Indian Drawings 11 (The John Rylands Research Institute and Library, The University of Manchester)
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Persian Manuscripts
Album of fifty folios of paintings and calligraphy.
Contents
Summary of Contents: This Persianate South Asian album of paintings and callgraphy. The former primarily features various women, while the latter cheifly comprises the opening verses of the Mas̱navī-'i Ma‘navī (Spiritual Couplets) Rūmī copied by Mughal court calligrapher Muḥammad Ḥusayn Kashmīrī (d. ca. 1620). Most folios bear works mounted on both sides, but a few on one only. Nearly all bear the seal impressions of Sir Elijah Impey (1732–1809)Language(s): Persian1aTitle: Calligraphy specimen signed by Sulṭān ‘Alī Mashhadī, surrounded by an applied dark blue paper border with floriate scrollwork.Scribe: Sulṭān ‘Alī MashhadīLanguage(s): Persian137 × 80 mm. 163 × 104 mm. Lower-right corner delaminating. Impey seal at bottom.
1bTitle: Khusrau spies Shirin bathes in a stream-fed pool outdoors. UnsignedArtist: AnonymousLanguage(s): Persian190 × 103 mm. 211 × 125 mm.
2aLanguage(s): Persian52 × 124 mm. 78 × 150 mm. Gold-flecked mount. Rotated 90º counter-clockwise. Impey seal at bottom.
2bTitle: Zan-i MusalmānTitle: A princess gazes into a mirror while an attendant waits to her left.Artist: AnonymousLanguage(s): Persian220 × 153 mm. 240 × 173 mm.
Green ground friable. discolouration of the lead white at the tail edge.
3aLanguage(s): Persian51 × 125 mm. 75 × 148 mm. Gold-flecked mount. Rotated 90º clockwise. Impey seal at bottom.
3bTitle: Zan-i Musalmān sharab mī-nūshand.Title: A princess sits on a veranda smelling a flower while an attendant serves her wine.Artist: AnonymousLanguage(s): Persian217 × 134 mm. 239 × 156 mm.
Same painter as folio 3b.
4aTitle: An unfinished scene of a prince and princess embrace in a jharoka window.Artist: AnonymousLanguage(s): Persian177 × 122 mm. 197 × 140 mm.
Single-sided folio with Impey seal on the reverse. Applied border unembellished.
5aTitle: Nūr Jahān Baygum ẓabūrah mi-shanavad.Title: Nūr Jahān listens to an attendant play a zabūrah.Artist: AnonymousLanguage(s): Persian160 × 132 mm. 178 × 150 mm.
5bLanguage(s): Persian52 × 125 mm. 75 × 148 mm. Gold-flecked mount. Rotated 90º clockwise. Impey seal at bottom.
6aTitle: Musalmān ‘āshiq ū ma‘shūq mard dastār yak pichhah bashtah ast.Title: Muslim lover and belovedArtist: AnonymousLanguage(s): Persian200 × 135 mm. 220 × 155 mm.
Same artist as folios 3b and 4b.
6bLanguage(s): Persian52 × 124 mm. 75 × 148 mm. Rotated 90º counter-clockwise. Impey seal at bottom.
7aLanguage(s): Persian51 × 124 mm. 74 × 148 mm. Gold-flecked mount. Rotated 90º counter-clockwise. Impey seal at bottom.
7bTitle: Sih zan-i Hindī.Title: Three Indian women, one plays a veena.Artist: AnonymousLanguage(s): Persian128 × 93 mm. 148 × 113 mm.
8aLanguage(s): Persian50 × 123 mm. 77 × 150 mm. Rotated 90º counter-clockwise. Impey seal at bottom.
8bTitle: Zan-i Hindū.Title: An Indian women sits against a pillow upon a carpet in conversation with another woman.Artist: AnonymousLanguage(s): Persian200 × 138 mm. 219 × 155 mm.
9aLanguage(s): Persian50 × 123 mm. 77 × 148 mm. Rotated 90º counter-clockwise. Impey seal at bottom.
