Ali Reza Abbasi Tabrizi was a prominent

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

calligrapher Calligraphy () is a visual art related to writing. It is the design and execution of lettering with a pen, ink brush, or other writing instruments. Contemporary calligraphic practice can be defined as "the art of giving form to signs in an exp ...

and

calligraphy Calligraphy () is a visual art related to writing. It is the design and execution of lettering with a pen, ink brush, or other writing instruments. Contemporary calligraphic practice can be defined as "the art of giving form to signs in an e ...

teacher, who flourished in 16th-17th century

Safavid Iran The Guarded Domains of Iran, commonly called Safavid Iran, Safavid Persia or the Safavid Empire, was one of the largest and longest-lasting Iranian empires. It was ruled from 1501 to 1736 by the Safavid dynasty. It is often considered the begi ...

. He was titled by Abbas I as ''Šāhnavāz Xān''. Abbasi was a master of Naskh and

Thuluth ''Thuluth'' (, ' or , '; , ''Sols''; Turkish: ''Sülüs'', from ' "one-third") is an Arabic script variety of Islamic calligraphy. The straight angular forms of Kufic were replaced in the new script by curved and oblique lines. In ''Thuluth'', ...

scripts and the initiator of his own style of

Nastaʿlīq ''Nastaliq'' (; ; ), also romanized as ''Nastaʿlīq'' or ''Nastaleeq'' (), is one of the main calligraphic hands used to write Arabic script and is used for some Indo-Iranian languages, predominantly Classical Persian, Kashmiri, Punjabi a ...

script. Besides he was an expert of various other scripts like

Muhaqqaq Muhaqqaq is one of the main six types of Islamic calligraphy, calligraphic script in Arabic.John F. A. Sawyer, J. M. Y. Simpson, R. E. Asher (eds.), ''Concise Encyclopedia of Language and Religion'', Elsevier, New York 2001, , p. 253. The Arabic la ...

, Reqa, Reyhan, Tevki and

Taʿlīq script The taʿlīq () script is a Book hand, calligraphic hand in Islamic calligraphy typically used for official documents written in Persian language, Persian. Literally meaning ''hanging'' or ''suspended'' script it emerged in the mid-13th century an ...

Youth

Ali Reza Abbasi started learning calligraphy in

Tabriz Tabriz (; ) is a city in the Central District (Tabriz County), Central District of Tabriz County, in the East Azerbaijan province, East Azerbaijan province of northwestern Iran. It serves as capital of the province, the county, and the distric ...

as a pupil of Mohammad Hossein Tabrizi and Ala Beyk. Abbasi obtained an outstanding knowledge of Thuluth and Naskh scripts. After that the

Ottomans Ottoman may refer to: * Osman I, historically known in English as "Ottoman I", founder of the Ottoman Empire * Osman II, historically known in English as "Ottoman II" * Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empir ...

occupied Tabriz in the era of

Mohammad Khodabanda Mohammad Khodabanda (also spelled Khodabandeh; , born 1532; died 1595 or 1596) was the fourth Safavid dynasty, Safavid shah of Safavid Iran, Iran from 1578 until his overthrow in 1587 by his son Abbas I of Persia, Abbas I. Khodabanda had succeed ...

, Abbasi left the city and went to

Qazvin Qazvin (; ; ) is a city in the Central District (Qazvin County), Central District of Qazvin County, Qazvin province, Qazvin province, Iran, serving as capital of the province, the county, and the district. It is the largest city in the provi ...

, the capital of the

Safavid dynasty The Safavid dynasty (; , ) was one of Iran's most significant ruling dynasties reigning from Safavid Iran, 1501 to 1736. Their rule is often considered the beginning of History of Iran, modern Iranian history, as well as one of the gunpowder em ...

. He lived there in the

Jameh mosque of Qazvin The Jāmeh Mosque of Qazvin (; ) is a Shi'ite Friday mosque (''jāmeh''), located in Qazvin, in the Qazvin province of Iran. Completed in 807 CE, it is one of the oldest mosques in Iran, and was added to the Iran National Heritage List on 6 ...

. He worked as a calligrapher and completed some parts of

inscription Epigraphy () is the study of inscriptions, or epigraphs, as writing; it is the science of identifying graphemes, clarifying their meanings, classifying their uses according to dates and cultural contexts, and drawing conclusions about the wr ...

s of the mosque and also some

Koran The Quran, also Romanization, romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a Waḥy, revelation directly from God in Islam, God (''Allah, Allāh''). It is organized in 114 chapters (, ) which ...

samples. His works on the Jameh mosque of Qazvin made him famous. In the early years of the reign of Abbas I, he was in Farhad Khan's employ, who was an important

Sardar Sardar, also spelled as Sardaar (, , 'commander', literally 'headmaster'), is a title of royal family, royalty and nobility that was originally used to denote princes, noblemen, chiefs, kings and other Aristocracy (class), aristocrats. It ha ...

of the Safavids and his rank and dignity was increasing under Abbass I. When Sardar Farhad Khan noticed that Alireza Abbasi was an able artist, he appointed him as his personal companion and took Abbasi as his companion to

Khorasan KhorasanDabeersiaghi, Commentary on Safarnâma-e Nâsir Khusraw, 6th Ed. Tehran, Zavvâr: 1375 (Solar Hijri Calendar) 235–236 (; , ) is a historical eastern region in the Iranian Plateau in West and Central Asia that encompasses western and no ...

and

Mazandaran Mazandaran Province (; ) is one of the 31 provinces of Iran. Its capital is the city of Sari, Iran, Sari. Located along the southern coast of the Caspian Sea and in the adjacent Central Alborz mountain range and Hyrcanian forests, it is border ...

In the court of Safavids

Alireza Abbasi's fame increased. On the 1st of July 1593 Abbasi became the King's intimate friend and the King instructed some of calligraphers like Mohammad Reza Emami,

Mohammad Saleh Esfahani Mohammad Saleh Esfahani was a Persian calligrapher in the Safavid era. He was the son and student of Aboutorab Esfahani. He was a follower of Mir Emad's style. Many of the inscriptions on the historical buildings in Esfahan like the inscription on ...

and Abd ol-Baghi Tabrizi to teach Abbasi Thuluth script. He had a son named Badi al-Zaman Tabrizi. Abbasi's death date in unknown, but it is supposed that he died towards the end of Safi's era.

References

{{Authority control 1500s births 1600s deaths 16th-century calligraphers from Safavid Iran Calligraphers from Tabriz 17th-century calligraphers from Safavid Iran 16th-century Iranian painters 17th-century Iranian painters