King's Pote 219 (King's College Library, King's College Cambridge)

Pote Collection

Summary of Contents: 1 copy of Siyāsat-nāmah (“Treatise on Government”).

Author: Niẓām al-Mulk (d. 1092-3) نظام الملك

Note concerning author: Niẓām al-Mulk, the great minister.

Title: Siyāsat-nāmah (“Treatise on Government”)

Title: Siyar al-mulūk

Title: سياست نامهء نظام الملك

Language(s): Persian

Colophon details: Date: 23 Ṣafar 1020 / 7 May 1611 Scribe: ʿAbd al-Wāḥid عبد الواحد .

Colophon further notes: The same scribe penned Eton 412 in the same year (another work by the same author).

References

Browne no. 778

Palmer no. 219

Catalogue of the Persian manuscripts in the British Museum (3 vols.) C. Rieu 1879-1883 p.444-6 [BL Add 23516]

Physical Description

Form: codex

Extent: 358 pages.

Dimensions (leaf): 21 × 11.3 cm.

Dimensions (written): 13.9 × 6.1 cm.

Foliation: Foliated.

Condition

Water damage to the top edge.

Layout

11 lines per page.

Ruled in black outlined gold. Rubrications in red. Catchwords.

Hand(s)

Script: Indian nastaʿlīq. Quality: Neat. Scribe: ʿAbd al-Wāḥid عبد الواحد.

Decoration

F.1v: an illuminated sarlauh in gold and lapis; intertextual gold.

Additions:

A seal is repeated on f.358r and on f.358v (Sayyid Muḥsin al-dīn Khān, [1]174).

Binding

Plain brown leather, European style. Plain paper doublures (watermarked). Dimensions: 21.8 × 11.7 × 3.8 cm. Unboxed. Polier's number: 548.

History

Origin: 23 Ṣafar 1020 AH; 7 May 1611 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

Union Catalogue of Manuscripts from the Islamicate World