Delhi Persian 1303 (Oriental Manuscripts, British Library)

Delhi Persian 1303(a) Untitled collection or bayāz̤ of poetic autographs from the leading poets from the reign of the Mughal Emperor Muḥammad Shāh, compiled most likely at Shāhjahānābād Delhi a few years before the invasion of Nādir Shāh Afshār for the contemporary of Ḥazīn Lāhijī, Mīr Bandah ʿAlī entitled Shīr Afgan Khān takhalluṣ Bāsiṭī ibn Mīr Ḥabīb Allāh Niʿmat Allāhī entitled Ghayrat Khān Bahādur Ṣalābatjang (d. 1199/1784-5).

Entries include the poets Dard, As̲ar, Nudrat, Hātif, Nis̲ār, Isḥāq, Iksīr, Vāqif, ʿAẓīm, Burhān, Dīdah, Ṣūfī, ʿInāyat, Khayāl, Yūsuf (?), Vālih, Maẓhar, Ārzū, Rivāj, Fidā, Shāʿir, Hunar, Āgāh, Sadr-i Dīn, Payām, Vārid, Ummīd, Taḥsīn, Nudrat, Sāmiʿ, Taḥqīq, Irshād, Jawlān, Rusvā, Rifʿat, Faqīr, Taḥsīn, Ayman, Matīn, Burhān, Laṭīf, and Yakdil.

No dated colophon at end; individual entries separately dated 1150/1737-8.

Multicolumnar arrangements, frequently in alternating oblique, vertical, and horizontal orientations.

Calligraphic nastaʿlīq and shikastah āmīz to ‘Indian’ taʿlīq by multiple hands.

Attributive annotations in margins, occasionally substantial referring to the date 27 Rajab 1178/20 January 1765.

Delhi Persian 1303(b) Fragment of an untitled poetic anthology covering ancient and modern poets arranged in alphabetic order.

Defective at end.

Not dated at end.

Delhi Persian 1303(c) Brief collection of rubāʿiyāt of Mīrzā Abū al-Maʿānī ʿAbd al-Qādir ibn ʿAbd al-Khāliq Dihlavī takhalluṣ Bīdil (d. 1133/1720).

Not dated at end.

Delhi Persian 1303(d) Selected verses from the romantic mas̲navī on the Persian king Khusraw and the Armenian princess Shīrīn by the Persian émigré poet settled at the court of Bījāpūr, Mīr Muḥammad Hāshim ibn Rafīʿ al-Dīn Ḥaydar Muʿammāʾī Kāshānī takhalluṣ Sanjar (d. 1021/1612).

The text ends abruptly without formal completion.

Not dated at end.

Subsequent folios left blank indicating further portions of the poem were intended to be transcribed here.

Delhi Persian 1303(e) Untitled collection of ghazalīyāt and rubāʿīyāt by a certain Mīr Abū al-Maʿālī takhalluṣ ʿĀlī.

Not dated at end.

Shikastah āmīz.

Delhi Persian 1303(f). Untitled mas̲navī by the poet Mīr Sayyid ʿAlī takhalluṣ Mihrī.

Not dated at end.

Shikastah āmīz.

Delhi Persian 1303(g) Untitled collection of varied poems in a range of forms (ghazal, tarkīb, and so on) in praise of the Prophet Muḥammad and the imams, beginning with a prose preface by the poet identifying himself as Ṣadr al-Ḥasanī, writing at the order of the “Firdaws āshiyān,” the posthumous name of the of the Mughal Emperor Shāh Jahān (d. 1076/1666).

The text ends abruptly without formal completion.

Not dated at end.

Subsequent folios left blank indicating further verses were intended to be transcribed here.

Nastaʿlīq.

Delhi Persian 1303(h) Untitled collection of ghazalīyāt and rubāʿīyāt by a poet with the takhalluṣ Ashraf.

Not dated at end.

Folios disarranged.

Nastaʿlīq.

Delhi Persian 1303(i) A second untitled collection of ghazalīyāt, followed by a mas̲navī by a poet with the takhalluṣ Ashraf.

Not dated at end.

Folios disarranged.

Nastaʿlīq.

Delhi Persian 1303(j) Untitled collection of varied poems in a range of forms (ghazal, tarkīb, and so on) by a poet whose identity is obscured by damage to the inscription introducing him, possibly reading Ḥikmat ʿAlī Khān takhalluṣ Ḥikmat.

Not dated at end.

Extensive damage by moisture.