Jafar Tabrizi

Born in Tabriz, according to Dust Muhammad, Ja‛far was trained in the classic six scripts (al-aqlam al-sitta) by Shams al-Din Qattabi, whose line of tutelage went back to ‛Abdallah Sayrafi (d. after 1345/46).

After youth in Tabriz Ja‛far moved to Herat, where he served at the court of Shah Rukh (r. 1405-1447) and supervised the scriptorium (kitābkhāna) of prince Baysunghur, thereby gaining the epithet Baysunghuri.

According to report calligraphers also designed inscriptions and painters were responsible for decorated saddles, wall paintings and tents.

His signed and dated works include manuscript of the Divan of Hasan Dihlavi (Tehran, Majlis Library, no.

[2][5][7] Ja‛far’s mastery of the six scripts, particularly thuluth, naskh and muhaqqaq, is evident in the specimens of his calligraphy preserved in several albums (e.g. Topkapı Palace Library, H. 2153, fols 27r, 58r, 160v).

His smooth nastaliq is typical of early examples of the script in which the individual graphic units are placed at a 30° angle to the horizontal writing line.

)[12] This brings Simon Rettig to conclusion that "the profusion of examples by Ja‛far Tabrizi and his direct link to Mir Ali, as narrated in the histories of calligraphy, made him ultimately regarded as the first great master calligrapher for the nastaliq script.