Religious Inscriptions on the Great Mosques and the Ottoman, Safavid and Mughal Empires Lecture By: Giilru Ne Presented in English 3 January 2005 UD denpictincsaorcaton a study of unpublished religiousinscriptionsonthe numerous Friday mosques built by Sinan, the chief architect of the Ottoman court between 1539 and 1588. These mosques display a new emphasis on predominantly Qur’anic inscriptions. In comparison, the epigraphy of former Ottoman mosques placed equal weight on the Holy Book, hadeeth, pious invocations, and Persian poetry. The primacy of Qur‘anic inscriptions in Sinan's, Friday mosques was paralleled by a marked concern for legibility that found artistic expression in boldly magnified cursive scripts, among which Monumental Thuluth reigned supreme. By contrast, the cursive monumentalepigraphy ofsuch latemedieval dynasties as the Mamluks had privileged Naskh script. From the fifteenth century onward, the inscriptions of Ottoman mosques adopted the so-called international Timurid style, characterized by @ mixture of cursive and Kufic scripts with superimposed, reversed, and mirror image compositions exemplifying taste for visual variety and complexity. The new aesthetic criteria for monumental epigraphy in Sinan’s mosques were unity, clarity, and refined simplicity. A comparable shift to primarily cursive scripts, dominated by Thuluth, characterizes Safavid and Mughal monumental epigraphy, rooted in a shared Timurid heritage. Despite the mutual taste for cursive scripts in the Great Mosques of the three early modern Islamic empires, their religious inscription programmes varied considerably. The Siileymaniye mosque in Istanbul, built for Sultan Siileyman | in the 1550s, constituted an important turning point in the codification of Sinan’s distinctive aesthetic canon. Its exclusively Qur'anic epigraphy gave precedence to a single mode of writing, Monumental Thuluth, unlike the recently completed mosque of Sehzade Mehmed (1543-48), figure 1 whose inscriptions combined two types of cursive script: Monumental Thuluth and Muhaaqaq. The court calligrapher Hasan Karahisari, who signed the foundation inscription of the Sileymaniye mosque in 1557, was the adopted son and pupil of Ahmed Karahisari, celebrated for his innovative interpretation of cursive scripts developed by the late Abbasid calligrapher Yaqut al-Mustasimi (d. 1298). After Ahmed's death in 1556, Hasan elaborated on the manner of his master with great success in the Sileymaniye mosque. His bold calligraphy on the domes ofthe mosque launched a fashion for roundels with radiating letters Professor Giilru Necipoglu-Kafadar holds the Aga Khan chair for Islamic Art at Harvard, where she received her PhD in 1986. She has published many articles and books including “Architectural Culture in the Age of Sinan: Identity, Memory and Decorum” She has also written many book reviews, delivered lectures, papers and participated in numerous panels and symposiums. reson] 5jn gold that resemble rays of light emanating from heavenly bodies (figure 1).The roundel at the center of the main dome quotes a verse from the al-Fatir sura [Q. 35:41], which underscores the parallel between the cosmos steadily held in balance by God and the celestial dome of the mosque. Roundels with eight revered names mark the piers that support the domical superstructure: Allah, Muhammad, the four Sunni aliphs, and the Prophet's grandsons, Hassan and Hussain. These iconic emblems ‘of Sunni orthodoxy thereefter became standard in Ottoman religious architecture. Sinan’s autobiography reveals that he regarded calligraphy as an integral aesthetic component of tis architecture. In it, he makes the following judgment about the inscriptions Of the Suleymaniye, written by Hasan Karahisari, who seems to have been his personal favorite: “Some say that in Thuluth and Naskh, Hasan is unquestionably better than [Ahmed] Karahisari. Some say that in Monumental Thuluth, Hasan has become the world’s second Yaqut” Sinan selected the same calligrapher to design the Monumental Thuluth inscriptions of the Selimiye mosque (figure 2) in Edie, commissioned by Sultan Selimll.Weleamnthisfromanimperialdecreedated 1572, in which the sultan informs Sinan that the calligrapher he requested for the Selim'ye, Hasan Karahisari, has been sent to Edirne. The chief architect is ordered to show him the places to be decorated with inscriptions in tilework and painting. Sinan’s involvement in the epigraphy of the Selimiye is also confirmed by Selim Ws written response to his question whether the mosque’s mihrab recess should be “decorated” or “plain: The sultan chooses the decorated option (figure 3) and declares, “it is necessary to have tiles up to the level of windows and the Fatiha sura written on tiles above