim cartographic imagination. With Medieval Islamic Maps, historian Karen C. Pinto brings us the first in-depth exploration of medieval Islamic cartography from the mid-tenth to the nineteenth century.

Pinto focuses on the distinct tradition of maps known collectively as the Book of Roads and Kingdoms (Kitab al-Masalik wa al-Mamalik, or KMMS), examining them from three distinct angles—iconography, context, and patronage. She untangles the history of the KMMS maps, traces their inception and evolution, and analyzes them to reveal the identities of their creators, painters, and patrons, as well as the vivid realities of the social and physical world they depicted.  In doing so, Pinto develops innovative techniques for approaching the visual record of Islamic history, explores how medieval Muslims perceived themselves and their world, and brings Middle Eastern maps into the forefront of the study of the history of cartography.

Seni Islam telah menjadi objek studi para sarjana Barat sejak abad kesembilan belas dan para sarjana Muslim yang berpendidikan Barat selama beberapa dekade. Setelah itu, seni Islam menarik perhatian masyarakat luas sejak dua atau tiga dekade yang lalu. Seyyed Hossein Nasr sendiri dalam "Spiritualitas dan Seni Islam" menggambarkan betapa tertariknya ia untuk melihat sekilas aspek-aspek khusus Seni Islam. Ia membahasnya melalui sudut pandang spiritualitas islam, yang berkaitan dengan prinsip-prinsip wahyu islam. Dalam karya tersebut, ia membahas setiap hasil karya seni islam. Mulai dari kaligrafi Islam, arsitektur Islam, dan sastra. Tentunya membahas pesan spiritual karya-karya tersebut. Ketika berbicara tentang arsitektur islam, tidak dapat dipungkiri bahwa model arsitektur itu telah menjadi pusat dari karya-karya berkualitas yang mewarnai seluruh lingkungan perkotaan. Ruang dan bentuk desa atau perkotaan Muslim tradisional dalam suatu pengertian khusus merupakan perluasan dari masjid.1 Mengutip perkataan Seyyed Hosein Nasr bahwa masjid menjadi penting bukan sekadar menjadi tempat orang-orang beriman menundukkan diri.2 Ia lebih banyak menggambarkan seni Islam yang berkembang di Persia. Lalu, bagaimana seni Islam yang berkembang di Spanyol/Andalusia? mengingat Persia lebih dulu dikuasai Islam daripada Spanyol.  Umat Islam di Spanyol telah mencapai kejayaan yang gemilang.3 Bahkan hingga membawa Eropa dan dunia kepada kemajuan yang lebih kompleks, terutama dalam intelektual. Tak heran jika di Cordova sampai saat ini terdapat banyak perpustakaan dan Universitasuniversitasnya yang mampu menyaingi Baghdad sebagai pusat utama ilmu pengetahuan di dunia Islam. Jika Seni Islam dipandang begitu menarik oleh Seyyed Hosein Nasr dan Islam di Spanyol juga membawa hal besar bagi umat manusia, lalu bagaimana perkembangan seni Islam di masa Muawiyah II? Karena keterbatasan ilmu, maka perlu bagi penulis khususnya dan pembaca untuk mengetahui bagaimana seni Islam di masa Muawiyyah II yang daerah kekuasaanya adalah Spanyol/Andalusia.

Монография посвящена архитектурному декору темуридских памятников, ставших самым ярким достижением средневекового зодчества Центральной Азии, и является итогом исследования в рамках фундаментальной грантовой программы «Искусство эпохи Амира Темура и темуридов в контексте взаимодействия школ Переднего и Среднего Востока». Основное внимание уделено рассмотрению орнаментальных композиций и сюжетных стенных росписей. Выявляется генезис и семантика орнаментальных мотивов, затрагивается проблема изобразительности в исламском искусстве. В целом декор расматривается как текст культуры, несущий информацию о сакральных кодах эпохи и взаимодействии различных религиозно-художественных традиций.

Abstracts  in English and German are also avaiable.

Göğe/semaya/Cennete yükselmeye olan ilgi, insanın izleri takip
edilebilen en eski mitlerine/inançlarına kadar gitmektedir. Malum olduğu
üzere, insanlar mit üretebildiği ölçüde toplumsallaşmıştır. Neandertal
kuzenlerimizin yaptığı 65.000 yıllık mağara resminde görüleceği üzere,
göğe yükselme imgesi ve/veya hayali her türüyle insanın mit üretme süreçlerinin en önemli ögelerinden biri olmuştur.
Miraç resimlerinin ikonolojik okuması bizi adeta insanlık tarihinde seyahate çıkarmaktadır. Mesela ilk Miraç resminde bulunan çift başlı Burak imgesi, bazı yönleri itibariyle Eski Mısır Tanrısı Tutu imgesiyle bağlantılı olduğu varsayılabilecek Kimera, Kargamış sfenksi, Harpy- Siren, Umay Ana- Hüma kuşu, Şahmeran vs. gibi mitolojik varlıklara benzemektedir.

