One of the significant elements of architectural decoration after Islam is the inscription. After the emergence of various types of scripts in Islamic calligraphy, many ways of writing and applying inscriptions emerged. There are numerous definitions for the term inscription. However, the most tangible definition is any written piece on any surface or object other than paper. The term specifically refers to written words on selected areas of a building. Therefore, it is better to distinguish between writings on pottery, metallic ornaments, carpets, etc., and architectural inscriptions. It is also important to note that if the former and more general definitions of inscriptions are used, the dating and history of inscriptions should be reconsidered. The focus of this article is inscriptions in architecture, specifically inscriptions written in Nastaliq, and the principal question of the article is how the inscriptions written in Nastaliq in Iranian architecture evolve in form, content, material, and its combinational structure, from the beginning of its emergence until the Qajar period. This investigation is limited to examples where the inscriptions were created purposefully and based on the principles of calligraphy and fused organically into the architecture of the building.
Among the scripts that became widely used in inscriptions is the Nastaliq script. The oldest Nastaliq inscription was written in the 9th century AH (840 AH) on the Shah Nimatullah Wali Shrine. After that, at the end of the 9th century and especially in the first half of the 10th century, inscriptions in Nastaliq became popular in Qazvin and Isfahan. However, the Nastaliq inscription in this period was of secondary value and was mostly used for inscribing Persian poetry or foundation plaques. The most significant period in the history of Nastaliq inscriptions is the period of Fath-Ali Shah Qajar. The major developments in the inscriptions of this period can be analyzed in three categories: inscription composition, location, and material. In this period, the Nastaliq script was the most important script for inscriptions. Unlike the previous periods, the foremost inscriptions were written using the Nastaliq script in the Qajar period. In this period, the materials and methods of inscriptions have also transformed, and inscriptions using enameling on gold tiles, painting on the back of glass, and paper cutting indicate the use of new materials and methods in the inscriptions of the Qajar period. This research is a fundamental descriptive and analytical study of the evolution of Nastaliq inscriptions from the 9th century to the end of the Qajar period.