DR.

NURULWAHIDAH FAUZI
DR MOHD ANUAR MAMAT
 PAPE
R
• Introduction
• The Advantage of Paper
• Historical Background
• Material and techniques
• Phases on Paper Making
• China
• Europe
• Nepal
• Terminologies Used in Paper Making
• Type of paper used in MSS Writing
• Malay Manuscripts: Writing Surface & Paper
• Watermark
 PAPE
• Definition: “Thin R
sheets of fibrous material used to
write on”.
• The word “paper” was derived from “papyrus”.
• Form pulps.
Pulps: The soft pith forming the contents of the
stem of a plant.
Or a mixture of cellulose material, such as wood,
paper, and rags, ground up and moistened to
make paper.
 Origin of paper
• The invention of paper was usually attributed to China in
150 AD (late Han Dynasty), Ts’ai-Lun from Hunan
experimented with silk (which was invented 300 years
before) & derived the simplest & best method of making a
paper.
• He used pulps made from bamboo, hemp, linen rags,
Mulberry tree barks, ropes & fishing nets to make paper.
• Paper sheet was made using a timber mould & weaved
using bamboo.
• He also used rice starch & fruit juices as sizing.
China dominated the paper making technology for a
few centuries.
Paper making technology as a “secret of the trade” 751
AC: an important milestone in paper making history: -
Muslims victory against China on the banks of the
Talas River (Kazakhstan/Uzbekistan).
Many Chinese papermakers were taken as prisoners
and brought to Samarkand to establish paper mills.
From Samarkand (751 AC), paper was brought to
Baghdad (793 AC), and spread to Mecca,
Damascus and Cairo (1035 AC).
• From Cairo, paper spread westward to Fez (in 1200 AC, there
were 400 paper mills in Fez), then to Cordoba, and Xativa
(Spain) in 1065 AC.
• From Xativa, paper spread to France in 1189 AC, and then to
Italy (1230 AC) and Sicily.
• From France also, it reached Germany (Nuremberg) in 1400
AC, and from there spread to USA, Britain, Sweden, Russia and
other countries.
• In the east, paper spread from China to Korea & Japan.
• Until the end of 18th century, paper was hand-made.
• With the invention of machine, paper is made mechanically
worldwide.
• Only a few countries still maintain the tradition &
production of handmade papers, such as: Nepal, India, Japan,
China, Thailand, etc.
 Stronger

Abundance
of raw Flexible
materials

Advantages
of Paper

Difficult to
Cheaper
erase

Ease of

storag
e
 Advantages of Paper
1. Stronger (than papyrus).
2.More fl exible & Cheaper (than parchment
& vellum).
3.Abundance of raw materials for paper
making.
4. Ease of storage.
5. difficult to erase, etc.
** Due to these reasons, paper was
widely used in writing Islamic MSS.
 Historical Background
Paper was known in China already some five centuries before
Islam.
 It was apparently invented there in 105 AD by Ts’ai Lun, a court
official.
 It was introduce to Arab world around the middle of the 2nd/8th
century, although it appears to have been known in pre-Islamic
Iran.
Arabic tradition associates the introduction of this new
material
with the year 133/751.
 It was during this year that at the battle of Atlakh, on the river
of Talas (Taraz-Khazakhstan).
 Muslim force took Chinese prisoners among whom happened to
be some papermakers.
They were taken to Samarqand where the first
paper mill was established.
The use of paper quickly spread from Samarqand
to Baghdad.
In the reign of the caliph Harun Rashid (70/786-
193/809) paper began to used in government
offices.
He decreed that all documents in the chancery
should be written on paper.
It was much more difficult to erase writing paper
than from parchment.
 Arabic Terms
)‫دنقرمس ساطرق( ساطرق‬
)‫ينيص قرو( قرو‬، ‫نيصلا قرو‬
– ‫دغاك‬
Kaghid was probably borrowed from Chinese (chuzhi
or guzhi) via Soghdian, from which it passed into
Persian.
 Material and techniques
The Chinese originally used the bark of the mulberry
tree as the main material for the production of paper.
Arabic sources variously mention flax and its products
linen and rags, hemp and its product rope, cotton
(quṭn) and the bast fibres of the fig tree as the
ingredients of local paper.
It is likely that raw cotton was not used but possibly
cotton products (rags) were.
Silk products may also have been used for the
production of the so-called ḥarīrī paper.
the use of the pith of colocynth (shaḥm al-ḥanẓal)
which was added during the maceration of the pulp to
protect the finished product against mice.
Other substances may also have been added as in the
preparation of adhesives (pastes) and inks.
In order to ward off worms, aloe (ṣabr, ṣabir),
wormwood (afsantīn), and colocynth (ʿalqam) were
used in the preparation of adhesives in bookbinding.
 Paper Making
‫قروال ةعانص‬
In China
Materials used to make paper included:
Hemp/flax, Tree barks, Ropes, Fishing nets,
Bamboo, etc
4 main phases of paper making in China (1634):
Preparing the fiber
Forming the sheet
Pressing
Drying
• Youtube : Making paper in China
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0KCGcbkFeU

