This compass has a pinter enclosed in glass and the frame is incised with calligraphic panels. The exterior has calligraphic cartouches. The inscription on the interior of the cover contains the signature : 'The work of Aqa Khani Kashani 1296'. Given the importance of the 'qiblah' or direction of Mecca in various Islamic rituals, instruments like this were developed to determine it. The cover is engraved with the names of various places and their corresponding 'azimuth' of the qiblah. The azimuth value gives the qiblah’s angle of deviation away from the direction of north as measured by a compass.
