Afghanistan · Calligraphy / Manuscript Art
خط نستعلیق (Khatt-e Nastaliq)
Nastaliq is a style of Islamic calligraphy formalized in the 14th century, traditionally credited to the master calligrapher Mir 'Ali Tabrizi, combining elements of two earlier styles, Naskh and Ta'liq ('hanging') — the latter naming the script's defining trait, in which each character's strokes appear to hang from an imagined horizontal line rather than sit on a fixed baseline. Unlike earlier calligraphic styles developed for Arabic, Nastaliq was the first style invented specifically for the Persian language, and it remains, in the words of one contemporary Afghan calligrapher, the style that "brings the most beauty to Farsi text." It is taught and practiced today in Kabul workshops, most often in the context of Persian poetry, where two bayts (poetic lines, each split into two hemistichs) are arranged across four lines on a panel, framed by a cloud-like border and embellished with tazhib illumination and miniature floral and vegetal designs.
Risk level: Vulnerable · Not documented as separately inscribed for Afghanistan specifically; Nastaliq calligraphy more broadly is part of Iran's UNESCO-recognized calligraphy traditions
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