Konya Karatay Madrasah was built by Emir Celaleddin Karatay in 649 [1251] during the reign of Sultan Izz al-Din Kaykaus II as it is understood from the construction inscription on the crown gate. The architect of the madrasah, which is a monumental structure with its crown gate, domed rooms next to the large iwan and the dome covering the central courtyard, is unknown. The interior decoration of the walls covered with mosaic tile ornaments and the dome make it stand out among the Anatolian Seljuk period buildings. The most magnificent part of the madrasah is the domed central space, including the large iwan. The eye-catching tiles using turquoise, dark blue and eggplant purple colors were made in mosaic technique. The madrasah is also an important building in terms of calligraphy with the variety of inscriptions. It is impressive to see a combination of inscriptions in jali thuluth as well as inscriptions in ma’kıli, braided and knotted kufic calligraphy, especially in kufic calligraphy. Among these inscriptions, the knotted kufic inscription on the skirt of the dome pulley of the building is a remarkable example with its design, letters and knots. 

There are general studies examining the architectural features and inscriptions of Konya Karatay Madrasah. However, there is no study that examines the structure of the letters and nodes in detail by making drawings of the sash inscription on the dome pulley and that will enable the application of this typeface, which was used in the 13th century, today. For this reason, this study focuses only on the knotted kufic sash inscription on the skirt of the dome pulley of the Karatay Madrasah in Konya.

The knotted kufic calligraphy, which is the subject of the study, is one of the varieties of kufic calligraphy in architecture and created by drawing with drawing tools. Knotted kūfī is formed by twisting the vertical, diagonal and horizontal extensions of the letters on the line with circular or angular lines like a rope and forming knots within the letter. The spaces outside the text of knotted kufic inscriptions are often decorated with floral or rûmî motifs.

When the history of knotted kufic is researched, it is widely believed that it developed in the Eastern Iranian region and developed as it spread westward. This type of writing, which was mostly used in architecture, intensified after the 11th century and was applied with materials such as stone, brick, plaster and tile mosaic. Kufic calligraphy is frequently seen in the inscriptions found in Anatolian Seljuk and Principalities period buildings. In addition to intense geometric ornamentation, kufic calligraphy with geometric principles is among the characteristics of the period. In some buildings of this period, an inscription showing similarities with the knotted kufic calligraphy in the Karatay Madrasah sash script was identified. Of these, the mihrab inscription of the Konya Alâeddin Mosque is identical in terms of design layout, lettering, knot, zulfa and decoration features on the inscription background. Another building with a font similar to the sash inscription of the Konya Karatay Madrasah is the Afyon Mısri Mosque. The sash inscription of the madrasah and the mihrab inscription of Afyon Mısri Mosque have the same font and features. However, since the letters in the inscription of the Mısri Mosque do not contain a meaningful text and the letters at the beginning and end are cut and placed, they cannot be read and it is not possible to trace a text. These two examples, which are similar to the sash inscription of the Karatay Madrasah in terms of type and ornamentation, do not have as wide a variety of letters and knots as the Karatay Madrasah sash inscription because they are shorter in terms of the area where they were written. In addition, the Kayseri Gülük Mosque mihrab inscription is also written in knotted kufic calligraphy. It is a beautiful work in terms of writing. When this work is compared with the Karatay Madrasah sash script, although it shows similar characteristics in terms of design layout, color and technique, it differs in terms of letters, knots, zulfa and background ornaments. 

The kufic script types, which were among the preferred inscriptions in the works of the Anatolian Seljuk and Principalities Period, were replaced by the developing jali thuluth calligraphy after this period. Jali thuluth calligraphy started to be preferred in the inscriptions in the buildings. For this reason, the sash inscription of Konya Karatay Madrasah attracted attention with its unique character in the knotted kufic calligraphy in the following periods. 

The knotted kufic sash inscription on the dome pulley of the Konya Karatay Madrasah is unique among its counterparts with its rich variety of knots. As is the case throughout the madrasah, the sash script is also composed of tiles. The letters of the sash lettering made with glaze engraving technique are eggplant purple, and the ornaments on the ground are decorated with turquoise colored rûmî composition. The dome diameter of the madrasah is 12 meters and the length of the inscription sash on the pulley of the dome is approximately 37.5 meters and its height is 91 cm. The text of the sash consists of the Basmala and the 255th and 256th verses of Surat al-Baqarah.

In this study, qualitative research method and document analysis were used. First of all, the length and height of the sash was determined and then photographs were taken. The images taken were arranged together with the text readings and sorted side by side with the Adobe Photoshop program. Vector drawings were made in Adobe Illustrator program and transferred to digital media. The drawings were dimensioned in 1/10 ratio of 37.5 x 9.1 cm with a letter thickness of 2.2 mm.