the windows, according to the manner that Sinan sees “fitting and appropriate’Thisshowsthat the content of inscriptions was controlled from Istanbul, whereas aesthetic choices conceming their placement and medium were left to Sinan The legibility and content of the written word mattered as much as its visual impact. The Ottoman traveller Evliya Celebi explains that on the dome inscriptions of the Siileymaniye, “each alif lam [the] and kaf {kl was_made ten cubits tall in order to be easily read.” Anyone sufficiently familiar with the Holy Book could decipher at least a few words in Qur'anic inscriptions and deduce the rest from having memorised the most frequently quoted popular verses, which are repeated in different combinations in Sinan’s mosques to highlight specific themes. Inscriptions in the mosques of Sinan exalt the Qur'an as the ultimate source of religious truth, superior to other texts as the authoritative Word of God. The consecration of the Holy Scripture in Monumental Thuluth script also fulfilled an ideological function. In the age of Sinan, multifunctional T-type convent-mosques, which once housed Sufi rituals and charitable banquets, were supplanted by central-plan Friday mosques primarily devoted to congregational prayers. The transformation of mosque rituals is documented by the fatwasofthe HanafijuristEbussuud, who held the post of Shaykh al-Islam between 1545 and 1574. His fatwas forbid ecstatic whirling and chanting inside congregational mosques (whether masjids or Friday mosques) as unorthodox practices. They also dictate the compulsory performance of the canonical congregational prayers, ordering the construction of masjids and Friday mosques wherever they were figure 2 figure 3 seossensecit| Gi I rmeselacking. This official policy was enforced throughout the Ottoman domains with an imperial edict issued by Sultan Suleyman in 1538-39, one year before Sinan became chief architect. This explains the subsequent boom in the construction of mosques, commissioned by the sultans, the royal family, and grandees (many of them converts to Islam, like Sinan), The chief architect's autobiography claims authorship for over 400 masjids and more than 100 Friday mosques. ‘The Friday mosque, in which the sultan’s claims to sovereignty were broadcast each week with the khutba, stood out as the Islamic building type par excellence, closely tied to the ruler’s legitimacy on which the regality of the Friday prayers depended. The new state policy of enforced Sunni orthodoxy crystalised during the reign of Siileyman (t.1520-1566), after years of conflict with the Twelver Shi'ite Safavids and their numerous Turkmen supporters living in the Ottoman territories. Among the polemical arguments used by Ebussuud and other Ottoman-Hanafi jurists to condemn the Safavids was their reluctance to perform the canonical congregational prayers during the occultation of the Hidden Imam (Twelfth Imam) {As we shall see, the early-seventeenth-century Friday mosque of Shah ‘Abbas | in Isfahan, the first of its kind tobe built in the Safavid empire, effectively responded to such polemics. Before tuming to the Safavid and Mughal contexts, however, | will briefly discuss the epigraphic programmesofSinan'sforemostsultanicmosques.Each mosque stresses a different theme: the Sileymaniye (1549-57) and the Selimiye (1568-74). The construction of the Siileymaniye complex, featuring five madras for the study of theology and jurisprudence, coincided with two military campaigns its patron directed against the Safavids. Its Arabic foundation inscription, composed by the Shaykh al- Is'lam Ebussuud, is replete with fragments of Qur'anic verses justifying Sileyman’s claim to the universal sultanate and caliphate.lt refers to him asthe Shadow of God over all Peoples, Sultan of the Sultans of the ‘Arabs and the Persians, Promulgator of the Laws of the Sultanate, and Tenth of the Ottoman Sultans; who has won his victories in the East and West with the help ‘of God. The ruler is hailed as “the Caliph resplendent with Divine Glory, who performs the command of the Hidden Book [the celestial prototype of the Qur'an} and executes its decrees in [alll regions ofthe inhabited quarter."The mosque, which brought Suleyman ‘closer to God"is identified asa resort for mankind" [Q.2:125], dedicated for divine worship by“those who bow down and stand and prostrate themselves” [Q. 2:125, 22:26]. Ebussuud, who was at that time writing his influential Arabic commentary on the Qur'an for the sultan, may well have masterminded the epigraphic programme of the entire mosque. Itsinscriptions stress the obligation to perform the daily communal and Friday prayers required by the Qur'an in return for a final reward in paradise. Yet another thematic emphasis is