This document features a chancery script written in rotulus format. The script is curvilinear and proportioned. Bowls are rounded and letter shapes are consistent.

Madd is frequent.
e.g. muqaddimān line 5:


Abusive ligatures are present throughout.
e.g. l-illāh al-ʿizza line 4:


Baselines are nested and stacked, with each succeeding word beginning above the previous. Words are stacked toward the ends of lines.
e.g. ʿalā ʿAbd al-Rashīd line 7:


Interlinear spacing is generous. Lines slope upward. A large space at the head of the document (ṭurra) carries the name of the office, the name of an official (Ulugh Arsalān), and an ʿalāma.

These features — curvilinear and proportioned script, rounded bowls, consistent letter shapes, frequent madd, abusive ligatures, nested and stacked baselines, stacked words at line-ends, generous interlinear spacing, upward-sloping lines, and large rotulus format with ṭurra — conform to the graphic conventions of the Abbasid/Buyid chancery of Baghdad.

Glossary

Abusive ligature — the joining of canonically non-connecting letters (e.g. alif) to a succeeding letter; a feature of both cursive and chancery scripts

ʿAlāma — a pious motto used as a signature by officials to authenticate state documents; usually placed at the head of a document

Bowl — the rounded closed or semi-closed curve of a letter which descends below the baseline, as in wāw, qāf, nūn, and sīn

Curvilinear — a script characterised by long, rounded, flowing strokes, most evident in the loops of letters such as fā or ʿayn, and in the bowls of letters such as yāʾ or nūn; distinct from cursive

Interlinear spacing — the space between lines of text

Madd — horizontal extension of letter strokes, used to fill space or as a decorative and calligraphic feature; also referred to as mashq in some traditions

Nested baselines — baselines of individual words which are slanted, with succeeding words beginning above the end of the preceding word

Proportioned script — a script in which letterforms are executed according to consistent geometric ratios, typically based on the height of the alif and the diameter of a circle; associated with formal calligraphic training

Rotulus — a document in the form of a long vertical scroll

Stacked words — words written above one another toward the end of a line, a deliberate layout convention of the chancery style

Ṭurra — the large blank space left at the head of a document, below the title of the issuing office; a deliberate layout convention of the chancery style

Further Reading

• Shawe-Taylor, Edward. 2026. “Abbasid Continuities and Seljuk Innovations: Persian State Documents in the Bamiyan and Firuzkuh Papers.” In State Documents from the Medieval Islamicate World, edited by Nadia Vidro, Arezou Azad, and Marina Rustow. Edinburgh University Press, forthcoming.