a survey of inscriptions of shahid motahhari (sepah-salar) mosque-school

the sepah-salar complex, including the mosque and the school, has a set of qajar era architectural art including tile-work, painting, inscription, stucco, woodwork and carpentry. the complex was made and endowed by hossein khan, known as sepah-salar (1241-1298 a.h/ 1825- 1882 a.d). he employed the best and the most famous artists and architectures of his era using his own asset. the inscriptions of the complex, along with the colorful tile-work, present not only a religious and historical content but a glorious flash done by the famous calligraphers like mirza gholam reza esfahani. although other scripts such as thuluth and angular kufic are used in the complex, but the most used script is the nastaliq, the main script style of the qajar era. often, the inscriptions have written using white color on a cobalt background. sometimes, they are augmented with plant motifs specially yellow, red and turquoise floral ornaments.the complex has been maintained at each era by the era’s experts. the most recent expert who maintained the complex is hossein lorzadeh that his name is registered on the complex walls. the inscriptions are important, because they have documented the building activities of the complex. in addition to mentioning the date of the activities, they have the name of the most architects, calligraphers, tile makers, and carvers. it has the name of the politicians and military famous people. in summary, in each era, the experts of the time have a role in the maintenance and conservation of the complex. as the artists mentioned in the inscriptions have a major role in creation of the most artistic and architectural works of that era, the study of sepah-salar complex is useful in the comparative study of the iranian art and architecture of the contemporary era (from the qajar up to now). most inscriptions are in the south part of the complex. it is where the great rotunda and two school halls are located too. the reason of this concentration is that most often especially in the summer people and prayers are gathered in the south part. for this reason, it is used as the summer praying hall house. an important characteristic of the complex inscriptions is the use of kufic inscriptions for persian writings. it is very rare in the islamic buildings. it should be noted that there is a couplet of a persian poem on top of the entrance door written in the kufic inscription. this poem is in fact the slogan of the education ministry and schools. this is the poem: the savant person is powerful with the knowledge, the old mind is young the theme of the most inscriptions has a direct relation with the complex usage (mosque and school). it includes some verses, traditions and allah names related to the praying, worship, and mosque maintenance. in addition, it presents knowledge and book. this research was done in both the field and the library. of course, the research is based on the field investigations. that is, the complex was visited several times and photos were taken from different parts of it specially the inscriptions. then, the inscriptions were read.