The traditional handicrafts of making Xuan paper

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMLxgkpdS-U
Paper Making In Europe.
• Materials used to make paper: Rags (cotton, linen, etc)
• 1767: Women graded and sorted cotton and linen rags
according to quality
• Sorted rags were broken down by hand-stamping the
fibres
• Stamping mechanism used to reduce rag materials
into usable fibres for papermaking
Paper Making In Europe. –cont.
• A vat man prepares to dip a paper mould into pulped
fiber while the workman to the right drains excess
water from a dipped frame. Heavy presses used to
remove the remaining water from the paper.
• Women and a male apprentice at work in the drying
loft. After pressing, the paper sheets were hung to dry
on ropes woven from cow or horse hair
• Newly made paper is burnished to remove unevenness
and pressed for a final time
Credit: Louisiana State Museum (http://lsm.crt.state.la.us/map7.htm)
Near Modern (18th–19th Century)
• High demand of paper. New materials used for mass
production: Wood pulp, Straw-grass, etc
• Processed with chemicals such as chlorine, etc
• Until 18th century, paper was only hand-made. With
invention of machine, old tradition of paper making was not
practiced anymore except in a few countries such as Nepal,
China, India, etc.
• Nearly all paper and board today is made of wood pulp:
either new or recycled. Today, pulpwood usually uses the
parts of the tree that are left after wood has been used for
other commercial purposes.
• Youtube : From Rags to Paper
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-XoTGFC-0NA

Paper Making
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7SdJtYkAzTw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xs3PfwOItto&fea

ture=youtu.be (Paper Making Mill-Watermarks)

A Glimpse of Eastern Hand-Made Paper
Tradition: Nepal
• The first step in making paper in Nepal is to find the
raw material, tree bark. The tree bark is harvested from
the forests and packaged up to be carried to a
processing area by porters.
• After the tree bark reaches the processing area, the
workers will cut the bark into finer strips and pieces
and then ground it up to prepare the bark for the
cooking stage
A Glimpse of Eastern Hand-Made Paper
Tradition: Nepal -cont.
• When the bark has been reduced as small as possible,
the bark is added to water and boiled until the mixture
becomes a homogeneous thick paste-like liquid.
• After the mixture is thoroughly cooked, it is ready to be
made into paper. This process is done in a water
staging area with screen frames. The screen is
carefully placed in the water making sure the frame
edges stay above the surface. The cooked mixture is
then poured into the screen.
A Glimpse of Eastern Hand-Made Paper
Tradition: Nepal -cont.
• With the mixture poured into the screen, the mixture is
vigorously stirred with the fingers to distribute the
concentrated mixture. If this part is done properly, the
paper will turn out with a uniform thickness.
• When a uniform concentration has been established,
the screen is quickly lifted up out of the water bath.
This causes the thickened mixture to set up in a thin
film on top of the screen.
A Glimpse of Eastern Hand-Made Paper
Tradition: Nepal -cont.
• After a few minutes the screen can be tilted back and
supported in the sun to dry....then wait.
• In a few hours, the paper is dry and can be peeled off
of the screen and packaged. It is now ready for use.

