ʿAbd al-Rahman Khwarazmi
d. 1462
ʿAbd al-Rahman Khwarazmi was a nastaliq calligrapher of the middle decades of the fifteenth century. Encyclopaedia Iranica places his dated work between 839/1436 and 866/1462. One of his best-known manuscripts is the Shahnama of Firdawsi now in Leiden, copied at Shiraz and finished in March 1437, which he signed with the title ʿImad al-Din. Later he served the Qara Qoyunlu prince Pir Budaq in Shiraz and then in Baghdad; Arabic and Persian Wikipedia say he was first at the court of Jahan Shah and later joined Sultan Ya'qub Aq Qoyunlu, and that he died after 886/1481. His teachers are reported differently: Malik Daylami names Azhar Tabrizi, while Mirza Habib names Mir ʿAbdallah, son of Mir ʿAli Tabrizi. Iranica describes his nastaliq as close to that of the Herat court but with its own proportions and a sharp, broken rhythm; this manner became the house style of Shiraz for a generation. His sons ʿAbd al-Rahim, called Anisi, and ʿAbd al-Karim were also calligraphers.
Achievements
- Copied the Leiden Shahnama of Firdawsi in nastaliq at Shiraz, dated 15 Ramadan 840 / 28 March 1437, signing as ʿImad al-Din ʿAbd al-Rahman (Leiden University Library, Or. 494).
- Iranica dates his signed work from 839/1436 to 866/1462, including a manuscript of 860/1456 in the Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts (no. 1562) and Topkapı Palace H. 773.
- Worked for the Qara Qoyunlu prince Pir Budaq in Shiraz and Baghdad.
- His angular nastaliq, with its own proportions, shaped a regional Shiraz school for a generation (Iranica).
- Father of the calligraphers ʿAbd al-Rahim (Anisi) and ʿAbd al-Karim.
Taught by: Mawlana Azhar Tabrizi, Mir Ali Tabrizi
His work
1437 (840 AH), Shiraz · Leiden University Libraries, Leiden (Or. 494, ff. 1b–2a)
Photo: Leiden University Libraries, Wikimedia Commons (Opening pages from the Timurid Shahnama (Leiden Univ Lib Or. 494, ff. 1b-2a).jpg), CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)
Shiraz, 1437 · Leiden University Libraries (Or. 494)
Photo: Wikimedia Commons, public domain
Shiraz, 1437 · Leiden University Libraries (Or. 494)
Photo: Wikimedia Commons, public domain
These are the works in open collections that can be attributed with certainty.
Write in the tradition this hand shaped.
Write in this tradition now →Living calligraphers you can buy from — signed originals on paper, from AED 550: Anwar Alhulwani (Thuluth) · Ahmed Alhawary (Jali Thuluth, Naskh) · Rasha Kasim (Kufi) — or every Nastaliq piece the store makes: Nastaliq collection.
Sources
- Encyclopaedia Iranica (P. P. Soucek): active 839/1436–866/1462, Leiden Or. 494 colophon with title Emad al-Din, TKS H.773, TIEM 1562 (860/1456), Baghdad 866/1462, Pir Budaq, style, sons iranicaonline.org
- Persian Wikipedia: died after 886, teacher Mir Abdallah (Mirza Habib), Jahan Shah and Ya'qub courts (after Bayani and Fazaeli) fa.wikipedia.org
- Persian Wikipedia (son's article): Malik Daylami counts him a pupil of Azhar Tabrizi, confirmed by Manaqib-i hunarvaran fa.wikipedia.org
- Arabic Wikipedia: same as Persian ar.wikipedia.org
- Leiden University Libraries, Or. 494: Shahnama, Shiraz, 840/1437 digitalcollections.universiteitleiden.nl
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).