Müslüman toplumların tarihinde yer yer görülen tasvir yasağının İslam’ın temel metinlerinden mi, Müslüman halkların farklı kültürel özelliklerinden mi geldiği tartışma konusudur. Bu yasağı İslam ile birlikte ananlardan bir kısmının İslam’ın temel kaynaklarına erişim sorunları yüzünden eksik bilgilerle çıkarım yaptığı görülmektedir.

Bu konulardaki araştırmaların salt bir disiplin çerçevesinden değil de, interdisipliner çalışma perspektiflerine ve hezarfenane çalışabilecek araştırmacılara ihtiyaç duyduğunu düşünüyoruz. Bu düşüncelerle çalışmamızı, kamuoyunun dikkatine de sunmaktan mutluluk duymaktayız.

Four copies of the Jamiʿ al-tawarikh produced at Rashid al-Din’s scriptorium survive: one in Arabic and three in Persian. These codices are fragments of the second volume, which include the history of the non-Mongol peoples of Eurasia, including Ughuz Turks, Chinese, Jews, Franks and Indians. Interestingly, all these manuscripts were in the possession of the Timurid ruler Shahrukh, who ordered his scriptorium to complete the three Persian copies. Considering the section on the
history of other nations, none of the Persian copies remains intact, because these parts have been refurbished or completed in Shahrukh’s workshop. These sections in the three Persian codices contain calligraphy and illustrations from both the Ilkhanid and Timurid periods. Since these manuscripts were produced in the royal workshops of the Ilkhanid and Timurid rulers, they reflect the different international relations of the time. These reflections are obvious in the nature, the number and the placement of the illustrations. This paper examines the foreign relations of Iran in the beginning of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries via the codicological study of these manuscripts.

Although zilu production has been reflected in the historical texts of the tenth century, the surviving examples belong to the sixteenth century onwards. Some scholars have considered a zilu woven in Maybod and dated 808/1405-6 as the earliest known zilu, but they have mistaken in reading the date and it belongs to the Safavid period. The only known pre- Safavid zilu is preserved in the Hermitage museum. Historians of Islamic art believe that this zilu bears no date and introduce it as one of the masterpieces of Ilkhanid art. This paper with careful scrutiny of both artistic style and inscriptions offers a new suggestion for its weaving date. It can be hypothesized that this zilu has been woven in 808/1405-6 in Nushabad, a small town near Kashan. Therefore, it can be considered as the earliest known Persian carpet from the Islamic period. One of the important questions concerning this zilu addresses its function. Although other scholars considered this flat-weave as a saf – carpet with repeated niche designs that may have been intended for large congregational mosques, use of Quranic inscriptions in a carpet, which would be trodden on by feet would have been disrespectful. Regarding the content of the inscriptions, this paper proposes the probable function of prayer rug and connects it to sufi circles.

Prince Bāysunghur (1399-1433) is one of the most famous bibliophiles and patrons in the annals of Persian painting and the arts of the book. He was involved in artistic activities from a very young age and became an accomplished poet, a good calligrapher and an enthusiastic patron of the arts. The head of his royal library, Jaʿfar Tabrīzī, was almost certainly responsible for preparing a report for the prince on every stage of the progress on the workshop's projects. The report was entitled ʿArża-dāsht (petition) and a fragment of one such report is now preserved in the Topkapi Palace Library (Album H. 2153, folio 98a). The technical terms used in the report are not all in current use and are therefore difficult to interpret. One such ambiguous term is 'kishtī', which has long been referred to as puzzling, and translations of which have varied. This article investigates the meaning and usage of the word kishtī in Persian literature and the arts of the book. The author suggests that kishtī was a small oval vessel used to measure the amount of gold consumed in the royal library. Therefore, in this petition, Jaʿfar was not only reporting on the progress of the artistic projects, but was also asking for more supplies of gold. This interpretation is confirmed with reference to examples of shells used as containers depicted in

The Timurid prince Baysunghur (1397-1433) is celebrated as an enlightened bibliophile and art patron, a reputation memorialised in Islamic art historiography. Three manuscripts from Baysunghur’s glittering court in Herat are now in the Chester Beatty in Dublin, including the renowned copy of Sadi’s Gulistan (Rose Garden) dated 1427. This presentation examines these various texts as works of princely instruction, guiding Baysunghur in the values of political intelligence and good government.
Lunchtime talk shared with Dr Lloyd Ridgeon.

Emir Nizam ad-Din Alisher Navo’i was a great philanthropist and patron. Dozens of scientists used to conduct their researches under the direct financial and moral support of the great poet. Meanwhile, historians and artists were highly appreciated by the great master. In Khorasan, he had many buildings, including several rabots, caravanserais and mosques built on his personal funds. Navo’i initiated the construction of such madrasahs as Khalasiya, Shifaiya and Nizamiya in Hirat where famous scholars both taught and had the opportunity to carry out their researches. Each of the scientists and artists was granted with personal attention of Alisher Navo’i; he provided them with wages from his own means. Consequently, good deeds of the great thinker went down to the history in their works. The book contains texts of acknowledgments towards Emir Alisher, given by scholars and poets.

