King's Pote 179 (King's College Library, King's College Cambridge)

Pote Collection

Summary of Contents: 1 copy of Dīvān Āhī.

Note concerning author: The author was a Turkish Amir who was attached to Gharib Mirza, son of ʿAbd al-Ghāzī Sulṭān Ḥusayn, and died in 927.

Title: Dīvān Āhī

Title: ديوان آهى

Language(s): Persian

Colophon details: Place: Samarqand Date: 973 / 1565-6 Scribe: Yazdānī Mīrak Bāgh يزدانى ميرك باغ .

References

Browne no. 512

Palmer no. 179

Catalogue of the Persian manuscripts in the British Museum (3 vols.) C. Rieu 1879-1883 p.736a [BL Add. 7796]

Die arabischen, persischen und türkischen Handschriften der Kaiserlich-Königlichen Hofbibliothek zu Wien, G. Flügel (1865-7) vol. 1, p.578

A catalogue of the Arabic, Persian and Hindu'sta'ny manuscripts, of the libraries of the King of Oudh, A. Sprenger (1854) p.21 and p.327

Physical Description

Form: codex

Support: Remargined in marbled Indian paper (the first opening has gold floral design).

Extent: 30 folios.

Dimensions (leaf): 21.8 × 15 cm.

Dimensions (written): 14.0 × 7.5 cm.

Foliation: Neither foliated nor paginated.

Condition

Severe worm damage.

Layout

15 lines per page.

Ruled in green and gold with blue or double blue outer (on the new margins). Verses in 2 columns (1 per hemistich).

Hand(s)

Script: nastaʿlīq. Quality: Good. Scribe: Yazdānī Mīrak Bāgh يزدانى ميرك باغ.

Decoration

F.1v: an illuminated sarlauh with a lapis ground and floral vines. Inscription: bismillah. Each poem has its own illuminated heading: a gold cartouche on lapis ground. Nearly all the rubrics have been covered in gold. One on f.13v contains in a minute hand the sura al-Fatiha. The new margins (marbled paper) are often generously sprinkled with gold. Final folio: the colophon has gold floral drawing to either side (within the original textblock).

Additions:

1st flyleaf: was covered with seals and notes but it has been covered with paper and the cover torn away, so these are now mostly illegible. The margins are filled with notes from f.4v onwards (talismans, taʿwīẓ, grids of letters, etc).

Notes concerning codex: In notes held in the King's Archive (attached to a letter dated 16.4.1951), Basil Robinson says of this: "This has been a fine manuscript, but has suffered a good deal.".

Binding

Dark brown leather, Indian style. Plain reddish leather doublures. Decorations: Gold corner pieces, small turanj and two pendants (with floral motifs). Condition: Torn on the spine. Some folios are coming away from the binding (the stitching is very loose). Dimensions: 21.4 × 15 × 0.8 cm. Unboxed. Polier's number: 392.

History

Origin: Samarqand; 973 AH; 1565-6 CE

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

Funding of Cataloguing

King's College Cambridge

Subjects

Persian poetry

Comments

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