King's Pote 6 (King's College Library, King's College Cambridge)

Pote Collection

Summary of Contents: 1 copy of Akhbār-i Jahāngīrī.

Author: Muḥammad Ṣādiq Dihlavī محمد صادق دهلوى

Language(s): Persian

Colophon details: Date: Undated Scribe: Anonymous.

Note concerning work: The author, Muḥammad Ṣādiq Dihlavī, was possibly the contemporary of Shāhjahān who was the author of Athār-i-Shāhjahānī and of the Ṭabaqāt-i Shāhjahānī.

References

Browne no. 23

Palmer no. 6

Persian Literature: a bio-bibliographical survey C. A. Storey 1927–39 I.1 p.568

Mughals in India: a bibliographical survey. Vol. 1. Manuscripts D.N. Marshall 1962 p.336

Physical Description

Form: codex

Support: Thick Indian paper. Margins in different colours (dark ochre and teal).

191.

Dimensions (leaf): 20 × 13 cm.

Dimensions (written): 12.2 × 6.7 cm.

Foliation: Foliated.

Condition

Extensive worm damage.

Layout

11-13 lines per page.

Ruled in gold with double black and outer blue. Red rubrications.

Hand(s)

Script: Indian nastaʿlīq. Quality: Ordinary. Scribe: Anonymous.

Decoration

F.1v: illuminated sarlauh in gold, blue and purple. Ff.1v-2r: gold drawings in the margins.

Additions:

Flyleaf: an English note in the hand of Henry Bradshaw gives details of the collation (of quires). F.1r: inspection notes (one dated 1069) and 9 seals including those of a slave of Shāhjahān and of ʿInāyat Allāh Khān (oval) and of ʿInāyat Khān Shāhjahānī, 1068 (circular) and of Luṭf Allāh. F.191v: two seals, both dated 1063: Iʿtimād, slave of Shāhjahān), and Kamāl al-dīn Ḥusayn al-Mūsavī, follower of Shāhjahān. For Iʿtimād Khān and then ʿInāyat Khān serving as superintendents of the Mughal royal library, see p.255 of J. Seyller, "The Inspection and Valuation of Manuscripts in the Imperial Mughal Library", Artibus Asiae, Vol. 57 (1997). The manuscript contains occasional marginal notes (including siglum letter ṣād ). F.191v: an English note in the hand of Henry Bradshaw states that Aa 8 is wanting.

The colophon states that the manuscript was collated as much as possible.

Binding

Red leather with gold inlay. Plain leather doublures. Decorations: Gold inlay: turanj, two pendants, two borders, corner pieces and eight side pieces (3+3+1+1). Condition: Gold inlay is pealing away in places. Dimensions: 20 × 12 × 4.6 cm. Boxed. Polier's number: 8.

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