Haydar

(d 1325-6). Calligrapher. He was one of the six disciples of YAQUT AL-MUSTA`SIMI and earned the nickname 'writer in large characters' (Pers. kand-navis), presumably because of his masterful work designing architectural inscriptions in carved stucco. Two superb examples of his work in this medium survive in Iran: a band (1307-8) across the intrados of the north iwan of the mosque in the shrine complex at Natanz, and the mihrab (1310) in the winter prayer hall of the Friday Mosque at Isfahan (see STUCCO AND PLASTERWORK, fig. 6). He was a renowned teacher whose pupils included such famous calligraphers as `ABDALLAH SAYRAFI, and the viziers Taj al-Din `Ali Shah and Ghiyath al-Din, the son of RASHID AL-DIN. His son Muhammad was a calligrapher, too, and signed several calligraphic specimens (e.g. Istanbul, Topkapi Pal. Lib., H. 2160, fol. 29v and H. 2310, fol. 97v).

See the Abbreviations for further details.