9bTitle: Zan-i pīr yūtī zan-i javān rā farīb mī dahad.Title: An elderly woman deceives a young woman.Artist: AnonymousLanguage(s): Persian158 × 95 mm. 177 × 115 mm. 199 × 135 mm.
10aLanguage(s): Persian50 × 123 mm. 75 × 148 mm. Rotated 90º counter-clockwise. Impey seal at bottom.
10bTitle: Rādhā parastan Kinan Jiv mi-kunad.Title: Rādhā workships Krishna.Artist: AnonymousLanguage(s): Persian182 × 95 mm. 205 × 135 mm.
11aLanguage(s): Persian50 × 123 mm. 75 × 148 mm. Rotated 90º clockwise. Impey seal at bottom.
11bTitle: Zan-i Musalmān sharab mī-nūshand.Title: Women drinking wine on a veranda.Artist: AnonymousLanguage(s): Persian219 × 135 mm. 240 × 157 mm.
12bTitle: Sih zan-i Hindī va yak zan-i Musalmān chawpar bāzī mīkunand.Title: Women play chawpar on a veranda.Artist: AnonymousLanguage(s): Persian219 × 135 mm. 240 × 157 mm.
Single-sided folio, Impey seal on the obverse. Applied border unembellished.
13bTitle: Zan-i Musalmān bālā-yi mūnṭa nishast.Title: A Muslim woman sits above a bird pen.Artist: AnonymousLanguage(s): Persian142 × 230 mm. 160 × 223 mm.
Single-sided folio, Impey seal on the obverse. Applied border unembellished. Landscape format, rotated 90º counter-clockwise.
14bTitle: Zan-i Musalmān.Title: A Muslim woman watches two pairs of birds.Artist: AnonymousLanguage(s): Persian142 × 230 mm. 160 × 223 mm.
Single-sided folio, Impey seal on the obverse. Applied border unembellished.
15aColophon: کتبه العبد المذنب الفقیر محمد حُسین الکاتب فی اواخر رجب المرجب سنه ثلث و تسعین و تسعمایةColophon: Completed by Muḥammad Ḥusayn Kashmīrī, d. ca. 1620 at the end of Rajab 993 AH (end of July 1585)Language(s): Persian52 × 123 mm. 78 × 152 mm. Rotated 90º clockwise. Impey seal at bottom.
15bTitle: Zan-i Hind.Title: An Indian woman suckles a newborn.Artist: AnonymousLanguage(s): Persian134 × 90 mm. 156 × 113 mm.
in fair condition with losses in the friable paint layer.
16aLanguage(s): Persian50 × 124 mm. 75 × 149 mm. Landscape format, rotated 90º counter-clockwise. Impey seal at bottom.
16bTitle: Zan-i Hind.Title: An Indian woman reposes in a state of deshabille.Artist: AnonymousLanguage(s): Persian156 × 73 mm. 178 × 93 mm.
in fair condition with losses in the friable paint layer.
17aTitle: Quatrain with lines by Nādirī SamarqandīLanguage(s): Persian156 × 87 mm. 180 × 113 mm. Impey seal at bottom. The first two lines by the poet only.
17bTitle: Zan-i Musalmān.Title: A standing Muslim woman holds a flower in her right hand.Artist: AnonymousLanguage(s): Persian143 × 82 mm. 164 × 104 mm.
18aLanguage(s): Persian52 × 124 mm. 78 × 150 mm. Landscape format, rotated 90º clockwise. Impey seal at bottom.
18bTitle: Zan-i Musalmān.Title: An Indian woman dressing.Artist: AnonymousLanguage(s): Persian108 × 70 mm. 129 × 90 mm.
19aLanguage(s): Persian51 × 121 mm. 75 × 145 mm. Landscape format, rotated 90º counter-clockwise. Impey seal at bottom.
19bTitle: Zan-i Musalmān.Title: An Indian woman reposes in a state of deshabille.Artist: AnonymousLanguage(s): Persian177 × 118 mm. 198 × 136 mm.
