A comparative study of the structure of Sharafeh in the Timurid and Safavid Quran’s illuminations and its effect on Gurkanid illumination’s Sharafeh

Illumination was always next to book design. Among the various schools of illumination, the Timurid School is considered a turning point in Quranic illumination, and its influence can also be seen in Safavid Quranic illuminations. On the other hand, Iran's political, economic and cultural connection with India in the Safavid era also caused the growth of Gurkanid illumination in that period. Based on this, the present qualitative research examines examples of Timurid, Safavid, and Gurkanid Qur'ans in a descriptive-analytical way, using library sources. The aim of this article is to achieve the structure of Sharafeh in Quran illumination in two Timurid and Safavid periods and its effect on Sharafeh illuminations in Gurkanid Qurans. The main question of the article is: what visual characteristics did Sharafeh has in the Qur'anic illumination of the Timurid and Safavid periods? And what effect did these features have on Gurkanid Qur'anic Sharafeh? The concepts of Sharafeh in the Quranic illumination of the Timurid and Safavid periods are related to rays of sun light, and the illumination artists tried to make it to show in the Quran, what is clear is that Sharfeh has gone through its own evolutionary process in the Timurid and Safavid Qurans. Usually, the sharafeh of the Timurid period were of medium length and it is drawn in a single color, with a medium distance and with the design of two types of simple and productive balconies side by side. As in the Qur'an of Ibrahim Sultan, which was made in Shiraz, these characteristics are clearly evident. In the early Safavid period, due to the fact that the court paid more attention to the art of painting and the establishment of the painting in School of Tabriz II, artists painted magnificent paintings and illuminations. In the Safavid period (16th century AD), Sharafeh were drawn relatively large, single-color, medium-distanced and elaborately painted porches. In the 17th century, the Sharafeh were usually monochromatic, short and with a short and simple distance. In the meantime, it seems that Iranian artists had a great impact on Gurkanids and Indian artists gradually combined their artistic taste with Iranian artistic teachings and after a few decades achieved a more independent style of Iranian illuminations. Therefore, it can be said that the performance of sharafeh in Indian Qurans was inspired by the sharafeh of the Safavid era (16th century AD) and in the 17th century AD, unlike the Sharafeh in Iranian Qurans, it was very prolific, dense, and long. And it was more diverse and, in some versions, it was also drawn in color. The illuminators of Timurid and Safavid schools tried to use Sharafeh in Quranic illumination with a certain balance and order. Gurkanid illuminators have also been greatly influenced by these elements in decorating the Qur'an; while they also applied their tastes. Sometimes the decorations of these balconies in the Gurkanid school - especially at the end of the 17th century - are seen in an extreme form, rich, crowded and with a high variety of colors.