SULTANATE INDIA, POSSIBLY DELHI, 13TH-15TH CENTURY

This profession of faith (shahada) is written in a type of calligraphy which was developed in the early 13th century in Delhi. The shahada carved above a mihrab panel in the Quwwat al-Islam complex can be closely paralleled to our example. Although the upstrokes cannot fully grow and develop due to the limitations of the roundel format, the slightly loose and rounded aspect of these two lines, as well the foliage filling the background, is very similar to the example in Delhi, datable between 1210 and 1229 (Dominique Clévenot, George Degeorge, Ornament and Decoration in Islamic Architecture, London, 2000, p.150-1, cat.210). It is difficult however to date this calligraphic roundel precisely as this style still existed in the 15th century. The great mosque of Sikandar Lodi built in Delhi in 1494 is decorated with stucco friezes which recall our roundel by the calligraphy used in the inscription as well as the floral decoration visible in the background (Bianca Maria Alfieri, Islamic Architecture of the Indian Subcontinent, London, 2000, p.50-1).