20aTitle: DībāchahAuthor: AnonymousScribe: AnonymousLanguage(s): Persian132 × 90 mm. 157 × 115 mm. Impey seal at bottom.
20bTitle: Rāginī KawkabTitle: Kakubha RaginiTitle: A lady attracts a pair of peacocks with a flower garlandArtist: AnonymousLanguage(s): Persian127 × 78 mm. 147 × 100 mm.
21aTitle: Unidentified qutrainAuthor: AnonymousScribe: AnonymousLanguage(s): Persian93 × 103 mm. 119 × 73 mm.
21bArtist and Attributed name: Dal ChandTitle: Zan-i Musalmān.Title: A princess faces left and holds a flower in her irght hand.Language(s): Persian48 × 34 mm. 68 × 54 mm. 88 × 74 mm.
22aTitle: Unidentified quatrainTitle: Rubā‘īAuthor: AnonymousScribe: ‘Abd al-Raḥīm HaravīIncipit: بوی ارباب وفا از گل ما می آید * کعبه ز آنرو بطواف دل ما می آیدLanguage(s): Persian175 × 90 mm. 199 × 113 mm. Impey seal at bottom. The surface bears paint transferred from a painting originally opposite.
Language(s): Persian51 × 124 mm. 75 × 150 mm. Landscape format, rotated 90º counter-clockwise. Mount gold-flecked. Impey seal at bottom.
22bTitle: A female ascetic.Artist, Autographer and Attributed name: Gobind SinghLanguage(s): Persian168 × 103 mm. 190 × 124 mm.
Title: Zan-i Musalmān.Title: An Muslim woman stands facing right and holds fly whisk.Artist: AnonymousLanguage(s): Persian177 × 118 mm. 198 × 136 mm.
23aLanguage(s): Persian51 × 124 mm. 74 × 148 mm. Landscape format, rotated 90º counter-clockwise. Mount gold-flecked. Impey seal at bottom.
23bTitle: Zan-i Musalmān.Title: A woman washes her feet with a ewer by a river.Artist: AnonymousLanguage(s): Persian148 × 100 mm. 168 × 122 mm.
24aTitle: Arabic and Persian devotional quatrain above an unrelated colophonScribe: Bāqī Muḥamad al-BukhārīColophon: مشقه العبد الذنب الغریب المحتاج رحمة الله القوی تاقی محمد البخاری فی شهور سبع سبعین نسعمایة فی اگرهColophon: Completed by Bāqī Muḥamad al-Bukhārī in Agra, 977 AH (1569–1570 CE).The colophon is written on a different paper from the finely combed marbled ground of the main composition above it.
Language(s): Persian133 × 104 mm. 31 × 104 mm. 188 × 126 mm. Impey seal at bottom.
24bTitle: Malikah-i Zamāniyah.Title: Queen of the time.Title: A princess wears a Chagatai headress and drinks at a jharoka windowArtist: AnonymousLanguage(s): Persian187 × 115 mm. 208 × 136 mm. Her necklace is composed of real seed pearls.
25bTitle: Zan-i Musalmān.Title: A woman on a veranda rests against a pillow upon a carpet, her legs bound, holding vigil.Artist: AnonymousLanguage(s): Persian177 × 110 mm. 195 × 129 mm.
Single-sided folio, Impey seal on the obverse. Applied border unembellished.
26bTitle: Rāginī bintTitle: A woman faces left while holding a tray with a vase with flowers and cups.Artist: AnonymousLanguage(s): Persian121 × 72 mm. 143 × 92 mm.
Single-sided folio, Impey seal on the obverse. Applied border unembellished.
27aTitle: Unidentified Persian quatrainScribe: Sayyid ‘Alī Khān Javāhir Raqam.Language(s): Persian148 × 75 mm. 173 × 98 mm. Impey seal at bottom.
