Beyond the Picture: Calligraphy and the Arts of the Book in Sultanate India

A lecture by Eloïse Brac de la Perrière. Numerous fields of investigation await the attention of specialists of Sultanate India. In particular, the study of illustrated manuscripts offers many perspectives: the iconography, the text, and the book itself, including its materials and their assemblage. The calligraphy from this period has scarcely been studied, despite its marked peculiarities. Calligraphy also provides a bridge between the artistic, intellectual and spiritual fields. Why, and how, did traditions of Arabic calligraphy develop in Sultanate India? How do some fit into the calligraphic tradition shared with the rest of the Islamic world, and how to others stand out from it? How did the transition from a simple script to an art form take place? In the background of all these questions, a complex social history of Sultanate India slowly emerges.