Amanat Khan was the calligrapher who inscribed the Quranic verses on the Taj Mahal. More fully identified as Amanat Khan Shirazi, he was a Persian calligrapher who came to India from Shiraz.
His original name was Abd ul-Haq, and Shah Jahan reportedly awarded him the honorific Amanat Khan in recognition of his skill. His authorship is supported by an inscription near the Quranic writing beneath the interior dome, signed “Amanat Khan Shirazi.” That signature makes him more securely identifiable than many of the craftsmen associated with the project.
The calligraphy is not merely painted decoration. Much of it uses thuluth script, with dark jasper or black marble inlaid into white marble panels. The letters become larger in the higher panels, an optical adjustment that helps the writing appear more uniform when viewed from the ground. Passages appear on the Great Gate, the mausoleum and other parts of the complex, including verses connected with judgment, paradise and the soul’s return to God. A common mix-up is choosing Ustad Ahmad Lahauri, who is associated with the architectural design rather than the Quranic inscriptions.