27bTitle: Anūp Guvār Rām Jī dar Shāhjahānābād būd.Title: A wowan holds a peacock feather fanArtist: Anup Govar Ram JiLanguage(s): Persian56 × 44 mm. 165 × 104 mm. 186 × 125 mm. Signed ‘Anūp Kar’. Interior painting within an oval, executed on pale brown gold-flecked paper
28bTitle: Mughal BaḥshahTitle: A young Mughal prince with bow and arrow.Artist: AnonymousLanguage(s): Persian140 × 78 mm. 160 × 98 mm.
Single-sided folio, Impey seal on the obverse. Applied border unembellished.
29aLanguage(s): Persian51 × 124 mm. 76 × 149 mm. Landscape format, rotated 90º counter-clockwise. Mount gold-flecked. Impey seal at bottom.
29bTitle: Zan-i Musalmān.Title: A woman fans herself while smoking a hookah.Artist: AnonymousLanguage(s): Persian203 × 133 mm. 25 × 155 mm.
30bTitle: Zan-i HindTitle: A woman smokes a hookah in a courtyard garden.Artist: AnonymousLanguage(s): Persian145 × 69 mm. 167 × 90 mm.
Single-sided folio, Impey seal on the obverse. Applied border unembellished.
31aLanguage(s): Persian51 × 124 mm. 78 × 150 mm. Landscape format, rotated 90º clockwise. Mount gold-flecked. Impey seal at bottom.
31bTitle: Zan-i Musalmān.Title: A woman holds a sparkler.Artist: AnonymousLanguage(s): Persian158 × 105 mm. 178 × 125 mm.
32aTitle: Persian quatrain of Najm al-Dīn KubràAuthor: Najm al-Dīn Kubrà, ca. 1145-1211Scribe: AnonymousLanguage(s): Persian137 × 80 mm. 162 × 105 mm. Impey seal at bottom.
32bTitle: Zan-i HindTitle: A woman seated with right hand raisedArtist: AnonymousLanguage(s): Persian98 × 58 mm. 120 × 80 mm.
33aTitle: Unidentified quatrainScribe: Muḥammad ‘Ābid al-ḤusaynīLanguage(s): Persian118 × 48 mm. 141 × 73 mm. Impey seal at bottom.
33bTitle: Zan-i HindTitle: A woman holds a morchal in her right handArtist: AnonymousLanguage(s): Persian115 × 63 mm. 138 × 85 mm.
35aLanguage(s): Persian52 × 125 mm. 75 × 149 mm. Landscape format, rotated 90º counter-clockwise. Impey seal at bottom.
35bTitle: Zan- Mughalān bulbul dar dast.Title: A standing Mughal princess wears a Chagatai headress and holds a nightingale in her right hand.Artist: AnonymousLanguage(s): Persian156 × 78 mm. 174 × 98 mm.
36bTitle: Zan-i chirah-band.Title: A woman dressed in male clothing seated on a throne.Artist: AnonymousLanguage(s): Persian145 × 102 mm. 163 × 122 mm.
Single sided, with Impey seal on obverse. Border unembellished.
37aLanguage(s): Persian52 × 125 mm. 78 × 149 mm. Landscape format, rotated 90º clockwise. Impey seal at top.
37bTitle: Zan-i Musalmān sharab mī-nūshand.Title: A princess stands and offers.Artist: AnonymousLanguage(s): Persian148 × 84 mm. 168 × 105 mm.
38bTitle: Zan-i Mughal chirah-band bālā-yi pīrī nishast.Title: A woman dressed in male clothing seated on a throne holds a flower.Artist: AnonymousLanguage(s): Persian105 × 74 mm. 155 × 113 mm. 179 × 142 mm.
Single sided, with Impey seal on obverse. Interior border illuminated with foliate scrollwork, but the exterior border remains unembellished.
39bTitle: A standing Mughal princess wears a Chagatai headress offers wineArtist: AnonymousLanguage(s): Persian113 × 73 mm. 113 × 93 mm.
Single-sided, with Impey seal on obverse. No caption. Border unembellished.
