King's Pote 26 (King's College Library, King's College Cambridge)

Pote Collection

Summary of Contents: 1 copy of Rawz̤at al-Ṣafā (excerpt).

Author: Mīr Khwānd, Muḥammad ibn Khāvandshāh, 1433-1498 مير خواند، محمد بن خواندشاه

Language(s): Persian

Colophon details: Date: 21 Rajab 1199 / 30 May 1785 Scribe: Muḥammad Bakhsh, poetically named Āshūb (d. 1784-5) محمد بخش، آشوب .

Colophon further notes: The scribe probably the author and scribe of King's 169 and King's 94.

Note concerning work: A universal history. Selections from the earlier part, dealing with the mythical Bin Jānn and Adam and the kings of ancient Persia down to the Arab invasion and death of Yazdigird.

References

Browne no. 723

Palmer no. 26

Catalogue of the Persian manuscripts in the British Museum (3 vols.) C. Rieu 1879-1883 pp.87-96 [BL Add. 16672]

Mughals in India: a bibliographical survey. Vol. 1. Manuscripts D.N. Marshall 1962 p.292

Physical Description

Form: codex

Extent: 224 folios.

Dimensions (leaf): 24.2 × 15.8 cm.

Dimensions (written): 19.0 × 11.0 cm.

Foliation: Neither foliated nor paginated.

Layout

13 lines per page.

Not ruled.

Hand(s)

Script: Indian nastaʿlīq. Scribe: Muḥammad Bakhsh, poetically named Āshūb (d. 1784-5) محمد بخش، آشوب.

Additions:

Flyleaf: an English note in the hand of Henry Bradshaw gives details of the collation (of quires).

Corrected ( ṣaḥḥa ).

Binding

Suede, light tan leather, European style, with marbled paper on boards. Plain paper doublures (watermarked). Decorations: The spine is embossed: "Selections from the Rauzat al-Safa". Dimensions: 25 × 16 × 3 cm. Boxed. Polier's number: unknown.

History

Origin: 21 Rajab 1199 AH; 30 May 1785 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