Credit: http://www.lascruces.com/~rotto/culture.html
 Nepali Lokta Paper
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5Pbbu6rMR4

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYk6iFUq8DM

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWTk90bF46A
 Japan
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6d2-su6NKGk
Paper Making process
 Paper Making
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mE2VWojDb1g

Video: 4th Grade Paper Making

Link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQoz1pkKmd
A
Terminologies Used in Paper Making
 Sizing
 Burnishing
 Coating
 Bleaching
 Colouring
Terminologies Used in Paper Making -cont
Sizing:
• Materials/chemicals added to make paper water proof.
• Traditionally used: rice, maize, fruit starch, rice or wheat or sorghum starch.
• Since 13th century, used animal glues/fish glue (ghira’ al-samak)
• Other advantage of sizing: provides better paper surface for receiving ink.
• Prevent paper from attracting moisture.
• How to apply sizing?
i. Externally:
Oldest method (until 18th century). The dried paper was soaked in the
sizing solution & left to dry. It was also pressed again. Sometimes, it was
not pressed, but burnished (scraped & smoothed with a tool i.e. glass,
smooth, stone). The paper becomes stiffer & harder.
ii. Internally:
Modern method (early 19th century). Mix together sizing material & pulp in
the hollander beater, etc. This provides a better paper yet smoother and
less hard than sizing applied externally.
Terminologies Used in Paper Making -cont
Burnishing:
• The burnished (or glazed paper) was referred to as maṣlūḥ.
• The burnishing was done with a variety of instruments such
as:
• a large glass bead (kharazah)
• smooth stone
• wooden tablet (lawḥ)
• Wooden
• handle of a tool or a folder (niṣāb).
• slab of marble (marmarah) using a piece of shell
(maḥār).
• finished with the egg-white or gum tragacanth applied
with a brush.
Terminologies Used in Paper Making -cont
Coating:
• Fillers or materials added to the pulp to improve the paper.
• Examples of materials: Dried flowers, herbs, Textile (silk, etc), thread,
strings, etc, Metals, Insects, etc

Bleaching:
• To lose the natural colour of the paper fiber & make it lighter.
• Traditionally: Moist fibers were bleached in the sun or boiled in alkaline
solutions (wood ash, lactic acid, etc)
• Modern: Use chemicals such as chlorine, ozone, oxygen & oxygenated
water.
• But, be careful! Too much bleaching will make the fibers weak. Must wash
the paper thoroughly after bleaching
 Paper
polisher at
work from a
10/16th
century
Persian
manuscript
Terminologies Used in Paper Making -cont
Colouring:

• To change the natural colour of the fibers using dye &

colouring agents.
• Can be applied when the fiber is still wet or even after
it has dried.
• In addition, paper can also be tinted, marbled, gold-
speckled, joined, etc using various techniques
developed by human across civilizations.
Paper
Mould
Paper Moulds
‫قبط‬/‫ةحرط‬/‫بالق‬
 Types of Paper

