Eton Pote 361 (Eton College Library, Eton College)

Pote Collection

Summary of Contents: 1 copy of Mirʾāt al-Jamāl (selections from the poet's own Dīvān).

Title: Mirʾāt al-Jamāl (selections from the poet's own Dīvān)

Language(s): Persian

Colophon details: Place: Lahore Date: 7 Muḥarram 1089 (year 21 Aurangzeb) / 1 Mar 1678 Scribe: Anonymous.

Colophon further notes: Written in 17 days; 41 sections, a total of 11750 bayts.

Note concerning work: Contains selections from the Divan of Sa'ib.

References

Margoliouth no. 137 (shelf/item: 13/14)

Catalogue of the Persian manuscripts in the British Museum (3 vols.) C. Rieu 1879-1883 p.694 [BL Add. 7806]; p.695 [BL Add. 7807]

Catalogue of Persian manuscripts in the library of the India Office (2 vols.) H. Ethé 1903-37 col.884, no. 1618 [BL IO Islamic 696]

Catalogue of the Persian, Turkish, Hindûstânî, and Pushtû Manuscripts in the Bodleian Library E. Sachau and H. Ethé 1889 col.697, no. 1131 [Bodl. Elliot 93]

Mughals in India: a bibliographical survey. Vol. 1. Manuscripts D.N. Marshall 1962 p.427

Physical Description

Form: codex

Extent: c. 200 folios.

Dimensions (leaf): 22 × 13 cm.

Dimensions (written): 18 × 9 cm.

Foliation: Not foliated or paginated.

Layout

17 lines per page.

Not ruled. Rubrications in red. Catchwords.

Hand(s)

Script: nastaʿlīq. Scribe: Anonymous.

Additions:

F.1r: 2 erased seals; various notes, one dated 1107, by Mīr Ḥusayn Jūnābādī (from Gunabad), saying this is copied from the original manuscript (for the poet's own selections from his Divan) which was in the library of the late Mīrzā Muʿizz Fiṭrat Mūsāvī {surely this is Mīrzā Muʿizz al-dīn Mūsāvī Fiṭrat Mashhadī, b. 1050 in Mashhad who went to India and married a daughter of Aurengzeb and who died in 1101) . Muʿizz al-dīn Fiṭrat, Mūsāvī Khān (d.1101/1689 or d.1106/1694) has his own Dīvān Fiṭrat in King's Pote 178.

Binding

Brown leather, Indian style. An inlayed turanj and pendants. Plain leather doublures. Dimensions: 22 × 13 × 3 cm. Unboxed. Polier's number: 995.

History

Origin: Lahore; 7 Muḥarram 1089 (year 21 Aurangzeb) AH; 1 Mar 1678 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 second half alphabetically going to Eton. 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 D.S. Margoliouth, Catalogue of the Oriental Manuscripts in the Library of Eton College, Oxford, 1904 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