Yesterday I suggested that multiple knotted ta marbuta in Arabic MSS from Java eg. Qur’an, @britishlibrary Add 12312, f.95r bl.uk/manuscripts/Vi… may be linked with knotted canto markers or pepadan in Javanese-script manuscripts, eg MSS Jav 24, f.168r bl.uk/manuscripts/Vi…. Elaborate Javanese pepadan or canto markers may also include a ‘squiggle of tendril’, as seen above the letters ma-nga-ja-pa, Fig.53, from Tim Behrend’s article ‘Textual Gateways:the Javanese manuscript tradition’ in the wonderful book Illuminations (Lontar, 1996, p.189 @LontarF

The most elaborate knotted ta marbuta in manuscripts from the Malay world are found in Java, notably in the surah headings of Qur’ans.
Fig.44. Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia, @IAMM_KL 1998.1.3455, Qur’an from Java, S. al-Rum, with 5-knotted 'ta bersimpul' and 'ta panjang' In ‘Beautifying Jawi’ I suggest that this is because calligraphic knots were widely used in Javanese MSS in Javanese script, especially in decorative canto markers or pepadan. academia.edu/7477256/Beauti…
Fig. 52, Royal Asiatic Society, @RAS_Soc Raffles Java 4, f.1v, Serat Rama Kawi,

The most elaborate knotted ta marbuta in Islamic manuscripts from Southeast Asia are found in the surah headings of 19th-c. Qur’an manuscripts from Java, usually in the words ayat’ or Makkiyyah. More examples from ‘Beautifying Jawi’ (2005): academia.edu/7477256/Beauti… @shakerr_ahmed Fig.45. British Library, @britishlibrary Add. 12312, f.42r, Qur’an from Java, ca. 1800, written on Javanese paper (dluwang), heading for S. al-An’am, with 7-looped 'composite' knots with both concave and convex heads. Fully digitised here: bl.uk/manuscripts/Vi…

The Malay predilection for calligraphic knots is applied not only to ta marbuta but to other letters as well. Here are more illustrations from my article ‘Beautifying Jawi’ (2005):
academia.edu/7477256/Beauti… Fig. 39. Perpustakaan Nasional Republik Indonesia, @perpusnas1 A.352, f.9b, Arabic manuscript from Aceh, with a 7-looped double knotted ba in the word ‘bab’, marking a new section of the text.

Knotted ta marbuta is found all over the Islamic world but seems to have been treated with especial artistry in the Malay world. More examples from ‘Beautifying Jawi’ (2005). academia.edu/7477256/Beauti… Fig. 43. Royal Asiatic Society, @RAS_Soc Raffles Malay 80, p. 312, Malay manuscript of Sejarah Melayu (Sulalat al-Salatin), with knotted ta marbuta with extended floral flourish in the word 'sanat' in the date 1226 (AD 1811/2)

After ornamented ‘bismillah’ and ‘elongated kaf’, the other decorative calligraphic device in Malay manuscripts I discuss in my 2005 article ‘Beautifying Jawi’ is knotted ta marbuta. academia.edu/7477256/Beauti… Fig.37. Leiden University Library, Acad.98 (13). A fine early example of knotted ta marbuta is found in the title ‘al-khalifat al-mu’min’ on the seal of the Pangiran of Jambi (632 in my new catalogue), from a letter dated 1669, which I use as my Twitter photo:

Decorated elongated kaf in manuscripts from Aceh is often encountered in manuscripts of the Ajurumiyyah, a well-known introduction to Arabic grammar, which begins with the word ‘al-kalam’. Here are more figures from my article ‘Beautifying Jawi’ (2005). academia.edu/7477256/Beauti… Fig.29. Perpustakaan Nasional Republik Indonesia, @perpusnas1 A.578, f.42a, elongated kaf in red in the word 'al-kalam' in a manuscript of Ajurumiyyah from Aceh.