Oriental/Eastern Western/Europea
Paper n Paper
 Types of Paper Used in MSS
Writing
Generally, 2 types;
i. Oriental/Eastern Paper (including Arabic & Muslim
paper)
ii. Western/European Paper
 Eastern/Islamic Paper
No uniformed size/thickness/colour. Each paper
depends on the method & place of its
production.
For example: Chinese paper: very thin. Can only
be written on one side.
Islamic paper: often coloured brown or cream.
Other colors such as blue & pink were also made.
Paper thickness varies; but older paper tends to be
thicker.
Various types of Islamic papers: - Samarkand Paper -
Khurasani Paper - Baghdad Paper (best quality until
15th century) - Shami Paper (2nd best quality) - Misri
Paper (3rd best quality).
Paper mill was first established in Baghdad by al-Fadl
ibn Yahya al-Barmaki (793 AC).
In al-Maghrib al-Islami: Parchment was still in use to
write Quran despite the coming of paper technology.
Muslims used rice/maize starch for sizing. After
coating the paper with it, they will scrape &
smooth the paper surface with a tool.
 Sometimes they will also coat it to enable the
paper to receive ink better.
Main characteristics of Eastern paper: NO
watermarks.
 However, different chain lines can be
observed depending on the types of
sieve/frame used.
 Typology of Eastern/Arab Paper
‫صةت ةسارد‬
‫قاروأل نليفي‬
The main characteristic of Arab/Middle-Eastern and
Indian papers is the lack of watermarks, so prominent
in the European papermaking tradition.
Arab paper was used in the Middle East, North Africa
and Andalusia from the second half of the 2nd/8th
until the end of the 7/13th centuries.
In Europe, in the 11th and 12th centuries, Arab paper
was widely known under the name charta damascena,
i.e. Damascus paper.
In the 2nd half of the 13th century the Italians got hold
of the papermaking technique
Became so successful that they exported it already in
the 8/14th century to the Crimea and later in the 9/15th
century to the whole of the Middle East.
In spite of the wide-spread usage of European paper in
the Arab world after the 9/15th century there were still
pockets of local production in countries such as Egypt
and Yemen.
Local paper production carried on in Iran and India
until the end of the 12/18th and into the 13/19th
centuries.
In Central Asia pockets of local papermaking (e.g.
Bukhārā, Samarqand and Farghānah) survived until the
Bolshevik revolution (1917).
The papers produced in the Arab and Islamic world were
described as ‘Oriental’.
Arab paper moulds were rectangular.
In the original sheet lifted off the mould where laid and
chain lines are visible, the laid lines are always vertical and
the chain lines horizontal.
The original sheet was to be folded once (in folio), the laid
lines would become horizontal (or perpendicular to the
spine) and the chain lines vertical.
Consequently, the second folding (in quarto) would result
in the laid lines becoming once again vertical and the
chain lines horizontal.
After the third folding (in octavo), of course, the laid lines
should run horizontally and the chain lines vertically.
Folding of a watermarked sheet
of paper
Folio Quarto
 Wove or pattern-less paper
This type of paper was most probably used from
the earliest time.
It is found in a considerable number of
manuscripts from the Near East, but it occurs
much more frequently in manuscripts from Iran
and Iraq.
Wove papers were thick, soft, and flocculent.
Wove paper showing some “chaotic” patterns and
conspicuous fibres was used in Yemen from the