40aTitle: QuatrainLanguage(s): Persian156 × 88 mm. 180 × 110 mm. Impey seal at bottom.
40bTitle: Zan-i Hind bar dirakht anūlah nishast.Title: An Indian woman sits in a tree and holds a branch above her in her right hand.Artist: AnonymousLanguage(s): Persian172 × 107 mm. 198 × 127 mm.
41bTitle: Zan-i Hind hamyārah mī-gīrad.Title: An Indian womn at a jharoka window.Artist: AnonymousLanguage(s): Persian123 × 84 mm. 150 × 110 mm.
Single sided, with Impey seal on obverse. Border unembellished.
42bTitle: Malikah-i Zamāniyah.Title: Queen of the time.Title: A princess wears a Chagatai headress and drinks from a small spoon by a jharoka windowArtist: AnonymousLanguage(s): Persian188 × 125 mm. 210 × 145 mm. Single sided, with Impey seal on obverse. Border unembellished.
43aTitle: QuatrainScribe: AnonymousLanguage(s): Persian138 × 70 mm. 150 × 93 mm. Impey seal at bottom.
43bTitle: Qahragī Gujarī.Title: An Indian woman stands with two pots upon her head.Artist: AnonymousLanguage(s): Persian148 × 78 mm. 179 × 100 mm.
44bTitle: A Mughal prince at a jharoka holds a rose in his left hand.Artist: AnonymousLanguage(s): Persian146 × 103 mm. 165 × 122 mm.
Single-sided, with Impey seal on obverse. No caption. Border unembellished.
45aTitle: A Mughal princess at a jharoka drinks wine from a small spoon.Artist: AnonymousLanguage(s): Persian177 × 112 mm. 200 × 135 mm.
Single-sided, with Impey seal on reverse. No caption. Border unembellished.
46aTitle: A young man holds a sword in his left hand while offering a cup of wine in his right.Artist and Attributed name: Abū al-Ḥasan, Mughal painter, ca. 1580–1630.Language(s): Persian160 × 74 mm. 180 × 95 mm.
Single-sided, with Impey seal on reverse. No caption. Border unembellished. Signed Mashq-i Abū al-Ḥasan.
47aLanguage(s): Persian52 × 125 mm. 75 × 148 mm. Landscape format, rotated 90º counter-clockwise. Impey seal at bottom. Gold-flecked mount.
47bTitle: Monkey with a cobra in a pot.Artist: AnonymousLanguage(s): Persian113 × 73 mm. 136 × 95 mm.
Uncaptioned.
48aLanguage(s): Persian52 × 124 mm. 75 × 148 mm. Landscape format, rotated 90º clockwise. Impey seal at bottom. Gold-flecked mount.
48bTitle: Spiral-horned antelope.Artist: AnonymousLanguage(s): Persian115 × 86 mm. 133 × 105 mm.
Uncaptioned.
49aTitle: Mas̱navī-'i Ma‘navīLanguage(s): Persian52 × 125 mm. 75 × 148 mm. Landscape format, rotated 90º counter-clockwise. Title written with gilt traingles in the corners. Impey seal at bottom. Gold-flecked mount.
49bTitle: A monkey steals a turban from a mahout while driving his elephant to take down a tree..Artist: AnonymousLanguage(s): Persian145 × 110 mm. 165 × 132 mm.
Uncaptioned.
50aTitle: ‘Āshiq ū ma‘shūq sharab mī-nushand.Title: Lover and beloved drink wine on a veranda.Artist: AnonymousLanguage(s): Persian166 × 112 mm. 186 × 132 mm.
Single-sided, with Impey seal on reverse. No caption. Border unembellished. Signed Mashq-i Abū al-Ḥasan.
Physical Description
Form: codexSupport: Folios constructed of pasteboards manufactured in Indian subcontinent. Prinarily wove interleaving watermarked ‘J. Whatman 1809’ manufactured by the Whatman Paper Mill in Maidstone, Kent, then owned and operated by William Balston (1759–1849).
