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Iranian Studies
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The Appearance of Persian on Islamic Art

Carol Bier
a a

Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley, California

Version of record first published: 28 Feb 2012

To cite this article: Carol Bier (2012): The Appearance of Persian on Islamic Art, Iranian Studies, 45:2, 312-314 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00210862.2012.650000

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312 Reviews

The Appearance of Persian on Islamic Art, Bernard OKane, New York: Persian Heritage Foundation (Biennial Ehsan Yarshater Lecture Series on Iranian Art and Archaeology, no. 4), 2009. ISBN 978-1-934283-16-5, xiv + 208pp. One is at rst struck by the impenetrable ambiguities in the title of this work The Appearance of Persian on Islamic Art, where the term Persian seeks an angle of repose. Is Persian here used as a noun or an adjective? And what is meant by Appearance? Is it visual or temporal? Does it have to do with perception or reception, origins or emergence? The preposition on is it out of place? Where exactly is meant in terms of unspecied place? The title is apt, for OKane treats a complicated subject that has to do as much with script as with language and political afliation, and as much to do with poetry as with symbolic forms and the spread of Su traditions, and considers the relationships between orality and literacy as means of transmission of language and ideas. This study covers a broad geographic sweep, centered initially in Khorasan after the Arab conquests with the early patronage of Persian literature under the Samanids, an Iranian dynasty with Turkish governors, and the Ghaznavids, who took over rule in Ghazna to become a Turkish dynasty. OKane traces the emergence of the Persian language, rst in texts such as the Shahnameh and in the titles of rulers, and the writing of history, and soon inscribed on ceramics and metalwork, and its early uses in writing on architecture in chapter 1, which covers the period roughly 9501150. Chapter 2 considers Persian verses on lusterware ceramics and tilework, and metalwork, with monumental inscriptions on architecture still sparse in the period 11501350, while chapter 3 addresses the ourishing of monumental architectural inscriptions in Hindustan. Chapter 4 considers the Timurid and Safavid periods as the culmination of the appearance of Persian language; in the sixteenth century the number of surviving Persian inscriptions increased dramatically, with the primacy of Persian nally established (p. xiii). Overall the book addresses the visual appearance of Persian calligraphy, tracking developments chronologically and spatially from the middle of the seventh century through the sixteenth century. Throughout this stretch of time and space, many cultural ambiguities have to do with shifting identities, often in response to successive invasions and conquests, with language bending to accommodate political exigencies, commercial endeavors, and imagined cultural memories. The inquiring reader is richly rewarded in this little book, which reminds us of historically important connections among neighboring lands today divided into the bickering nation states of Pakistan, Kashmir, India, Bangladesh, that share a Persian literary heritage, as do Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Armenia, as well as the perhaps more obvious imperial connections among Turkey, Iran, and Turkmenistan. That there is no map is surely an oversight, but the sweetness of cultural exploration is delightful to read, combining as it does the lyrical form of Persian verses with metal vessels, luxury silks, ceramic mosaic, and architectural ornament. What is presented is an amazing recognition and broad recapitulation of the diffusion of Persian language and literature in the visual arts, permeating among diverse peoples not all of whom were Persian-speaking, or of Iranian ethnic heritage. The interplay of cultural identities is complex, and OKanes succinct enu-

