No suitable subject-specific photograph has been screened for this term. The comparison table below provides a visual reading aid without substituting unrelated imagery.
Spelling and pronunciation
- Persian: شکسته
- Transliteration: shekasteh
- English usage: Shekasteh script
Spellings vary between dealers, museums and regions. Usage notes are under review.
How the term is used
Means a fast cursive script that developed from nastaliq and was used for letters and documents.
Common confusions
Hard to read for beginners; it is not a mistake in nastaliq.
A distinct connected practice
Shekasteh-nastaliq develops connected, compressed and fluid forms related to nastaliq. It is not a category of mistakes or merely untidy writing. Fast-looking forms can be carefully composed.
Reading depends on connections and context. Do not turn a guessed name into a maker attribution. Letters, manuscripts and modern compositions may use related forms for different purposes.
From nastaliq to shekasteh
Shekasteh ('broken') developed in Iran from the 17th century as a faster, more connected derivative of nastaliq, first for correspondence and chancery documents and later as an art script. Its full form, shekasteh-nastaliq, was refined in the 18th century; Darvish Abdol-Majid Taleqani (d. 1771) is widely credited with giving it its classic elegance.
Letters that are separate in nastaliq are frequently joined in shekasteh, words overlap and lines are dense, so it is hard to read even for fluent readers of Persian. That difficulty is part of its character: it was associated with official secretaries and with calligraphic display pieces rather than with books for general reading.
Looking at a shekasteh page
Look for long connecting strokes between letters, compressed word groups stacked diagonally and a rhythm that feels quicker than nastaliq. Fine examples balance density with clear spacing between word clusters. As with any calligraphy, distinguish ink writing on paper from a printed reproduction: under magnification, ink pools at stroke ends and shows the cut of the reed pen, while prints show dots or flat uniform colour.
Attribution to a named calligrapher needs a signature plus comparison with documented works; the script style alone does not identify the writer or date.
Compare the evidence
| Object or term | What to examine | Limit of the evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Nastaliq | Script framework | Not every cursive is identical. |
| Shekasteh | Connections and form | Density alone is insufficient. |
| Transcription | Qualified reading | Not a guessed signature. |
| Shekasteh | Joined letters, overlapping words, dense diagonal groups | Script style does not date the sheet |
| Nastaliq | Separate letters, long horizontal strokes, clear baseline | Used from the 14th century to today |
| Printed reproduction | Dot pattern or flat ink under magnification | Hand-written later copies also exist |
Practical questions
- Is every dense cursive sheet shekasteh?
- No. Ask a qualified reader rather than classifying by density.
- Is shekasteh a separate script from nastaliq?
- It grew out of nastaliq and is usually treated as its own script, also called shekasteh-nastaliq.
- Is shekasteh still written?
- Yes; contemporary Iranian calligraphers practise it, mostly for artworks rather than everyday writing.
Sources and further reading
- The Metropolitan Museum of Art · The arts of the book in the Islamic world
Collaborative manuscript production and page arts; not authentication of a particular sheet.
- The Metropolitan Museum of Art · The arts of the book in the Islamic world
Context for calligraphic practice and manuscript production.
- Encyclopaedia Iranica · Calligraphy
History of Persian scripts including nastaliq and shekasteh.
Editorial draft awaiting specialist review. References provide context, not verification of every statement, object attribution or current workshop access.
Used in these crafts
A hanging cursive script developed in Iran for Persian poetry, distinguished by its sloping baseline, sharply contrasted thick and thin strokes, and sweeping final letters.