King's Pote 194 (King's College Library, King's College Cambridge)

Pote Collection

Summary of Contents: 1 copy of Ruqaʿāt-i ʿInāyat Khānī.

Compiler: ʿInāyat Khān Rāsikh ibn Luṭf Allāh Khān Ṣādiq عنايت خان راسخ بن لطف الله خان صادق

Language(s): Persian

Colophon details: Date: Undated Scribe: Anonymous.

Colophon further notes: One of the letters contains a date, 1059.

Note concerning manuscript: Begins with four unfoliated ruled folios containing a detailed table of contents in the hand of the scribe (with folio numbers).

Note concerning work: A collection of letters written by or to the Tīmūrid emperors of India (or “Great Moghuls”) from the time of Humāyūn to that of Bahādur Shāh.

References

Browne no. 706

Palmer no. 199 (correction: 194)

Catalogue of the Persian manuscripts in the British Museum (3 vols.) C. Rieu 1879-1883 p.876b [BL Or. 1410]

Mughals in India: a bibliographical survey. Vol. 1. Manuscripts D.N. Marshall 1962 p.205

Physical Description

Form: codex

Extent: 4 + 76 = 80 folios.

Dimensions (leaf): 18.8 × 11.1 cm.

Dimensions (written): 13.8 × 7.6 cm.

Foliation: Foliated.

Layout

11 lines per page.

Ruled in black-outlined yellow. Catchwords.

Hand(s)

Script: nastaʿlīq. Scribe: Anonymous.

Binding

Plain reddish leather, European style. Plain paper doublures. Decorations: The spine is embossed: "Letters of Inayat Cawn". Dimensions: 19.1 × 11.3 × 1.6 cm. Unboxed. Polier's number: 476.

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