King's Pote 119 (King's College Library, King's College Cambridge)

Pote Collection

Summary of Contents: 1 copy of Tuḥfat al-Hind.

Author: Mīrzā Muḥammad ibn Fakhr al-dīn Muḥammad (fl. before 1675-6) ميرزا محمد بن فخر الدين محمد

Title: Tuḥfat al-Hind

Title: تحفة الهند

Language(s): Persian

Colophon details: Date: Undated Scribe: Anonymous.

Colophon further notes: Thursday, 5 Rajab. Year not provided.

Note concerning manuscript: Contains blocks of text in an Indian script (and language).

References

Browne no. 288

Palmer no. 119

Catalogue of the Persian manuscripts in the British Museum (3 vols.) C. Rieu 1879-1883 p.62 [BL Add 16868]

Persian Literature: a bio-bibliographical survey C. A. Storey 1927–39 III.1 p.118

Mughals in India: a bibliographical survey. Vol. 1. Manuscripts D.N. Marshall 1962 p.296

Sprenger’s Cat., nos. 1655-6

Physical Description

Form: codex

Extent: 383 folios.

Dimensions (leaf): 24.3 × 17.3 cm.

Dimensions (written): 18.7 × 11.2 cm.

Foliation: Foliated.

Condition

Worming.

Layout

15 lines per page.

Ruled in double red with a blue outer. Red rubrications. Catchwords.

Hand(s)

Script: nastaʿlīq. Quality: Good (f.66 and f.68 and other pages contain texts in neat Indian script). Scribe: Anonymous.

Additions:

F.1r: an uncommon rectangular seal of Polier, dated 1196; for a sketch of the same among the five seals used by Polier, see Colas and Richard, "Le fonds Polier à la Bibliothèque nationale" (1984) p. 108.

Binding

Green paper with floral designs in relief on suede with a suede spine. Plain paper doublures (watermarked: "G.R."). Condition: The spine is damaged. The upper board is detached. Dimensions: 25 × 17.8 × 4.5 cm. Unboxed. Polier's number: 169.

History

Origin: Undated.

Provenance and Acquisition

The "Pote Collection" arrived in England from India in 1790 and was divided between the Colleges of Eton and King's, Cambridge, with the first half alphabetically going to King's. Both halves of the collection are now housed in Cambridge University Library on permanent loan. Most if not all of the manuscripts had previously been owned by Colonel Antoine-Louis Henri Polier (1741–1795).

Gift of Edward Ephraim Pote (d.1832) in 1788.

Record Sources

Manuscript description based on E. G. Browne, "A supplementary hand-list of the Muhammadan manuscripts, including all those written in the Arabic character, preserved in the Library of the University of Cambridge", Cambridge, 1922 and E. H. Palmer, "Catalogue of the oriental manuscripts in the library of King's College, Cambridge", J.R.A.S. v.3 (1867), pp.105-131 enhanced with additional descriptions and corrections by Shiva Mihan.

Availability

All manuscripts of the Pote Collection are on permanent loan at Cambridge University Library. Entry to read in the Library is permitted only on presentation of a valid reader's card for admissions procedures consult Cambridge University Library. Contact near_eastern@lib.cam.ac.uk for further information on the availability of this manuscript

Union Catalogue of Manuscripts from the Islamicate World