7/14th to the middle of the 10/16th centuries.
Indian wove
paper with
visible
undissolved
fibres
2 types of lines available on paper:
i. Wire-Line/Laid line (‫ةددملما طوطخال‬/‫أل‬
‫)ةيساحنال كالس ا‬: The
closer the line the better the paper is. Can also be
used to identify the origins of the paper.
ii. Chain-Line (‫ةلسلسلما طوطخال‬/‫)ةلسلسال كالسأ‬: The gaps could
be used to identify the origins of the paper.
The position of the lines depended on the types of
mould used to make the paper. Chain-lines & wire-
lines can only be seen by eyes when the paper is held
up against the light. Modern paper usually does not
have chain & wire lines.
 Paper with laid line only
The main characteristic of this paper is irregular
and thick laid lines.
This variety was produced continuously and used
extensively until 1500 and was the dominant type
until 1250.
It was used across the region but especially in
Iraq, Iran, and Central Asia.
For the purpose of laid paper classification, the area
occupied by 20 laid lines (or the widthof 20 laid
lines) is measured in millimetres.
 Paper with laid and chain line
1. Single chain lines.
2. Single chain lines alternating
with clustered chain lines
(usually grouped in threes).
3. Clustered chain lines.
 Single chain lines
In the Eastern part of the Arab world this type of
paper was rare.
It was used from the second half of the 5/11th until the
late 9/15th centuries.
The single lines are usually curved (wavy) and not
evenly distanced.
Very irregularly spaced chain lines (40–60 mm apart)
are also characteristic of the papers produced in the
Islamic West (Maghreb and Andalusia).
 Single chain lines alternating
with clustered chain lines
This type of paper has recently been associated with
Azerbaijan and Iran.
It was used from the beginning of the 6/12th until the
end of the 7/13th centuries.
 Clustered chain lines
These are divided into four main sub-categories:
chain lines grouped in twos
chain lines grouped in threes
chain lines grouped in twos and threes alternately
chain lines grouped in fours and fives.
This type of paper emerged in the early 6/12th
century and became the dominant type from the
beginning of the 8/14th century.
The paper with chain lines grouped in twos was used
extensively in Egypt from the 6/12th to the 9/15th
centuries.
Those grouped in threes are found in papers of the
5/11th–9/15th centuries in Iran, Syria, Egypt, Asia
Minor and even Mecca.
Some papers grouped in fives were used between
1374–1420 in Baghdad and southern Iran.
‫طوطخ عم ةيئام ةملاع يذ يرغ يقرش‬
‫سسم‬
‫قرو ةمظتنم لة ل‬
‫طوطخ عم ةيئام ةمالع يذ يرغ يقرش‬
‫قرو طوطخ ثةالث في ةعممج‬
‫سسم‬
‫لة ل‬
Arab paper with chain lines
grouped in threes
Innovations of the Arabs (Muslims)
in papermaking:
i. They used recycled rags to make paper
ii. They made metallic mesh strainers for handling the
pulp.
iii. They used pastes made from starch of wheat flour
as glue.
 iv. They also dye paper using saffron, etc.
 Western/European Paper
Produced by European countries such as Italy, France,
Holland, Britain, etc
15th century: Italy mastered the techniques of
paper making. Since then, Europe has produced
finer & better quality paper.
Muslims imported their papers from
Europe, especially Italy.
Local Muslim paper industry nearly died
because they
couldn’t compete with the quality of
European paper.
Italy specially produced high quality paper with extra
coating, slight coloring & polishing to make it
resemble Muslim papers.
European papers: HAVE watermarks.

