Persian Miniature Manuscripts

Timeline

1. 1258–1260Tabriz · AzerbaijanAfter the Mongols captured Baghdad, some scribes and painters carrying manuscripts such as Ferdowsi's Shahnameh moved to Tabriz, the early capital of the Ilkhanate. Local workshops continued the Baghdad school's line-drawing and flat-coloring techniques, beginning to incorporate Mongol costume and court ritual imagery.
2. 1251–1260Khurasan · KhurasanThe Khurasan region continued producing illustrated manuscripts of the Shahnameh and Panchatantra, with scenes of battle, court banquets, and mythological narrative, using cinnabar, ultramarine, and gold leaf to decorate initials and borders. Miniatures were juxtaposed with calligraphy, forming the standard page layout of Persian book arts.
3. 1255–1260Iranian Plateau · IranIlkhanid princes and Persian civil officials began patronizing large historical and encyclopedic manuscripts; Mongol robes, mounted archery hunting, and court investiture scenes appeared in miniatures, marking the transition of Islamic miniatures toward the Ilkhanid visual language and paving the way for the illustration system of the 14th-century Jami' al-Tawarikh.