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Reviews 313

meration of historical instances calls to question the traditional paradigm of language in its relation to identity formation. With the Arab conquests of the middle of the seventh century, the Sasanian Empire was brought to an end but its Persian language (Pahlavi/Middle Persian) soon reemerged in a new form, suffused with Arabic vocabulary and written in an Arabic script. Persian poetry evolved in imitation of Arabic panegyric and absorbed Arabic meters and rhythms. Although language is often considered to be the root of cultural identity, by historical paradox, the patronage of new Persian literary production was primarily at the hands of local Turkish rulers, with the lasting historical result of Persian becoming a language of literature. OKane leads us through a chronological journey, meandering from the earliest appearance of new Persian in literary and historical texts (Balamis reworkings of Tabaris histories; translations of Kelileh va Demneh from Arabic) composed at the behest of local rulers, to the last appearances of Pahlavi inscriptions on tomb monuments (Resget and Radkan, pp. 2021), which preceded the development of monumental Persian calligraphy. While Arabic calligraphy in Kuc script came to be normative for architectural inscriptions in the eleventh and twelfth centuries for foundation texts and funerary monuments, OKane enumerates the known examples of Persian inscriptions, also in Kuc, which not only occur on some of the same monuments but also are often indistinguishable in style. He relates the earliest expression of names and dates in Persian to the Shoubiyya movement, based on a Quranic passage concerning the equality of all peoples. And he considers the establishment of independent vassal states in eastern Iran to be the result of national separatist movements, an interpretation that has not reached a scholarly consensus. And he identies the expressive links between Susm, wine drinking and metal drinking bowls inscribed with Persian poetic verses (p. 56). This book offers a distinctly literate approach to Islamic art, examining primarily inscriptions in Persian that appear on (yes, on) works of Islamic art, that is, works that date to the periods after the Islamic conquests of the Middle East, Central Asia, and the Indian subcontinent, although not necessarily religious in context or intent. OKanes years of experience abroad immersed in cultural pursuits, in Iran with the British Institute of Persian Studies, and in Egypt with the American University of Cairo, have facilitated his approach to bilingualism (here expressed as Persian/ Arabic, Persian/Turkish, Persian/Pahlavi, Persian/Sanskrit) and other aspects of the linguistic transmission of cultural values. While the footnotes suggest strong reliance on secondary sources, it is the inscriptions themselves that are the primary sources. These, coupled with the functions of the objects and monuments, and the materials of their composition (brick, glazed ceramic, stone, silver, copper, bronze, wood, silk), serve as the basis for OKanes cultural interpretations. Drawing upon an accumulated compilation of references to Persian texts and inscriptions, and providing transliterations and translations with an accompanying selection of photographs in color or black and white, OKane weaves a story with sufcient historical context to develop hypotheses as to how and why Persian inscriptions appear where and when they do.

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314 Reviews

Devoting an entire chapter to the objects and monuments in Hindustan, preferring the term used by Arab geographers, OKane emphasizes the particular signicance of the appearance of Persian in what had been non-Persian speaking lands on the periphery of the Persian-speaking world, its distinction as an Islamic state with a majority of nonMuslims, and its slow start followed by [a] fertile owering of Persian inscriptions. In the Indian subcontinent Persian inscriptions were rare until the fourteenth century, but soon became widespread, with tall, elegant letters that established a rhythmic visual ow in monumental inscriptions, primarily but not exclusively in funerary contexts. The charm of this small tome leaves one gasping, wishing for more. Several leads beg more thorough treatment. It could be destined for a broader reading public with the simple addition of a glossary of terms. Treatment of the origins and spread of Kuc scripts, and the introduction of cursive Naskhi, and the later elongated styles that became so popular in Hindustan, might amplify the discussion of cultural trajectories. All of the calligraphic styles would benet from more detailed descriptions and an analytical view as to their development over time. A map is essential, pinpointing the sites of monuments, texts, and inscriptions. A graphic map could convey the extent of the Arab conquests in relation to the advent of Turks in the Middle East, and explore these two phenomena in contrast to the breadth of the use of Persian language in government, administration, and cultural pursuits. A timeline would also be helpful, particularly for non-specialist readers. Surely, numismatic evidence would yield further interest and result in afrmation (or negation) of the cultural hypotheses OKane has put forward. Discussions of technology of the various building materials (stone in Anatolia; brick in Iran; different kinds of stone in Hindustan) could be brought to bear. And the manipulation of metals through various techniques such as engraving, crimping, incising, and inlay might help explain various styles of calligraphy and why they look as they do. Of particular importance is the regional variation in lettering why, for example, did the very elongated ascending letters of Hindustan with their strict horizontality take precedence over the proportionality of letters in Arab lands, or the more curvilinear cursive styles of Iran and Central Asia? Finally, one might attempt to address the roles and interactions of language, culture, and identity with a more theoretical formulation in relation to identity politics, such as that experienced by the Kurds in Turkey today. The precarious yet dynamic balances among languages, scripts, and literature in the periods and places covered in this volume seem to have followed different paths, although they certainly must have been related to local and regional congurations of power and piety, with intended literary ambiguities serving distinct purposes. The cultural phenomena of language, script, and literature addressed in this book will be of interest in the eld of Iranian studies for historians of art and architecture, as well as for those who study literature, epigraphy, ethnography, and linguistics. Carol Bier Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley, California 2012, Carol Bier http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00210862.2012.650000

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