King's Pote 184 (King's College Library, King's College Cambridge)

Display:

Pote Collection

Summary of Contents: 1 copy of Durrat al-Tāj li-Ghurrat al-Dībāj.

Author: Quṭb al-Shīrāzī, Maḥmūd ibn Masʿūd, 1236 or 7-1310 or 11 قطب الدين الشيرازى، محمد بن مسعود

Note concerning author: Quṭb al-dīn Shīrāzī was one of the greatest disciples of Naṣīr al-dīn Ṭūsī.

Title: Durrat al-Tāj li-Ghurrat al-Dībāj

Language(s): Persian

Colophon details: Place: Akbarābād Date: 15 Dhū al-Ḥijjah 1050 / 28 Mar 1641 Scribe: Allāh Qulī ibn Shāh Qulī Samarqandī الله قلى ولد شاه قلى سمرقندى .

Note concerning work: An encyclopaedia of political science.

References

Browne no. 471

Palmer no. 184

Persian Literature: a bio-bibliographical survey C. A. Storey 1927–39 II.3 p.354

Physical Description

Form: codex

Extent: 657 folios.

Dimensions (leaf): 29 × 19.2 cm.

Dimensions (written): 21.8 × 12 cm.

Foliation: Foliated.

Layout

27 lines per page.

Ruled in red, gold, black and blue. The margins also have a black-outlined gold frame.

Hand(s)

Script: naskh. Scribe: Allāh Qulī ibn Shāh Qulī Samarqandī الله قلى ولد شاه قلى سمرقندى.

Decoration

F.1v: a high quality illuminated sarlauh in gold, green, blue, red. Damaged by creasing and repaired at the top. Ff.1v-2r: interlinear gold.

Additions:

F.1r: twelve or so seals some with notes (including among the seals: Luṭf Allāh, 1093; Luṭf Allāh, 1089; others are dated 1166 and 1197). Final folio: 2 identical seals dated 1197 also found on f.1r. The codex contains many diagrams and figures often finely drawn, but towards the end there are many spaces where diagrams were never inserted.

Binding

Dark brown leather, Indian style. Plain leather doublures. Decorations: Pressure moulded turanj and two pendants with corner pieces decorated in gold and red. Condition: In very bad condition. The upper board is detached, the lower board almost so, and the spine is disintegrating. In urgent need of repair. Dimensions: 29.2 × 18.4 × 6.5 cm. Unboxed. Polier's number: 386.

History

Origin: Akbarābād; 15 Dhū al-Ḥijjah 1050 AH; 28 Mar 1641 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

TO TOP