found in the inscriptions of the Selimiye mosque, financed with the spoils of the conquest of Cyprus (1570-71). Its epigraphic programme was conceived in 1572, year after the catastrophic defeat of the Ottoman navy at Lepanto by the Catholic alliance. It is therefore not surprising that the inscriptions highlight the central tenet that differentiates Islam from Christianity: the indivisible unity of the one and only God and the status of the Prophet as His messenger. The unity of God is powerfully expressed by the roundel at the center of the dome (figure 4, which quotes the alIkhlas sura also known as al-Tawhid [Q. 112:1-4], the most explicit disavowal of the doctrine of the Holy Trinity, The eight medallions around it are inscribed with rhyming litanies of some Divine Names. They are supplemented by invocations of the Ninety- Nine Beautiful Names of God, prominently written above the upper gallery arcades that overlook the unified central space under the great dome. These monotheistic invocations that glorify God constitute a visual counterpart to oral recitations particularly valued by the Sufis and recommended by the Qur’anic verses [62:9-10] written on the four exedras, which prescribe the congregational prayers alongside the “remembrance of Allah’ (dhikr). Such a mystical overtone is in keeping with the rising prominence of Sufi orders deemed compatible with Sunni orthodoxy during the reign of Selim Il(r.1566-74), Unlike the exclusively Qur‘anicinscriptionsofthe Siileymaniye, those of the Selimiye are complemented by hadeeth to articulate the Prophet's role as an intercessor and reliable messenger. The qibla wall presents the gist of the divine revelation disclosed in the first three chapters of the Qur'an, whereas the anti-gibla wall comprises hadeeth on the necessity of the congregational and Friday prayers. Eschatological inscriptions on the mihrab recess and the flanking gibla wall beg for protection from hellfire during the Last Judgment,a theme missing from the Suleymaniye. These anxious supplications can perhaps be read as communal pleas of the congregation of the Selimiye, chastised for its sins in Lepanto. tide atone] 36 [einssThe chief of the Prophet's descendants (Naqzb al-Ashraf) from whom Selim sought consolation had interpreted the defeat of the “soldiers of Islam” as a divine punishment inflicted for the sins of the Muslims, The historian Selaniki regarded the sinful times’ of the age as“a sign of the Last Judgment.” ‘One may even detect in the Selimiye's supplicatory verses the voice of the repentant sultan, who built the mosque for the salvation of his soul. Its modest Arabic foundation inscription states, thatthe"Sultan of Sultans’created this place of worship for God so that his own dwelling in paradise might be similarly built. It ends with the wish: "May God bless his good work and multiply his reward on the Day of Judgment.” Unlike his father, Selim I! led a hedonistic life and indulged in an unbridled passion for wine. Just before his death in 1574,the penitent sultan gave up drinking wine and held a private meeting with his Khalwati shaykh known as the*Sultan’s Shaykh,"during Which he “sought penance with tearful eyes, begged for God's forgiveness, and made his last wishes.” figure 4 The Quranic inscriptions of the royal tribune at the southeast corer of the prayer hall contain even more personalised references to the sultan. The window lunette above the private royal mihrab quotes a non-standard verse from the al-Shu'ara sura, chosen because it includes the word salim: a pun on ‘the patron's name [Q. 26:89]. The only other Ottoman mihrabwith the same verse isina smaller mosque Selim ‘commissioned from Sinan as a prince at Karapmar, near Konya. The verse asks forgiveness on the Day of Judgment for "him who bringeth unto Allah a pure heart (qalb salim).’The manwitha pure heartisno other than the sultan himself, whose Sufi leanings privileged the heart's inward purification. Above the royal mihrab are cited two other uncommon verses from the same sura [0.26:83,85]:"My Lord! Vouchsafe me wisdom and unite me with the righteous’; "And place me among the inheritors of the Garden of Delight.” This can be read as a plea by the sultan himself, in search of inner spiritual wisdom and acceptance into paradise. The chronogram of a Turkish poem commemorating the inauguration of the Selimiyeidentifies it as “the mosque of the Shah with a pure heart, the Imam who is the embodiment of religion.” (On a personal level, the inscriptions of the Selimiye expressed the remorseful sultan’s hope for salvation. On a public level, they proclaimed his image as the protector of Islam in troubled times. The individualised epigraphic programmes of Sinan’s two major sultanic mosques, then, resonated