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Siāh-qalam, lit. ‘black pen’, is a term referring to both the genre of paintings or drawings done in pen and ink (also known as qalam-siāhi), and to the painter or, more likely, painters (more commonly known as Siāh-qalam) of a particular collection of such pen and ink drawings, preserved principally in the albums at Topkapi Saray Library.<br/><br/> Qalam-siāhi: While medieval Iranian artists were more renowned for their painting than their drawing skills, the two mediums were not unrelated. The planning of any painting involved laying down a preliminary drawing in red or black ink, which would later be painted over.