A Study on The Inscriptions of Praising God in The Title Pages of Persian and Arabic Lithographic Books of Munshi Nawal Kishore Publication During 19th and 20th Centuries in India

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 M.A in Art research

2 Faculty of art, Shahed University, Tehran, Iran.

Abstract

Munshi Nawal Kishore's publication is an important center in India due to collecting and publishing many Persian and Islamic books and resolving the needs of many Muslim countries in the world and the Indian subcontinent. The name of its founder, Munshi Nawal Kishore, is always glorified in world of publications around the world. Since the 1840s a new style of lithography was created in India. This style is based on designing a title page, in the form of inscriptions, with significant features that make the page as valuable as a work of art. Thus, in this article, we aim to study the text of inscriptions with the content of praising God as a part of the title page's decoration in the Persian and Arabic books of Munshi Nawal Kishore publication. The article uses a descriptive-analytical method and library-based research has been carried out through careful analysis of the existing literature. The findings reveal that the inscriptions praising God in Arabic manuscripts only encompass Quranic verses and contain a variety of verses that is related to the message of the books. In the Persian books, on the other hand, the praising God is inscribed in Persian literary sentences which, based on the content and subject of the book, have added to the aesthetic aspects of the pages. Also, the elegance of the phrase structure of the inscriptions is admirable due to the skill of scribes in designing the letters’ composition coherently and its gentle and eye-catching rhythm as well as creating an imaginary and ethereal space. In addition to the Arabic books, the Quranic verses are used in Persian books, too.

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History

  • Receive Date: 07 March 2022
  • Revise Date: 01 May 2022
  • Accept Date: 16 May 2022

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