Mirza Abbas Nuri (Mirza Buzurg)
1789–1839 · Nur
Mirza Abbas of Nur, known as Mirza Buzurg, was a nobleman from the Nur district of Mazandaran who made his career in Tehran under Fath-Ali Shah Qajar. Wikidata gives his birth as 1789. Persian sources rank him among the best nastaliq writers of the 13th century AH. He formed his hand by copying the works of Mir Emad and followed his manner so closely that, in Mehdi Bayani's view, no other follower of Mir Emad matched him. His calligraphy won him favour at court, and one of his pupils was the shah's daughter Diya al-Saltana, whom he married. He served as vizier to Prince Imam-Virdi Mirza and was made governor of Borujerd and Lorestan, but under Muhammad Shah the minister Hajji Mirza Aqasi had him dismissed and stripped of much of his wealth. He died in 1255/1839 and was buried in Najaf. He is also known as the father of Baha'u'llah, founder of the Baha'i Faith, and of Subh-i Azal.
Achievements
- A leading nastaliq calligrapher at the court of Fath-Ali Shah; Mehdi Bayani judged that none of Mir Emad's followers reached his strength in that style.
- Taught calligraphy to Princess Diya al-Saltana, daughter of Fath-Ali Shah, who later became his wife.
- Served as vizier to Prince Imam-Virdi Mirza and as governor of Borujerd and Lorestan.
Taught by: Mir Emad
Taught: Diya al-Saltana, daughter of Fath-Ali Shah
His work
No open-licence photograph of a signed piece in his hand was found on Commons; known examples are on Baha'i sites without a free licence.
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
- Persian Wikipedia (after Fazaili, Atlas-e khatt; Yasavoli): nastaliq master at Fath-Ali Shah's court, follower of Mir Emad, Bayani's judgement, d. 1255 AH, body taken to Najaf fa.wikipedia.org
- English Wikipedia (after Balyuzi): nobleman of Nur, vizier to Imam-Virdi Mirza, governor of Borujerd and Lorestan, calligraphy pupil and wife Diya al-Saltana, dismissal under Aqasi, d. 1839, buried Najaf en.wikipedia.org
- Arabic Wikipedia (translation of the English article) ar.wikipedia.org
- Wikidata: born September 1789, d. 1839 wikidata.org
- Commons: painted likeness inscribed 'shabih-e Mirza Buzurg-e Nuri' commons.wikimedia.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).