ʿAbd al-Rahim Khwarazmi Anisi
d. 1493 · Shiraz
ʿAbd al-Rahim ibn ʿAbd al-Rahman Khwarazmi was a nastaliq calligrapher and poet of the late fifteenth century. Encyclopaedia Iranica says he was born and trained in Shiraz, where his father, the calligrapher ʿAbd al-Rahman Khwarazmi, worked; his brother ʿAbd al-Karim was also a calligrapher. He served the Aq Qoyunlu court at Tabriz, above all Sultan Ya'qub (r. 1478–1490), who gave him the pen name Anisi, and he also worked for Khalil and Rustam of the same house; his signatures al-Sultani, al-Ya'qubi and al-Rustami record these patrons. Among his dated manuscripts are a Divan of Nava'i (1471–72) in Cairo, a poetry anthology (1475) in the Aya Sofya library and a Khamsa of Nizami for Ya'qub, completed in March 1481, in the Topkapı Palace. He wrote verse and gathered his own divan in 1493–94. Persian Wikipedia counts Asadullah Kirmani among his pupils and says he was alive in 897/1491; Iranica's latest dated work is 899/1493–94.
Achievements
- Court calligrapher of the Aq Qoyunlu sultan Ya'qub (r. 1478–1490), who gave him the pen name Anisi; he also signed as al-Sultani, al-Ya'qubi and al-Rustami.
- Copied a Divan of Ali-Shir Nava'i in 876/1471–72 (Egyptian National Library, Cairo).
- Copied a Khamsa of Nizami for Sultan Ya'qub, finished 26 Muharram 886 / 27 March 1481 (Topkapı Palace Library, H. 762).
- Copied a poetry anthology dated 879/1475 (Aya Sofya 3946) and compiled his own divan of poems in 899/1493–94.
- Encyclopaedia Iranica dates his signed work from 864/1460 to 899/1493–94.
Taught: Asadullah Kirmani (Esedullah-ı Kirmani)
His work
1481 (886 AH) · Topkapı Palace Museum Library, Istanbul (H. 762, f. 316a)
Photo: Wikimedia Commons, public domain
Late 15th century, Tabriz · Topkapı Palace Museum Library, Istanbul (H. 2153, f. 117r)
Photo: Wikimedia Commons, public domain
Only two of his works are on Wikimedia Commons with a sure attribution; his other manuscripts in Cairo and Istanbul have no free images.
Write in the tradition this hand shaped.
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Sources
- Encyclopaedia Iranica (P. P. Soucek): born and trained in Shiraz, dated works 864–899 AH, Cairo Nava'i 876, TKS H.762 (880 and 886), Aya Sofya 3946 (879), own divan 899, patrons Ya'qub, Khalil, Rustam, signatures iranicaonline.org
- Persian Wikipedia: brother Abd al-Karim, Ya'qub's companion, pupil Asadullah Kirmani, alive in 897/1491 (after Fazaeli, Atlas-e khatt) fa.wikipedia.org
- Arabic Wikipedia: same as Persian ar.wikipedia.org
- Encyclopaedia Iranica: father Abd al-Rahman, sons Abd al-Rahim and Abd al-Karim iranicaonline.org
Written by the MASHQ studio · last updated 2026-10-05. Further reading, the standard references in English: Sheila S. Blair, Islamic Calligraphy (Edinburgh University Press, 2006) · Annemarie Schimmel, Calligraphy and Islamic Culture (New York University Press, 1984) · Yasin Hamid Safadi, Islamic Calligraphy (Thames and Hudson, 1978).