- RECENT POSTS
- RARE BOOKS
- PAINTINGS
-
- THEMES
- The Grand Mughals - Babur to Bahadur Shah Zafar (1526-1857)
- Indian Life and Landscapes by Western Artists
- Literature, Music and Dance of Ancient India
- Collecting Rare and Antiquarian Books
- Museums, Libraries and Archives of the World
- Hinduism - the Sanathana Dharma
- India - After the advent of Photography
- Indian Cities - Through the Ages
- Art, Sculpture and Treasures of India
- Architecture of India
- India - Its People, Culture, Professions and Languages
- India and its Royalty
- Ancient India (Upto 1200 CE)
- The Honourable East India Company (1600-1858)
- India - As seen by foreign travellers
- The Dutch, French and Portuguese in India
- The Indian Independence Movement
- Dealers of Rare and Antiquarian Books
- History of Mysore
- India during the Colonial Era
- Company School Paintings
- Sikhs - Their Religion and History
- Buddhism - in the land of Buddha
- Kingdoms of India
- Islam in India
- Christianity in India
- Rise of the Maratha Power
- Hinduism in foreign lands
- Cartography of India
- Modern Literature in India
- Natural History of India
- India and its Many Geographies
- The Deccan Kingdoms
- Revisiting Indian History
- History of India's Trade, Industry and Finance
- Saints, Reformers and Pioneers
- Astronomy, Ayurveda, Yoga, Science and Mathematics in Ancient India
- Hindu Empires of Southern India
- Colonial Literature of India
- Art and Artists of the Twentieth Century
- Rare Dictionaries of Indian Languages
- The History of India - By its various Historians
- Travel Literature of Colonial India
- The Foreign Invaders
- Jainism and its ancient origins
- RBSI in Media
- Rare Books of World Literature
- Sanskrit - its grammar and antiquity
- Neighbouring lands of India
- The Parsis - Who made India their home
- Military History of India
- THEMES
- JOIN RBSI
Posted on: 25 January 2013
Calligraphic dragon head
Golconda, 2nd half of the 17th century - 1st half of the 18th century
This brass openwork dragon or makara head was a finial piece from a religious standard (alam) displayed at a Shi’a Muslim shrine. It is composed of Arabic script: “Help is from God and Victory near” (Qur’an, 61:13). Its teeth spell “Allah”, and its crest “Muhammad”.
© University of Oxford - Ashmolean Museum
Fabulous ...
Excellent casting of a wonderful calligraphy.
"Victory near".
Suchetana , via my own ignorance , i ask , freedom from oppression or freedom to oppress ? i mean no disrespect of anyone's values ............... we all bleed red , love , and hurt , laugh and cry . i dislike religion's divide and conquer psychopathy . glad that , for me Bhuddism is a philosophy that is respectful of others ways ! many paths to the same place should not divide us . Respect is so very undervalued in this world . blissings
Bit off topic, dear Watson.