Abd al-Majid Taliqani · Islam Museum

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Depth

At a glance

Roles: calligrapher · Artist
Region: Persia & Central Asia

Life in time

The Colonial Era · The Gunpowder Empires Contemporaries: Abd al-Rahman al-Jabarti · Abd Allah al-Sharqawi · Abdul Kader Kane · Abdul Rahman Ibrahima Sori · Abdulaziz ibn Muhammad Al Saud

Arts of the book

Summary

Abd al-Majid Taliqani was an Iranian calligrapher whom Maryam Ekhtiar names among the great masters of the shikasta ("broken") script, with dates from 1737 to about 1771. ¹

His letter at The Met

The Met holds a letter in shikasta signed by him and dated 1176 AH/1763 CE: eight lines, six written diagonally and two horizontally at the bottom. Its unusual composition and the upward sloping and stacking of words at the end of each line show the characteristic features of shikasta, and the sweep of the descending letters and the airy flow of the text enhance its composition. ¹

Connections

Explore the connections

Exemplifies: Shikasta script

People and things also explored

Darayat Khan (Abdallah), calligrapher· Kifayat Khan (Muhammad Ja'far Khan), calligrapher· Muhammad Shafi' Haravi (Shafi'a)· Shikasta script· Abbasid tin-glazed ware· Ahmadnagar painting· Proportional script and the six pens (al-aqlam al-sitta)· Arabesque

Sources

Maryam D. Ekhtiar, How to Read Islamic Calligraphy (New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2018) , p. 49

Cite this page

islam.museum contributors. “Abd al-Majid Taliqani”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/person/abd-al-majid-taliqani/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-11-04.

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People

Prophets, companions, scholars, rulers, scientists, poets, travelers: women and men who shaped the story. Related

Darayat Khan (Abdallah), calligrapher

Mughal calligrapher, son of Kifayat Khan, who learned shikasta from his father and then devised a manner of his own called 'Darayat Khani'; masters of the art agree that he surpassed his father.