Calligraphy

There were some Qurans related to Safavid era in Darussaade in Istanbul, which was an Ottoman royal headquarters, and were collected from mosques and tombs in museums and libraries from the beginning of the 19^th century A.D. These artworks, which are remarkable examples in Islamic bibliopegy art because of their magnificent illuminations and precious covering, also show an especial and important era because of their scripts and transcribing. These works, regardless of their transcribing style, are important examples of artistic masterpieces because of their illuminations and coverings that show the perfection of Islamic bibliopegy art in the 16^th century. We know that Esfahan, Tabriz, Shiraz and Qazvin were prominent in Safavid bibliopegy. Among these cities, Shiraz was the most important one in the 16^th century A.D. I want to introduce two Qurans which were brought to Istanbul as an order or a gift. These two holy Qurans from Safavid era have fine scripts, illuminations, covers and they are kept in Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts in Istanbul. Ghataee and lac techniques have been performed proficiently on one of the covers. Mohamad al-Kateb and Ibn Qasem Daee Abdol Vahab al-Shirazi are the calligraphers. Both of the Qurans are transcribed in Yaghout al-Mostasami’s style which is still common in Iran. Ottoman History recorded in these Qurans are interesting, too. There is a note in one of the Qurans which is an endowment by Mehr Mah Soltan, Soltan Suleyman Qanouni’s daughter, to be kept and read in her mother’s tomb, Khoram Soltan. Another Quran was also dedicated to be kept in Aziz Mahmoud Khodaee’s mosque in Uskudar (Istanbul), according to its note, by a person named Fazlolah Ibn Mahmoud. There are horoscopes and prayers for finishing the Quran at the end of both Qurans which were common inn Safavid era.

Sekarzadeh Seyed Mohamad was one of the 18^th famous calligraphers in Ottoman. He was born in Manisa. His father, Abdorahman Effendi, was a confectioner so Seyed Mohamad was known as “Shekarzadeh”. He was Yedikuleli Seyyid Abdullah Efendi’s student and got permission from him. He was famous especially for Thuluth and Naskh script. He died in 1753 A.D and his tomb is located next to Sheikh Hamdolah’s in Karacaahmet cemetery in Istanbul. There are still three Qurans transcribed by him in different museums. The first one is a Quran, No. 85, kept in Turkish and Islamic Arts in Istanbul. It was a copy of Quran by Hafiz Uthman and it was ordered by Sultan Salim the third. This one has 458 pages and has been finished in 1729 A.D. After finishing this Quran, the king has known Shekarzadeh’s tendency to visit Kaaba so let him go and ordered him to copy another Quran by Sheikh Hamdolah. So Shekarzadeh went to Medina and after staying there for a year and transcribing the mentioned Quran, came back to Istanbul. In that time, Sultan Mahmoud was at the beginning of his kingdom, so Shekarzadeh gave the Quran to him. It can be understood from the endowment and notes that this manuscript later was taken to prophet Mohamad’s shrine by Rateb Ismaeil, and today it is kept in Malek Abdolaziz’s library in Medina, No. 231. Later, Shekarzadeh transcribed a Quran because of Soltan Mohamad the first, in 1733 A.D. and today it is kept in Suleymaniye library (Yenicami 3). This Quran has 346 pages and it is the first Quran that published by Ottoman government officially in 1874 A.D. This manuscript was published perfectly by Turkish Classical Art Foundation in Istanbul in 2018. Shekarzadeh mentioned in colophon of this Quran that this was the third one he had transcribed and he wanted to do more. But there are only three manuscripts mentioned in resources. It can be possible that his other Qurans are in private collections. This article is about Shekarzadeh’s artworks, who is a famous Ottoman calligrapher, his place in the Quran transcribing and especially his Qurans’ features.