Square chart created with many tiny squares forming a grid filled with the names of Allah and verses from the Qur'an in red, blue and black ink.
AKM536, Talismanic Chart

© The Aga Khan Museum

Mirrored image back of the square chart created with many tiny squares forming a grid filled with the names of Allah and verses from the Qur'an in red, blue and black ink.
AKM536, Talismanic Chart, Back

© The Aga Khan Museum

Click on the image to zoom

Talismanic Chart
  • Accession Number:AKM536
  • Place:Iran
  • Dimensions:68.5 x 53.5 cm
  • Date:19th century
  • Materials and Technique:ink on gazelle skin
  • Whether hung on a wall or carried on the body, talismans such as this large-scale chart covered with various designs and inscriptions were believed to help secure blessings (baraka) and provide protection for individuals and places. This chart includes numerous magic squares and inscriptions inked on gazelle skin, whose crease marks suggest that it was folded into a smaller bundle and possibly nestled within a now-lost container.

Further Reading

 

While some Islamic talismans are block printed (see AKM508), others such as this one are inked by hand using gold, black, blue, and red pigments. In this instance, the rather translucent parchment is inscribed with a number of Qur’anic verses, the beautiful names of God (al-asma’ al-husna), the invocation of ‘Ali (nad-i ‘Ali), amuletic texts dedicated to Husayn and Hasan, and a variety of prayers (du‘as). Most of these prayers have their merits or virtues computed, while a magic square that includes a “prayer of washing” (du‘a-i ghasilat) may have been intended to purify the believer during ablutions or to protect the deceased upon burial.

 

The talisman’s textual contents, here written in miniature script, make use of parts of the Qur’an that are believed to be particularly apotropaic (effective at warding off evil influences). Considered an acceptable form of magic, this practice of making Qur’anic amulets is common across Islamic civilizations. However, this object’s inclusion of the invocation to ‘Ali (nad-i ‘Ali) suggests a Shi‘i milieu and points its manufacture in eastern Islamic lands, likely Iran. It probably was made during the Qajar period (1785–1925), at which time paintings, icons, and amulets included overt Shi‘i content.

 

In Shi‘i spheres, ‘Ali functions as both guardian and refuge—much like the Qur’an. Invocations to ‘Ali praise the Prophet Muhammad’s son-in-law and cousin as the dispenser of miracles and succor in trying times. For these reasons, the nad-i ‘Ali is often found on Islamic amulets and talismans. Moreover, since ‘Ali’s honorific epithet is the “Lion of God” (haydar Allah), the nad-i ‘Ali can be shaped into a calligraphic lion, a type of Shi‘i calligram that is a hallmark of Iranian and Indian artistic traditions (see AKM526).

 

In addition to Qur’anic and other devotional inscriptions, amulets often display magic squares known as wafq, murabba‘, or buduh. Magic squares are divided into cells whose number is equal along both horizontal and vertical axes, thereby creating a checkerboard pattern. The most popular in the Islamic world is the 4 × 4 magic square, also known as Plato’s Square. Although some cells may be left blank, a number of words, letters, and numbers typically appear. Most often their alphanumerical results remain consistent across the horizontal, vertical, and diagonal lines—a computational equilibrium that seeks to represent the harmony of the cosmos.

 

This talisman in the Aga Khan Museum is related to other Qajar-period, large-scale talismanic charts held in the Khalili Collection of Islamic Art and the Tareq Rajab Museum. These items likewise are made on gazelle skin, display crease marks, and were most likely preserved in amuletic cases. One also includes an inscription that states that the talisman will protect its owner from disease, plague, the evil eye, the devil, and other misfortunes, while another includes a dedication to the Qajar ruler Muzaffar al-Din Shah (r. 1896­–1907). As a result, it is possible that the Aga Khan’s talisman was made in the same Iranian royal workshop that specialized in the production of these types of talismanic charts around 1900.

 

— Christiane Gruber


References
Blair, Sheila. “An Amulet from Afsharid Iran,” The Journal of the Walters Art Museum 59 (2001): 85–102.
Cammann, Schuyler. “Islamic and Indian Magic Squares Part 1,” History of Religions 8.3 (1969a): 181–209.
---. “Islamic and Indian Magic Squares Part 2,” History of Religions 8.4 (1969b): 271–299. 
Canaan, Tewfik. “The Decipherment of Arabic Talismans,” Magic and Divination in Early Islam, ed. Emilie Savage-Smith, 125–177. Aldershot: Ashgate/Varorium, 2004. ISBN: 086078715X (alk. paper)
Gruber, Christiane. “From Prayer to Protection: Amulets and Talismans in the Islamic World,” Power and Protection: Islamic Art and the Supernatural, ed. Francesca Leoni, 33-52, esp. 38 and fig. 20. Oxford: Ashmolean Museum, 2016. ISBN: 978-1910807095
Maddison, Francis and Emilie Savage-Smith. Science, Tools & Magic, Part One: Body and Spirit, Mapping the Universe, esp. 106–116, and cat. nos. 44–47. London: Oxford University Press, 1997. ISBN: 978-0197276105
Porter, Venetia et al. Arabic and Persian Seals and Amulets in the British Museum. London: British Museum, 2011. (see esp. 156–162 for nad-i ‘Ali inscriptions). ISBN: 9780861591602
Regourd, Anne. “Talisman en forme de tableau,” Chefs d’oeuvre islamiques de l’Aga Khan Museum, ed. Sophie Makariou, 136–137, cat. no. 48. Milan and Paris: Musée du Louvre, 2007. ISBN: 9788874394425
Al-Saleh, Yasmine. “Amulets and Talismans from the Islamic World,” Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2010. 
Vesel, Shiva. “Talismans from the Iranian World: A Millenary Tradition,” The Art and Material Culture of Iranian Shi‘ism: Iconography and Religious Devotion in Shi‘i Islam, ed. Pedram Khosronejad, 254–275. London and New York: I.B. Tauris, 2012. ISBN: 978-1848851689

Note: This online resource is reviewed and updated on an ongoing basis. We are committed to improving this information and will revise and update knowledge about this object as it becomes available.

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