2025. no 3. Lenura Koroglu

The use of arabic calligraphy art in Crimea

Lenura Koroglu

Fevzi Yakubov Crimean Engineering and Pedagogical University

Abstract.The article describes the development of the art of Arabic calligraphy husn-i hatt in Crimea and its use in written sources. It also describes the history of the development of calligraphic handwriting that arose on the basis of the first Arabic script Kufic. Examples of the main seven Arabic scripts heft kalem used in the Turkic languages are presented. Examples of additional handwritings that were not included in the main ones and are a feature of the Crimean written tradition are revealed. Calligraphic handwritings used in Crimean epigraphic and written monuments in various historical periods are presented and analyzed. Particular attention is paid to the description of calligraphic handwriting on epigraphic monuments: tombstones, durbes and mosques. Handwriting of written sources of various styles is presented and described: literary works, business documents, journalistic articles, personal letters, etc. The study established that Crimean epigraphic monuments were characterized by the use of the thuluth handwriting, in works of art Naskh was more often used, in the khan’s business correspondence Diwani was used, and legal acts were recorded in the Ruqah handwriting. During the last period of use of Arabic script in Crimea, the light and understandable Naskh was used in printing, and daily correspondence was carried out in Ruqah handwriting.

Keywords: art of Arabic calligraphy, calligraphic handwriting, epigraphy, written monuments, Crimean Tatar language

For citation: Koroglu L.A. The use of Arabic calligraphy art in Crimea. Krymskoe istoricheskoe obozrenie=Crimean Historical Review. 2025, vol. 12, no. 3, pp. 86–110. DOI: 10.22378/kio.2025.3.86-110 (In Crimean Tatar)

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About the author: Lenura A. Koroglu – Cand. Sci. (Philology), Associate Professor of the Department of Crimean Tatar and Turkish Linguistics, Fevzi Yakubov Crimean Engineering and Pedagogical University (8, Uchebnyy lane, Simferopol 295015, Russian Federation); ORCID: 0000-0003-4564-1752; lenura@mail.ru

Received 10.06.2025

Accepted 05.08.2025