King's Pote 198 (King's College Library, King's College Cambridge)

Pote Collection

Summary of Contents: 1 copy of Rājāvalī.

Author: Valī, Banvālī Dās ولى، بنوالى داس

Note concerning author: Banvālī Dās was secretary of to Shāhjahān.

Title: Rājāvalī

Title: راجاولى

Language(s): Persian

Colophon details: Date: Undated Scribe: Rājā Valī (fl. 18th) راجا ولى .

Colophon further notes: The manuscript must have been copied after 1167/1754 (based upon the content).

Note concerning manuscript: Contains a list of rulers and when they ruled, ending with Ahmad Shah (6 years) who ruled until 1167/1754.

Note concerning work: An account of the Kings Dihlavī from Judhishtir to Shāhjahān. The author is also known as Valī and Valī Rām ( munshī to Dārā-Shikūh) - see King's 164, King's 14 and Marshall pp.104-5.

References

Browne no. 644

Palmer no. 195 (correction: 198)

Catalogue of the Persian manuscripts in the British Museum (3 vols.) C. Rieu 1879-1883 p.855 [BL Add. 25791]

Persian Literature: a bio-bibliographical survey C. A. Storey 1927–39 I.1 p.452

Mughals in India: a bibliographical survey. Vol. 1. Manuscripts D.N. Marshall 1962 p.104

Physical Description

Form: codex

Extent: c. 40 folios.

Dimensions (leaf): 22.4 × 16.2 cm.

Dimensions (written): 16.7 × 10.2 cm.

Foliation: Neither foliated nor paginated.

Layout

11 lines per page.

Ruled in red, blue, orange, blue with a dark blue outer. Rubrications in red.

Hand(s)

Script: nastaʿlīq. Scribe: Rājā Valī (fl. 18th) راجا ولى.

Additions:

Rubrications in red often involve a number before an overlined line of text.

Binding

Dark brown leather, European style. Orange plain paper doublures. Dimensions: 22.8 × 16.4 × 1.1 cm. Unboxed. Polier's number: 487.

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