Italian/European innovations in paper making:

i. The use of water power
ii. The use of the stamping mill (derived from
the stampers and milling machines used in
textile handicrafts)
iii. The mould made of wire mesh (as a result of
progress in wire production), which triggered the
introduction of couching on felt
v. Invention of the paper press (screw press) with
slides for feeding in the material
 v. Drying the sheets on ropes
vi. Dip sizing (before: used brush)
vii. The use of animal sizing (gelatin)
 Malay Manuscripts: Paper
 Consider the following fact: 99% of MSS in PNM are written on paper
95% of these are made from European papers.
 Origins of paper in SEA: UNKNOWN
- Was Chinese paper used? Thin & lined paper.
- Only 1 side writing - Paper from Western India (Muslims) was known
for its quality.
- Javanese courts used to order special gold-rimmed paper for their use -
India also produced strong, thick & cream coloured paper .
- In SEA, European paper was used extensively after 16 th century- esp.
papers made in Italy, France, Britain, Holland. - 20th century: regular
school exercise book was used to write MSS.
- Example: Hikayat Syamsul Anuar & Hikayat Syariful Akhtar at
Terengganu Museum
 Chronology of Writing
Surface Used in Islamic
MSS in SEA
• 15th - 18th centuries: Olla, Lontar, Daluang
(leaves).
• 16th - 19th centuries: Writing board (wood-
Pulai tree), Tree bark, Lontar, Daluang
(leaves).
• 17th - 20th centuries: Filigrained European
Papers
• 19th - 20th centuries: Dutch registers, local
folio papers, school notebooks
 Paper
When Ferdinand Magellan’s expedition reach Brunei
in 1521 A.D Pigafetta, who was in expedition noted
that papers were used as gifts a to the king, queen and
the chiefs of the court in order to establish
friendship.
Paper was valuable writing material even to the
kings during this time.
Brunei located at the main trade route of the
muslim traders to and from China.
Despite the many scribes available in the court,
paper was not used for writing.
 Pigafetta
“the king to whom we presented ourselves is a
Moor, and is named Raja Sipada: He is about forty
years age, and is rather corpulent…no one speaks to
him except by means of the blow-pipe as has been
described above. He has ten scribes, who write
down his affairs on thin bark of trees, and are called
chiritoles” (cheritatulis).
Paper used in Malay Manuscript
The majority of paper used in Malay manuscript were
European occidental origin.
Italy, Holland, Britain, and France.
They were believed to have been brought into
Archipelago by traders from the Middle-East or direct
from Europe.
Also brought into the Archipelago through the
activities of those who went to Mecca on Pilgrimage
for personal use and sometimes for profit.
Many Malay manuscripts relating to Islam
were written in Mecca and Medina by Malays.
Mecca – main centre of learning for Malays
and consequently the centre of writing of
Malay manuscripts.
The papers used in Mecca in the 18th and 19th century
were not Arabic papers or paper made by the Arabs,
but European papers.
During those periods, the Arabs had declined
very seriously as papermakers.
European papers were also brought into the region by
the colonial power, such as the Dutch and the British.
For their civil servants in the Archipelago.
Malay writers/scribe:
Raffles (1810) – Abdullah Munsyi, Ismail Lebai,
Muhammad
The Dutch – Muhammad Ching Saidullah
Very few Malay manuscripts were written on oriental
papers.
Because: very flimsy and thin; writing could
get smudged.
 WATERMARKS
‫ةيئالما ةمالعال‬
Definitions: “Designs in paper that are visible when
the paper is back-lit”.
“Impression of a mark in the paper by a device made
in
metal wire & sewn to the paper mould”.
It was first invented by Fabriano paper mill in Italy.
Watermark has revolutionized the paper making
industry and other European mills used
Fabriano style/model.
Watermarks are images on paper, which can be seen
when viewing a sheet against the light.
The image is the thinner part of a sheet of paper
formed as a result of the weight of the pulp pressing
on the elevated wire design on the mesh of the
mould.
The wire design was originally placed in the middle of
the mould and later in the middle of its right half.
It consisted of papermaker’s initials and sometimes
also the date and place of manufacture.
The study of watermarks is the domain of
FILIGRANOLOGY.
Considerable research has been done on European
watermarks.
The earliest known watermark is the 1293 cross from
Fabriano, Italy.
Italian watermarked papers began to be used in Arabic
manuscripts in the main Arab lands and the Maghreb
as early as the middle of the 8/14th century.
By the early 10/16th century in the Ottoman Empire,
roughly 50% of manuscripts were copied on European
(mostly Italian) watermarked paper.
From the mid 10/16th century onwards Italy, with its
paper-mills centred in the northern part of the
country
(regions of Fabriano, Venice and Bologna), became a
major
supplier of paper to the Ottoman Empire.
Apart from Italian and French papers, English and Russian
papers were also exported to the Middle East, especially
 Why use watermark?
- It is a symbol representing the company that made the
paper (like a signature)*
- It represents the place and time frame of the paper
production*
To find these information from a watermark, must refer to
specialized book listing all the watermarks symbols.
Example: WATERMARKS MAINLY OF THE 17th AND 18th
CENTURIES by Edward Heawood, etc.
However, it is also rare to find watermark symbols to be
100% similar with the one observed in a MSS. An
approximation is needed based on the proximity of the
symbol.
The identification of the watermarks, although
sometimes a difficult task, is very useful in
dating manuscripts.
Although normally paper was used relatively quickly
after its manufacture, the gap between the
manufacture and the use of watermarked paper may
be from 10 to 15 years and perhaps longer in the
remote parts of the Middle East.
Common designs of watermarks:
- human figures (head, hand)
 - animals (snake, lion)
- agricultural themes (grapes)
- military & heraldic symbols (helmet, armour, crown,
shield)
- religious & astrological symbols (crescent, star,
anchor,
cross)
Italian papermakers made special watermarks for papers
to be exported for Muslim use such as crescent and avoid
using controversial symbols such as the cross to avoid
offending the Muslims.
 A selection of watermarks
found in Arabic manuscripts
Sheet of European paper with thick chain lines
placed at regular intervals and an anchor
watermark in its right-half
Watermarks laid mould
The Examination of Watermarks Paper
‫ةيئالما ةمال لعا يذ قرو صحف‬
Folding of a watermarked sheet
of paper – trelune ( -‫الثا ةلهألا‬
‫ثة ل‬
12th/18th Century)
Folio Quarto
End of Slides
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