Constituents of Persian Inks

Ingredients used in all the different Persian inks mentioned are either plant, protein, mineral, or synthetic based and were divided in to seven main categories (see Table 4.8 ); colourants, binding mediums, mordants and additives, aromatics, thickening agents, glossing agents, and preservatives. Water is mainly used as the vehicle to make the ink fluid. These categories were created from information gained through interviewing chemists and master calligraphers) investigating the characteristics of each ingredient and discovering their usage in traditional Persian medicine by referring to the plant encyclopedia by Mir-Heidar (2012a-h). Unless specified otherwise, information regarding plants and their medicinal usage, the information has been extracted from the 8-volume encyclopedia.