Persian arts of the book reached new heights under the patronage of the Timurids, in particular in the atelier of prince Bāysunghur (1399–1433) in Herat. This paper introduces a dual-text manuscript produced there in 833/1430, now held in the Suleymaniye Library in Istanbul, which has previously escaped scholarly attention. Up until now its scribe, Saʿd Mashhadī, has been known only for his copy of the Tārīkh-i Jahāngushāy of ʿAtā-Malik Juvaynī (834/1431). He has been identified with Maulānā Saʿd al-Dīn named in the ʿArża-dāsht, the report written by Bāysunghur's chief librarian, Jaʿfar Tabrīzī. On the basis of the report and a study of the calligraphy, I argue Saʿd Mashhadī penned a third manuscript for Bāysunghur, an early copy of the Zubdat al-tawārīkh, c.829/1426. This article attempts to provide a fuller picture of the calligrapher. A number of biographical dictionaries mention a contemporary called Ḥāfiẓ Saʿd, a follower of Qāsim Anvār, who was a prominent poet and riddle writer. Beginning with a poetic connection between the two names in a biographical work, and pursuing an in-depth study of his Dīvān, which, through riddles, reveals an association with Bāysunghur's atelier, I suggest that Saʿd Mashhadī and Ḥāfiẓ Saʿd could be the same person. Whether or not this is the case, this study sheds new light on an important but little known court poet and Sufi and a calligrapher in the royal atelier.

The documents of Iranian Islamic architecture especially visual documents are few and diffuse. However these documents were attended little. Considerable paintings of the Islamic era, especially Ilkhanid, Timurid and early Safavid period have remained that can be evaluated and searched. This study, wants to show how Persian paintings (Miniature) as historical documents can be used for cognition Iranian Islamic architecture. What ways can be used for analysis them? What kinds of historical data can be apprehended and how validity them to be assessed? For answering these questions, "language" of Persian paintings must were understood.
The research based on historical method. For understanding language of Persian painting applied three strategies:
1) History of architectural representation was evaluated and tow ways of representation of architecture in painting were obtained.
2) Expressive features of Persian paintings were reviewed. Therefore, Persian paintings that represented well-known buildings were compared whit the building. For example three paintings from Nezami's quintuplet poem (khamse) were selected and compared by Taq-e-Bostan and also three Persian painting that were represented Mecca.
3) Persian paintings were compared whit samples of extant Iranian and other Islamic architecture. For example, representation of house in a Persian painting was evaluated.
In each of parts a case was evaluated. Cases review process include: dating represented architecture and dating Persian painting; evaluating validity of the painting as historical document; attention to features manuscript; evaluating purports of text and determining the general topics and themes; measure the degree of match with the reality of architecture by evidence; comparing the Persian painting and contemporaneous extant architecture or other Persian paintings same version or school; detecting architectural elements and details in painting, rereading represented architecture and interpreting it.
Finally, expressive features Persian paintings in representation of Iranian architecture are presented. Briefly Persian paintings features in the expression of Islamic architecture include: the use of multiple simultaneous isometric perspective; illustrating simultaneously inside and outside the space; imaging asynchronous events in an image; refer the three-dimensional two-dimensional; representing walls up to ceiling indoor; equal importance floor and wall display; components with respect to total of real space; independence scale of building and the human's scale; remove walls to see them back; reduce distances and compact show to space; choose the smallest component of architectural space for illustrating while maintaining a whole room due to limited spaces in the painting; display main elements and display some minor elements; use a virtual frame as metonymy of the inside and outside architecture. In addition, review showed that the difference representation (painting) and reality (building) in known buildings was significant. Referring to other texts (paintings and architecture) and compare those (intertextuality) by methods of historical semantics and symbolic show social meaning of the represented architecture. Using Persian paintings and relying on evidence in other fields can be readout architecture, to pay (for example a house of Ilkhanid period was readout). Persian paintings can be as "cognitive maps" to examine and review aspects of environmental psychology concepts such as "personal space", "proximity ", and "territorial behavior".

Keywords: history of Iranian Islamic architecture, visual historical documents of architecture, Persian painting, Miniature, representation of architecture

The book consists of exploration and chronological analysis of the initial information about life and works of Alisher Navoi, included in the memoirs and historical manuscripts written between the second half of the XV century and the first half of the XVI century. It is of great importance in the study of Navoi's biobibliography as the first data on life and works of Emir Alisher Navo’i is presented in a logical sequence.
Facts about Emir Alisher created in the second half of the XV century and the beginning of the XVI century were given in the form of brief informative notes. Even though more detailed information on his life is provided in chronicles, it is often mentioned as a part of story in the historical records of the sultan's combats. Omitting some important aspects of Alisher Navo’i's life, it posed various questions and caused different interpretations of authors. As a result, the early sources of information about Alisher Navoi have been “enriched” with additional biased information for the five and a half centuries, because of various interpretations of societies, scientists, and poets with different ideologies. The book is completely reliable for researchers with the translations of all information about the life of Alisher Navo’i from the ancient sources created in the above-mentioned period.

Key words: Alisher Navoi, contemporaries, manuscripts, texts, Temurids, Hirat, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Binoi, Axli Shirazi, Khondamir, Mirkhond, poetry, literary history, memories.