Under the Adorned Dome: Four Essays on the Arts of Iran and India (Arts and Archaeology of the Islamic World: Ehsan Yarshater Lecture, 19)

These four essays are the updated version of the Yarshater Lecture Series (SOAS, London, 2013). They concern Persian illustrated manuscripts, the iconography of Kashan wares, luster tiles in Ilkhanid Iran, and the glazed tiles made in three Indian sultanates. Contents Contents 8 Foreword 12 Figures 14 Introduction 22 Chapter 1 The “Making of” of Persian Illustrated Manuscripts 32 1 Prolegomena: Persian Illustrated Manuscripts in Context 35 1.1 Early Illustrated Manuscripts and Timespan 35 1.2 Decisions and Steps to Creation 39 2 Formats, Ratios, and Space for Illustrations 39 2.1 Format (qaṭʿ) and Ratios of the Folios 39 2.2 Number and Place of Illustrations 44 3 Layout, masṭar, and Page Composition 47 3.1 Page Layout 47 3.2 Masṭar/Ruling 47 3.3 Tarkib-o masṭar (Layout and Ruling) 59 4 Invention of Images, Coloring, Framing, and Insetting 63 4.1 Drawing and Creating the Composition 63 4.2 On the Repetition of Compositions 64 4.3 Phases of Painting according to the ʿarża-dāsht 66 4.4 In-setting (vaṣṣāli) and Frame-drawing (jadvalkashi) 70 5 Conclusion 70 Chapter 2 Epic Iconography or Folktale Illustrations? Narrative Devices on Kashan Ceramics (Late 12th–Early 13th Century) 73 1 Introduction 73 2 Deconstructing the Elements of Narration (Narrative Contents) 87 2.1 Stories Related to the Shāh-nāma 87 2.2 Stories Other Than the Shāh-nāma 105 3 Opportunities and Formal Constraints 109 3.1 Narrative Structures 109 3.2 Formal Opportunity 113 4 De-personification and Archetypes/Stereotypes 117 4.1 The Horse-rider: A Folktale Hero? 117 4.2 Ghulām/Sultan Stereotypes 121 5 Conclusion 124 Chapter 3 Use and Reuse of Persian Luster Tiles (13th–14th Centuries) 127 1 Artists, Workshops, and Means of Production 132 1.1 Workshop Location 136 1.2 Costs and Patrons 136 2 Shrines, Tombs, and Mosques 141 2.1 The Shrine of Imam Reza, Mashhad 142 2.2 The mihrab from Maidan-i Sang Mosque, Kashan, 1226 143 2.3 The Imamzadah Yahya at Varamin, (1262–1305) 144 2.4 Imamzadah Ja‌ʿfar, Damghan, circa 665–6/1266–7 148 2.5 A Quranic Frieze Signed by Yusuf ibn ʿAli ibn Muhammad ibn Abu Tahir (DDF 48.347) 148 3 Luster Tiles in Ilkhanid Palace Decoration 150 3.1 A Survey of the Ilkhanid Palaces 151 3.2 Tiles with Verses from the Shāh-nāma 154 3.3 Tiles with Trilobed Arch: Takht-i Suleiman’s Frieze 156 3.4 The Other Tiles with Trilobed Arches 158 4 Conclusion 160 Chapter 4 Glazed Tiles from Indian Sultanates: Delhi, Gaur, and Mandu 165 1 Preliminary Remarks 166 1.1 Pre-Islamic Glazing in India 166 1.2 “Persian” Tiles: kumhar vs. kāshigar? 167 1.3 Workshops and Technology 171 2 Tiles from the Delhi Sultanate, 13th–16th Centuries 173 2.1 Early Sultanate (13th–14th Centuries) 174 2.2 Lodi Period 179 2.3 First Mughal Period and Suri Intermezzo (1526–1560) 190 3 Gaur and the Bengal Sultanate 201 3.1 Tiles from Existing Monuments in Gaur 204 3.2 Ruined or Vanished Monuments and Scattered Tiles 211 4 Tiles from Mandu (Sultanate of Malwa, 1401–1531) 219 4.1 Masjid of Malik Mughith, 1432 221 4.2 Jāmiʿ Masjid of Mandu, Achieved 858/1454 222 4.3 Ashrafi Mahal 222 4.4 Kushk-i Zarrin or “Jahaz Mahal,” 1441 and Later 223 4.5 Hammam 226 4.6 Jal-Mahal 226 4.7 Undated and “Late” Monuments 228 5 Conclusion 235 Post-scriptum 238 Annex 1: Shāh-nāma Illustrated Manuscripts in the UK (after Brend and Melville, Epic of the Persian, pp. 248–251) 240 Annex 2: Anthology of Poems on Luster, mina‌ʾi & Underglaze Painted Vessels 246 Annex 3: Tentative List of Tiles with Quotations from the Shāh-nāma in a Trilobed Arch 255 Annex 4: Luster Stars & Crosses at Doris Duke Foundation, Shangri La 264 Annex 5: Catalogue of Persian Luster Tiles in Eghvard Church, Armenia 271 Annex 6: Glazed Ceramics in India’s Archaeological Surveys (Quoted from Indian Archaeology. A Review, from 1955 to 2001, ASI) 272 Bibliography 283 Index of Persian and Hindustani Words and Locutions 297 Index of Names 298 These essays are the revised and updated version of four lectures given in the Yarshater Lecture Series, at SOAS in London in 2013. They concern some aspects of the arts from pre-modern Iran and India, namely, the “making of” of Persian illustrated manuscripts, the iconography of Kashan wares, the use and re-use of luster tiles in Ilkhanid Iran, and the glazed tiles made in three Indian sultanates (Delhi, Bengal and Malwa). These four topics share concepts of influence and impact, although inflected on different modes. The productions they embody represent many poles of influence, even if working on different scales, from the extensive diffusion of products, techniques, and systems to almost isolated productions.