Abd al-Rashid Daylami (Rashida)
d. 1670 · Qazvin
Abd al-Rashid Daylami, called Rashida in Iran and Aqa Rashid in India, was born in Qazvin to a family of Hasani sayyids. He learned nastaliq from his maternal uncle Mir Emad, probably in Isfahan. After Mir Emad was murdered in 1615, most of the master's followers left for Ottoman lands, but Abd al-Rashid went to India. He entered the service of the Mughal Shah Jahan, perhaps around 1623-24, and was for a time head of the royal library, a post he is said to have lost in 1646-47. He later held a court office under Awrangzeb and lived in Agra. His dated works from India run from 1631-32 to 1660-61, and his writing stays close to Mir Emad's style, which spread through him among calligraphers in the subcontinent. A poem by Muhammad Sa'id Ashraf dates his death to 1081 AH (1670-71).
Achievements
- Studied nastaliq with his uncle Mir Emad and kept his style closely.
- Served the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan for about twenty-three years.
- Head (darugha) of the Mughal royal library until about 1056/1646-47.
- His dated works made in India run from 1041/1631-32 to 1071/1660-61.
- Indian tazkira writers list more than fifteen calligraphers who followed his manner (fa.wikipedia, citing Ghulam Muhammad Haft-Qalami).
Taught by: Mir Emad Hasani (Mir Emad al-Hasani Qazvini)
Taught: Muhammad Sa'id Ashraf, Muhammad Ashraf, ʿAbd al-Rahman Khwarazmi, Mir Haji, Prince Dara Shikoh and Zib al-Nisa
His work
17th century · SOAS Library, London
Photo: Wikimedia Commons, public domain
17th century · Los Angeles County Museum of Art
Photo: Wikimedia Commons, public domain
17th century · Library of Congress, Washington
Photo: Wikimedia Commons, public domain
17th century · Library of Congress, Washington
Photo: Wikimedia Commons, public domain
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Sources
- Encyclopaedia Iranica, P. P. Soucek, "ʿABD-AL-RAŠĪD DAYLAMĪ" (archived copy): origin, training, Mughal service, dates web.archive.org
- fa.wikipedia: names Rashida/Aqa Rashid, pupils, works in Tehran and Mashhad, Red Fort inscription fa.wikipedia.org
- LACMA record via Commons: "'Abd al-Rashid (Iran, died 1647)" commons.wikimedia.org
- Wikidata (no en or ar Wikipedia article) wikidata.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).