The design scheme of the sash script consists of three parts, the letters in the bottom line, the knots in the middle, and the zulfas at the top. The compositional shape consists of a horizontal, vertical and partly diagonal structure. Vertical lines were created by making connections to the letters other than the vertical letters, and a block image was created by balancing the gaps with the knots made to each letter. The ground of the text is also decorated with turquoise-colored ornaments in the form of a rûmî composition on sixty circular spirals lined up side by side. 

The individual, initial, middle and final forms of the letters in the sash script were identified one by one, and an alphabet table was created from the selected letters. Letters that are not in the text are left blank in the table. Kufic calligraphy inscriptions generally do not use periods. There is also no dot in the dotted letters in the sash inscription in the Karatay Madrasah. 

In the Arabic alphabet, letters such as alif, ṭa, ẓa, kaf, lām and lāmalif are composed of verticals. For this reason, their vertical parts are very suitable for making knots, and knots are most common in these letters in the kufic calligraphy. In addition, the letters cim, ḥa, ḫa, ḫā, dal, and zal in the kufic calligraphy have structures suitable for creating vertical or diagonal extensions. Therefore, extensions can be made to form nodes. The letters ba, ta, s̱̱a, ra, za, mim, nun, wāw, qāf, ya do not have a vertical or diagonal structure. However, in the Karatay Madrasah sash script, vertical/diagonal extensions were also made in these letters. The ends of these letters are mostly made to form an inverted rumi crest facing downwards.

In the sash script, there are letters that can be perceived as knots as they are composed entirely of knots. Among these letters, knots in letters composed of verticals such as alif and lāmalif can be seen in every writing type of the kufic calligraphy. However, it is surprising that the letters sad and dat, which have a horizontal structure, are made in a form consisting of dense knots on two verticals. At the same time, these knots, which represent the letters sad/dat, also represented the letter lāmalif in the text. It was also determined that the same knots were also used in the writing of the word Allah for non-spelling ornamental purposes, and it was determined that these knots were used for multiple purposes in different places.

It has been determined that the knots in the Karatay Madrasah sash script are independent of the letter on which they are located, and that the same knot can also be located on different letters. It was found that 93 different knots were made in sash script. Some of these knots also represent letters. In the design layout of the sash script, the knots are located on the vertical and diagonal extensions emerging from the letters. There are examples on a single vertical, on double verticals side by side, on a single diagonal extension, between two verticals with a distance between them, and on diagonal lines. The knots selected from the sash script were evaluated by categorizing and coloring them according to the stage of construction. It was also determined that the knots in the sash script of the madrasah contain various forms. They were analyzed by dividing them into groups as circle, cross, star and knots in the middle of two verticals with a distance between them. In order to ensure the repetition of vertical knots in the design construct of the sash script, it was seen that there were knots that did not have the quality of letters, but were made only to fill the gaps in the writing of the verse, and examples were given.

In the Karatay Madrasah sash script, which is a unique example with its variety of knots, almost all knots are different. In the analysis of the knots, it was determined that a simple knot was developed and elaborated and transformed into different knots, and two different examples are given in the knot development table. This study also intends to make a methodological contribution to the new knot studies to be created by examining the knot systems detailed from lean movements.

In calligraphy, the hooked part at the end of the letters is called zulfa. The upper end of the vertical or diagonal extensions of the letters in the Karatay Madrasah sash script, i.e. the zulfa, was made in different ways. Symmetrical zulfas on two verticals side by side, zulfas where two verticals meet at the top, zulfas used in right and left directions on a single vertical, and diagonal zulfas are listed as follows. The main characteristic of the zulfas in the sash script is that they are composed of rûmî motifs and end with crests in different shapes. The zulfas found in the sash script of the ma-u drasah were evaluated by dividing them into A-B-C-D groups.

As a result of all these studies and analyses, a measured and regular font was created with the typographic arrangement made with the basic shapes of the knotted kufic letters in Konya Karatay Madrasah. In the light of all the data, a new design proposal was created and presented. Yunus Emre, one of the greatest poets of Anatolia, who was born during the construction years of the Karatay Madrasah, selected the couplet “Sevelim sevilelim, bu dünya kimseye kalmaz (Let’s love and be loved, no one is eternal on this world)” and prepared a plate in lines. With this study, the 13th century Karatay Madrasah knotted kufic font has been brought to the present day and a source has been created for the designs to be made with this type of writing in calligraphy. It is our hope that today’s calligraphers will produce new works by making use of this data.