'Beautifying Jawi' (2005) Part 2. Last week I posted examples of beautiful ‘bismillah’, this week I will focus on elongated initial kaf in manuscripts from Aceh. academia.edu/7477256/Beauti… One of the most famous Malay works on fiqh, Sirat al-mustaqim by Nuruddin al-Raniri, composed in Aceh in the 17th c., starts with the words ‘kumulai kitab ini (I begin this book) with the kaf of kumulai stretched and ornamented. britishlibrary.typepad.co.uk/asian-and-afri…

Day 5 of images from my article ‘Beautifying Jawi’ (2005), Figs. 13-15. Today I would like to highlight a common practice all over the Malay world, for using a RULER to join the letters sin and mim of ‘bismillah’.
academia.edu/7477256/Beauti… For 'bismillah' the scribe would write ba-sin, and then leave a space, followed by mim; and then take a ruler and join up sin and mim.
13. Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia @IAMM_KL 1998.a.3455, Qur’an from Java, S. al-Baqarah, with a double-ruled sin-mim ligature in black ink.

More creative treatments of ‘bismillah’ from the Malay world. Day 4 of reproducing images from my article ‘Beautifying Jawi’ (2005), Figs. 10-12. academia.edu/7477256/Beauti… 10. Perpusnas @perpusnas1 Ml.480, Malay text from Aceh, with black dots shadowing the elongated sin-mim ligature of ‘bismillah’.

When the word ‘bismillah’ is beautified in manuscripts from the Malay world, the main focus is usually the elongated line linking the letters sin and mim, sometimes in various colour. Presented today are Figs.7-9 from my article ‘Beautifying Jawi’ (2005) academia.edu/7477256/Beauti… 7. Rijksmuseum Volkenkunde Leiden 521-1, Arabic text from Aceh, sin-mim ligature of 'bismillah' double-outlined in black and filled in with red.

More beautiful ‘bismillah’: Figs. 4-6 from my article ‘Beautifying Jawi’ (2005), with varying treatments of the word ‘bismillah’ in red and black ink, from the inspiring conference on ‘Malay Images’ convened by Prof. Asmah Haji Omar in KL in 2004. academia.edu/7477256/Beauti… 4. Tropenmuseum KIT 674-811, f. 107v, Malay text from Aceh, bismillah with ba and sin in red, with sin-mim ligature (hubungan huruf sin-mim) and mim in black

My 2005 article ‘Beautifying Jawi: between Calligraphy and Palaeography’, examined calligraphic elements in manuscripts from the Malay world. The images are too beautiful not to re-post, so I will start today Figs.1-3, ornamental adornments to bismillah: academia.edu/7477256/Beauti… @PNM_Rasmi MSS 484, Kifayah al-muhtaj fi al-isra' wa-al-mi'raj, with Terengganu-style 'M-W' motifs in red and blue above the sin-mim ligature of bismillah

'Three fish with one head' is an ancient motif found from Egypt to Japan. In this two-part blog I explore the motif, first in Shattariya Sufi manuscripts from Java; this is the earliest dated example, 1790, @britishlibrary MSS Jav 77, f.16v from Batavia blogs.bl.uk/asian-and-afri… I began to explore the motif of 'three fish with one head' as part of a research project initiated by Prof. Kawashima Midori on Islamic manuscripts from Mindanano, published here: academia.edu/40914970/Cultu…

Terima kasih untuk komentar dari sekian banyak teman menanyakan penggunaan istilah #MalaySeals atau cap/stempel/meterai/cop
mohor Melayu, untuk cap yang berasal dari Indonesia. Dalam benang/thread ini saya akan menjelaskan penggunaan istilah 'Malay Seals' nuspress.nus.edu.sg/products/malay… Perkataan Melayu dalam konteks ini pada dasarnya merujuk kepada bahasa Melayu yang selama berabad-abad digunakan sebagai bahasa perantara di seluruh kepulauan Asia Tenggara tercermin dalam judul peta ini dari tahun 1701, A Map of the Countrys wherein the Malayo language is spoken