Tamerlane's Captive Calligraphers: The Samarkand Scriptorium

In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore Tamerlane's systematic capture of master calligraphers from Baghdad, Shiraz, and Tabriz, and how their relocation to Samarkand sparked a golden age of Islamic calligraphy. They discuss the role of the kitabkhana (royal scriptorium), the evolution of the naskh and riq'a scripts under Timurid patronage, and the famous calligrapher Abd al-Rahman al-Khwarazmi who trained a generation of scribes. The episode also touches on the cultural prestige Tamerlane sought by hoarding not just gold and goods, but artistic talent, and how the calligraphers' work on manuscripts like the Zafarnama preserved Timurid history in exquisite script. #Tamerlane #TimuridEmpire #IslamicCalligraphy #Samarkand #Kitabkhana #AbdAlRahmanAlKhwarazmi #Naskh #Riq'a #Zafarnama #Baghdad #Shiraz #Tabriz #CentralAsia #ManuscriptCulture #CaptiveArtisans #FexingoHistory #History #ArtHistory Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo