PALEOGRAPHIC DESCRIPTION OF MEDIEVAL EASTERN MANUSCRIPTS

Abstract

Paleography focuses on the analysis of writing styles and calligraphic features applied in manuscripts, documents, and letters. Its primary aim is to investigate the history of various writing styles found in manuscripts, trace the stages of development of their graphical forms, and determine the date and authorship of written artifacts. Therefore, it is closely connected with the discipline of codicology. Paleography examines writing styles in various forms, ranging from the earliest Kufic script to contemporary calligraphic painting.

Calligraphic styles have served not only decorative purposes but also functioned as a means of reflecting the cultural and social identity of the society in which they were produced. Thus, through the study of writing styles, it is possible to gain insights into the history and culture of a given period. This study provides a comprehensive paleographic description of written artifacts from the fifteenth to the seventeenth centuries, with particular emphasis on the writing traditions of Eastern manuscripts. The research focuses primarily on Chagatai and Persian manuscript culture, while also incorporating selected examples from the Ottoman writing tradition. To date, numerous valuable studies have been conducted on Arabic-Persian calligraphy and Ottoman manuscript culture. However, the paleographic characteristics of medieval Central Asian texts, especially their calligraphic and aesthetic traditions and scribal practices remain relatively underexplored. In this regard, the present article aims to identify the main calligraphic and material characteristics of Chagatai manuscripts and to examine them in a comparative framework alongside the established models of Persian and Ottoman manuscript traditions. Throughout the study, common as well as distinctive features characteristic of different regional traditions are analyzed through concrete examples, and issues of mutual influence among Eastern manuscript cultures are presented in a comprehensive manner. Methodologically, the study employs a comparative paleographic approach and codicological analysis. 

Specific examples are provided based on digital manuscript collections, notably the digital library of the Turkish Manuscripts Institute and the Rare Books and Manuscripts Collection of the National Library of the Republic of Kazakhstan. These examples illustrate the writing styles of manuscript artifacts composed in Persian and Chagatai. 

Keywords: calligraphy, paleography, codicology, Eastern manuscripts, writing styles, artistic writing.