King's Pote 197 (King's College Library, King's College Cambridge)

Pote Collection

Summary of Contents: 1 copy of Rāmāyana.

Author: Anonymous

Title: Rāmāyana

Title: راماين

Language(s): Hindi

Colophon details: Date: Undated Scribe: Anonymous.

Note concerning work: An Urdū prose translation of the Rāmāyana.

References

Browne no. 648

Palmer no. 197

Physical Description

Form: codex

Extent: 424 folios.

Dimensions (leaf): 26 × 14.7 cm.

Dimensions (written): 20.8 × 10.9 cm.

Foliation: Foliated.

Layout

18 lines per page.

Ruled in double red with a black outer.

Hand(s)

Script: Indian nastaʿlīq. Scribe: Anonymous.

Binding

Black leather with reddish brown spine, Indian style. Tan plain paper doublures. Condition: The lower board is detached. Dimensions: 26.2 × 14.3 × 6.1 cm. Unboxed. Polier's number: 459.

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