Reads by Rang — history of boteh

‘Boteh’ is a Persian word meaning bush, shrub, a thicket (a small dense forest of small trees or bushes), bramble, and herb. Some would even take it to mean a palm leaf, cluster of leaves (perhaps as a repeated pattern) and flower bud. In Azerbaijan and in Kashmir (in the north of the Indian sub-continent), the name used to describe the motif is ‘buta’. Tracing its roots to the Zoroastrian temples, the boteh symbol has a remarkable resemblance to the image of the urn with the fire shooting from the top of the vessel. This flame flame has sometimes been...