Palace and pondok: artistic patronage on the East coast of the Malay Peninsula

Abstract

Since the text of the Qur'an was codified by the Caliph 'Uthman in the 7th century, Qur'an manuscripts all over the world, and in all centuries, have shared the same contents. It is only in their outward appearance paper, calligraphy, binding and decoration - that Qur'an manuscripts differ and reflect their date of writing and origin, and on the basis of illumination and script alone it is easy to distinguish between a Maghribi Qur'an from north Arfica, a Mamluk Qur'an from Egypt, a Mughal Qur'an from India, and a Ming Qur'an from China.