This illuminated album page contains a letter written by Mughal court librarian and calligrapher, ‘Abd al-Rashid. The letter appeals to his patron, the emperor Shah Jahan, for his salary. The page consists of nine lines of fine nastaliq script on a gold ground enclosed in the cloud motifs while the border consists of floral illumination in colours and gold. The nastaliq script is the most often used script by Indian calligraphers, due to the close proximity with Persia (present day Iran). This letter from Mughal India is dated 1050AH or 1640 AD.
