Kifayat Khan (Muhammad Ja'far Khan), calligrapher

According to Tarikh-i Khatt o Khattatin, shikasta reached India under Shah Jahan and was made popular there by Muhammad Kifayat Khan. His real name was Muhammad Ja'far Khan ibn Muhammad Muqim Khan; he served thirty-five years in the tan-i khalisa (salary office) and was then appointed accountant under Aurangzeb Alamgir. ¹

He had no rival in writing ta'liq and shikasta, and devised a particular manner of shikasta called "the Kifayat Khan manner", which the book describes as delightful and pleasing to the eye. He had many pupils who followed him, among them his son Darayat Khan. The book gives his death as 1095/1683. ^{1 2}

The author observes that shikasta was an office script, and since most clerks in Indian offices were Hindus, most of its masters were Hindus too, such as Chandrabhan Brahman and Rai Prem Nath. ²