Calligraphy

Calligraphy was a major part of Mughal art and culture.²³ The Mughals viewed writing, especially in Arabic and Persian, as a spiritual form of art. Similarly, in miniature paintings, calligraphy could be found all over their buildings, books, and coins proving how deeply enrooted this writing form was to the empire.²⁴ It was also greatly enrooted in faith, in fact, calligraphy came from Qur'anic verses which is why it is seen a lot on mosques, tombs, and palaces. For example, the Taj Mahal, as previously mentioned, has calligraphy written along its walls in Arabic in order to remind visitors of God and once again exemplify how God is the true pillar that keeps the walls up.²⁵ Artists trained for years to master this skill. They had to make every letter the right shape and keep the writing balanced and clean, highlighting the grave importance it was to the empire to remain perfect when handling something so beautiful and significant in their literature and culture. The tools mattered as well, they used special ink, paper, and pens made from reeds.²⁶ The Mughals mostly used Persian script styles like Nata'liq for poetry and more curved Arabic styles for religious texts.²⁷ It is interesting to see how they used another language for things like poetry since possibly they choose to keep their originally language in the sacred texts. Calligraphy also showed up in more personal ways such as on jewelry, boxes, armor, and even swords. It was found everywhere, from royal palaces to small objects in daily life.²⁸ Furthermore, good handwriting meant wisdom, faith, and good character to the Mughals. The more elegant your writing, the more respected you were possibly because many people were not educated at all and did not know how to write so those who did and who could do it well were in a way rare, it could also be because people are more drawn to what looks pretty. 

23. Sheila S. Blair, Islamic Calligraphy (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2006), 58.

24. Sheila S. Blair, Islamic Calligraphy, 60.

25. Ebba Koch, The Taj Mahal, 35.

26. Sheila S. Blair, Islamic Calligraphy, 62.

27. J. M. Rogers, The Arts of Islam, 115.

28. Ebba Koch, Mughal Art and Architecture, (London: Thames & Hudson, 1991), 89.

29. Mughal Calligraphy, detail from palace wall, Agra Fort, 17th century, photograph by author.