247 - A letter from Abd al-Rahim Herravi known as 'Abd Al-Rahim 'Anbarin Qajam,

A letter from Abd al-Rahim Herravi known as 'Abd Al-Rahim 'Anbarin Qajam, Mughal India, circa 1620, Persian nasta'liq on on gold ground with paintings of birds and flower, birds, inviting his brothers to come to India, mounted 31 x 17.5cm. Provenance: Private UK Collection 'Abd al-Rahim, known asAnbarin Qalamor 'Musk Pen' originally came from Herat, but later joined Jahangir's court, as one of his great master calligraphers. His portrait appears at the end of a copy of theKhamsaof Nizami that he copied for the Emperor. Amongst his album pages are fifteen collected for an album made for Shah Jahan (Mehdi Bayani,Ahval va Asar-e Khosh-Nevisan, Vol. II, Tehran 1346 sh., pp. 389-91). It seems he came from a talented family since his grandfather is mentioned in a note by Shah Jahan as the likely calligrapher of a diwan in his royal library. 'Abd al-Rahim was granted the title,Anbarin Qalam(musk pen), by Jahangir who so admired him that he commissioned Anbarin Qalam's portrait to be added to a copy of Nizami'sKhamsehfinished by the calligrapher in 1595 AD (British Library, Or. ms. 12208). Among his album pages are 15 collected for an album made for Shah Jahan, which were Signedfaqir 'abd al-rahim 'anbarin qalam sana 1030(Bayani, op.cit p.389-391) Literature: See T. Falk (ed.), Treasues of Islam, exhibition catalogue, Geneva 1985, p.170, no.150; and A Soudavar,Art of the Persian Courts, New York 1992, pp. 120, 339.