with the differing religious climates of their patrons’ reign. The varied combination of multivalent Qur'anic verses and occasional departures from the norm yielded messages that were simultaneously context- specific and general, open to several levels of reading, both personal and public. ‘The Safavid shahs refrained from building Friday mosques until a growing emphasis was placed on the congregational prayers in Isfahan, the new capital of Shah ‘Abbas | (r.1587-1629), ‘Thanks to the partial resolution of the ongoing debate on the legality of the Friday service during the occultation of the Hidden Imam, a grand Friday mosque could be built at the new maidan of Isfahan (figure 5); the Masjid:i Shah (1611-38), which was preceded by the Masjid-i Shaykh Lutf Allah (1603-19), a small royal chapel excluding the Friday sermon. The Kufic inscriptions of these complementary mosques, commissioned by Shah ‘Abbas, are subordinated to graceful monumental Thuluth calligraphy signed by the celebrated ‘Ali Riza al’Abbasi and other alligraphers. The inscriptions, which portray the shah as the propagator of the Twelver Shi'i doctrine and the shari’a combine historical texts, poetry, Qur'anic verses, hadeeth, and invocations to the Fourteen Infullibles (the Twelve Ifnams, Muhammad, and Fatima). ‘The epigraphic programme of the Masjid-i Shah, flanked by two madrasas, may have been orchestrated Fadesth aba by the Shaykh aislam oflsfahan: Shaykh Baha’ ai- Din Muhammad al-’Amili (d. 1620-21), whom sources connect with its construction. He drafted the waaf document of the mosque and in the course of its construction wrote for the shah a famous exposition of Shii jurisprudence in Persian, entitled Jami-i ‘Abbasl. Historical inscriptions on the mosque portal facing the maidan and on the exterior of the sanctuary dome (figure 6) identify the patron as the "King of Kings;the descendant of the Seventh Imam, and “the Shadow of God on Earth,” who built the mosque “founded on piety” [Q.9: 1 08] in accordance with the divine words: “He only shall tend Allah's sanctuaries who believeth in Allah and the Last Day and observeth proper worship" (9:18) The dome inscription dated 1627-28 praises the shah’s justice and prays God to grant him victory by banishing to hell the enemies of the Twelver Shi, namely those who are friends of the Umayyads and follow them in tyranny. This can be read as a pointed allusion to the Sunni Ottomans, from whom the shah had recently taken Baghdad (1624) and gained control over the Shi’ shrines of rag, This victory was celebrated in the mosques of Baghdad with the khutba of “the ‘Twelver Imams, embellished by the name of Shah ‘Abbas.” The gist of religious inscriptions in the Masjid-i Shah is disclosed inside the domed sanctuary, whose mihrab has an unusual cupboard for the relics of Imams descending from’Ali:a Qur'an copied by Imam and the blood stained shirt of Imam Husayn. The Prophet's hadeeth inscribed above that mihrab (1627 -28) declares loyalty to“Ali as the ultimate prerequisite to enter paradise! The Safavid state mosques of Isfahan, then, proclaim a sectarian orientation like their Ottoman counterparts. The unrestrained quantity of their inscriptions, however, requires a sustained effort in reading their polychromaticsurfacesin the manner ofa figurestheological treatise. Because the Quian does not explicitly state the Prophet's appointment of ‘Alias his vicegerent, the Masjid-i Shah is abundantly inscribed with hadeeth bearing witness to this claim. Shi'idogma accorded'Ali,andinfallible Imamsdescendingfromhim, the role of "perfect guides’ in interpreting the revelation of the"created” Qur'an, whose esotericinner meanings remain hidden from the uninitiated” The copious citation of hadeeth as a learned commentary on accompanying Qur’anic inscriptions in the Masjid-i Shah contrasts with the Ottoman preference for few and self-sufficient quotations from the Qur‘an, meant to be understood by all as the Word of God, In the Mughal empire, it was the reign of Shah Jahan (r.1628-58) that ushered in anincreasing concern for Sunni orthodoxy and the shari’a. However, of all the religious monuments the emperor sponsored, only the Taj Mahal (figure 7) features extensive Quranic inscriptions. The mausoleum’s elegant monumental Thuluth epigraphy, signed by the famous calligrapher ‘Amanat Khan of Shiraz, is unique in the large number of its lengthy Qur’ani passages:a total of 241 verses, By contrast, there are surprisingly few quotations from the Qur'an in the Jami Masjid of Delhi (1650-56) only two verses, inscribed above its central mihrab (figure 8). Built as the prerrier Friday mosque for the emperor's new capital, Shahjahanabad, this was the largest mosque in the entire subcontinent, once accompanied by a madrasa Its courtyard facade has a lengthy dedicatory Persian inscription in Naskh script, inlaid in rectangular marble panels and signed by the calligrapher Nur Allah, son of Ahmad. The couplets, interpolated with some fragments ‘of Quranic verses, praise the just and victorious"Worid Emperorthe"Shadow and Caliph of God on Earth;who is the’Founder of the Laws of Justice and Government the “Supporter of the Supreme Word of God! and the “Propagator of the Pure (White) Hanafi faith.’ They also praise the celestial white marble mosque, which ce the Masjid-i Shah) was “founded on piety" [Q. 9: 108) and created in accordance with the verse: “He only shall tend Allah's sanctuaries who believeth in Allah and the Last Day” (Q. 918]. The marble mihrab resembling the light of dawn announced divine mercy with an invitation to paradise:“And Allah summoneth to the Abode of Peace’ [Q. 10:25]. Additionally, the couplets pray for the continuation of monotheistic litanies glorifying God ide the mosque and wish that the emperor's khutba be perpetually read from the minbars of the inhabited Hadooth ac Da figure 7 world. The iwan on the facade is flanked with circular medallions invoking the Divine Name:"0 Guide!” Inside the prayer hall, only the central mihrab has inscriptions. The paired roundels that flank it are inscribed with another invocation: "0 Forgiver!” One of the two Quranic verses in thuluth script affirms the compassionate nature of God, “the Forgiving, the Merciful’ who pardons all sins (Q. 39:53]. The second verse above the mihrab alludes once again to the “mosque founded on piety” for those who strive to be purified [Q. 9: 108]. The sparseness of Qur’anic inscriptions can perhaps be interpreted as an attempt to conciliate sectatian differences within the mosques diverse congregation, while atthe sametimeappealing to prevalent Sufi sensibilities. Given that earlier Friday mosques in the subcontinent ate replete with lengthy passages from the Qur'an, their puzzling paucity in the Jami’ Masjid of Delhi calls for an explanation. Even more surprising is the complete absence of Qur‘anic inscriptions at the ‘emperor Aurangzib’s Jami Masjid in Lahore (1673-74): the Badshahi (Imperial) mosque, which surpasses in size its predecessor in Delhi. After his accession to the throne, the staunchly orthodox emperor Aurangzib ordered the removal of the Profession of Faith and theames of the four Sunni caliphs from gold and silver coins to protect these texts from defilement and being “trodden upon’ Was it a similar concern that brought about the ‘omission of religious inscriptions from the JamiMasjid in Lahore? This is implied by a legal opinion cited in a ‘compendium of Hanafi jurisprudence commissioned by the emperor to a board of scholars, the Fatawa-i ‘alamgzra{c. 1667-75), which was completed around the same time as the Badshahi mosque. The fatwa ascribed to the Central Asian Hanafi jurist Fakhr al- Din Qadi Khan (d. 1196) declares:"tt is not considered appropriate to write the Qur'an on mihrabs and walls for fear that the inscription may fall and be stepped upon.” Toconclude,the Great Mosques ofthe three early modern Islamic empires embodied the crystalisation ‘of newly formulated sharia-based orthodoxies.In each case calls for divinely sanctioned universal sovereignty andjustice bolstered by the sacred law,were articulated figures through strikingly different epigraphic programmes revolving around the shared concern for attaining salvation in paradise. We have seen that the inscriptions, penned by celebrated court calligraphers, were often orchestrated with the advice of prominent scholars. Their overall thematic coherence contradicts the widespread assumption that the religious inscriptions of mosques, dominated by stereotypical Quranic verses, were only meaningful in a few exceptional cases. This assumption overlooks the fact that even the most obvious cliches can be charged with rich contextual meanings. More than any other building type, the Great Mosque constituted a potent site for the negotiation of official dogmas upheld by the state. Given that the minting of coins and the foundation of Great Mosques constituted the two supreme emblems of sovereignty throughout the history of Islamic dynasties, the inscriptions of monumental state mosques were anything but arbitrary. Figure Figure 2: Figure 3: Figure 4: Domicalsuperstructureofthe | Selimiye Mosque in Edirne, Selimiye Mosque, mihrab recess | Selimiye Mosque, domical Sbleymaniye Mosque,Istanbul | interior facing qibla with hatf-come superstructarePT el Figures: Figure 6: Figure 7: Figure 8: The Masjid Shah Mosque, facing | Inscriotions on the sanctuery | The Taj Mahal ‘The Jami’ Masjid Mosque, Delhi the aidan oflsfahan dome ofthe Mos} id- Shah, ‘sfahan elas