Watermark: 43 × 153 mm.Extent: 50 folios, 4 flyleaves (ff. ii + 50 + iv)Dimensions (leaf): 312 × 230 mm.Foliation: Modern pencilled folio numbers on the upper-right corners of the a sides, with many trimmed off when rebound.Collation
Stubbed album structureCondition
Folios in good condition. Some interleaving crumpled.Decoration
Margins: Most folios bear applied margins of dark indigo blue paper that measure an average of ~11 mm in width, embellished with floriate scrollwork in gold.
Ruling: The margins of all items uniformly ruled in gold, outlined with thin black single interior and double exterior lines, with the exterior margins in comparatively narrow gold lines outlined with single thin black lines, with some of the latter trimmed off when rebound by Faulkner
Seal(s):Binding
Bound in a British-style stubbed album structure by H. Faulkner, ‘George Court, Adelphi’ as per his ticket on the final left flyleaf a side (f. iva). Probably either Henry Faulkner Sr (fl. ca. 1790–1812) or Henry Jr. (fl. 1815–1825). All items attached to paper compensation guards with interleaving. Sewn on four recessed cords. Bright blue paste papers added to the beginning and end. Edges trimmed and gilt, with the original front-bead decorative endbands sewn in white, blue, and red silk threads at head and tail.
Spine bears four false bands.
333 × 285 × 78 mm.
Binding in good condition. Recently repaired on the exterior joints with Japanese paper.
Binding subsequently repaired by library conservators, with new front-bead endbands in white thread and Japanese paper on the exterior joints.
Rectangular seal impressions, intaglio carved in nasta‘līq script in two stacked lines, double-ruled, of former owner Sir Elijah Impey (1732–1809), dated 1775, along with a regnal year 16 of George III, King of Great Britain (b. 1738, r. 1760–1820) reads from bottom upwards:
‘ سر ایلاجه ایمپی چیف جستس سنه ۱۶، ۱۷۷۵
(Sir Īlāhah Īmpī Chīf Justis, sanah 16, 1775).’
Dimensions: 19 × 26 mm.History
Origin: Album probably assembled for Sir Elijah Impey (1732–1809) in Calcutta (Kolkata); between 1774 to 1783 CE, as per his seal impressions throughout. Impey served as the first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Judicature at Fort William, where he amassed a considerable collection, before he returned to Britain and passed away.Provenance and Acquisition
London firm of Harry Phillips (d. 1840) sold Impey's collection 21 May 1810; however, others also acquired albums from him before he departed India, and possibly after—his return to Britain, so whether this volume sold at that sale remains unclear.
Later acquired by scholar Nathaniel Bland (1803–1865) from an unidentified source for his library at Randalls Park, Leatherhead.
After Bland's death, London bookseller Bernard Quaritch (1819–1899) sold his oriental manuscripts to Alexander Lindsay, 25th Earl of Crawford (1812–1880) in June, 1866, paid in two instalments of £450 and £400, and then moved to Bibliotheca Lindesiana at Haigh Hall, Wigan.
Purchased by Enriqueta Rylands (1843–1908) in 1901 from James Ludovic Lindsay, 26th Earl of Crawford (1847–1913).
Bequeathed by Enriqueta Rylands (1843–1908) in 1908 to the John Rylands Library, Manchester.
Persian MS 51A
Additional Information
Record Sources
Bibliographical description based on a manuscript catalogue by Michael Kerney, circa 1890s.
Manuscript description by Jake Benson in 2025 with reference to the volume in hand.
Availability
To book an in-person or online appointment to consult the manuscript, visit Using the Special Collections Reading Rooms. For any other enquiries please email uml.special-collections@manchester.ac.uk.
Bibliography
F. Weis, ed. Eighteenth-Century Indian Muraqqaʿs: Audiences, Artists, Patrons and Collectors. Leiden: Brill, 2025.Funding of Cataloguing
The John Rylands Research Institute
The Soudavar Memorial Foundation
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