King's Pote 161 (King's College Library, King's College Cambridge)

Pote Collection

Summary of Contents: 1 copy of Dīvān Shāhī.

Author: Amīr Shāhī Sabzavārī, d. 1453 امير شاهى سبزوارى

Note concerning author: The author was possibly the royal poet Shāhī, ʿAlī ʿĀdil Shāh II.

Title: Dīvān Shāhī

Title: ديوان شاهى

Language(s): Persian

Colophon details: Date: Undated Scribe: Muḥammad Amīn, known as Mīrak محد امين .

References

Browne no. 557

Palmer no. 161

Catalogue of the Persian manuscripts in the British Museum (3 vols.) C. Rieu 1879-1883 p.640a [BL Add. 23612]

Mughals in India: a bibliographical survey. Vol. 1. Manuscripts D.N. Marshall 1962 p.439 (Kulliyat of the royal poet, Shāhī, ʿAlī ʿĀdil Shāh II)

Physical Description

Form: codex

Extent: c. 100 folios.

Dimensions (leaf): 18.3 × 11 cm.

Dimensions (written): 12 × 7.4 cm.

Foliation: Neither foliated nor paginated.

Condition

Worm damage.

Layout

12 lines per page.

Ruled in black-outlined gold with a blue outer. 2 columns (verse). Red, blue and gold rubrications.

Hand(s)

Script: nastaʿlīq. Quality: Good. Scribe: Muḥammad Amīn, known as Mīrak محد امين.

Decoration

F.1v: an illuminated sarlauh in gold and blue with multi-coloured flowers. Red pen or gold hatching around rubrications throughout.

Additions:

F.1r: a smudged seal.

Notes concerning codex: In notes held in the King's Archive (attached to a letter dated 16.4.1951), Basil Robinson describes this as "A manuscript of excellent quality dating from the early 16th century.".

Binding

Redish brown leather, European style. Salmon pink patterned silk doublures. Enclosed in a red and white striped silk bag. Decorations: Gold patterned central panel with a patterned gold border and a painted gold ruling. Condition: The central panel on the upper board is coming away. Dimensions: 18.6 × 11.8 × 1.6 cm. Unboxed. Polier's number: 397.

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