Calligraphy of Chaghatai Turkish Poems in Praise of Wine (verso)

c. 1500–1520
calligraphy by
(probably Persian, active c. 1520s)
calligraphy by
(Persian, c. 1472–1536)
Page: 36.2 x 24.3 cm (14 1/4 x 9 9/16 in.)
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Description

This page of delicately illuminated calligraphy from the pre-Mughal period was mounted into a Mughal album. The poems are written in the native language of the Mughals, a form of Turkish called Chaghatai, using a flowing form of Arabic script called nasta‘liq. The Mughals self-consciously adopted Persian as their official court language, so few Chaghatai books or works of calligraphy were made for them.

The quatrain in the center reads: The wine has made an attempt on my life, Since it is the wine that can wear down the pain of separation. O Sufi! Let the mosque be for you, and the tavern for me, Since you need to arrive at the Spring of Kowsar, while I am in need of wine! The Spring of Kowsar is where the righteous quench their thirst in the afterlife.
Calligraphy of Chaghatai Turkish Poems in Praise of Wine (verso)

Calligraphy of Chaghatai Turkish Poems in Praise of Wine (verso)

c. 1500–1520

Mirza Muhammad, Sultan Muhammad Nur

(probably Persian, active c. 1520s), (Persian, c. 1472–1536)
India, Mughal, 16th century

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