Delhi Persian 1171/1 (Oriental Manuscripts, British Library)

Item a.

Brief untitled treatise explaining the Indian music based on the tradition of Gwalior and Nayak Gopal subsequent to the expansion of the Delhi Sultanates and the contributions of the poet Amīr Khusraw (d. 1325).

The work consists of a prose introduction (until f. 3r), a mas̲navī explaining the breakdown of ragas and raginis (until f. 4r), followed by detailed entries arranged in the manner of accounts with raqm numbers arranged according to times of the day (until f. 5v), and concluding finally with a tabular arrangement (until f. 7r).

Dated colophon (f. 7r): completed by (diacritics omitted) Gajpat Singh Kuberi (?) on Wednesday night, 29 Rabīʿ al-Avval 1239/3 December 1823.

Indian taʿlīq and nastaʿlīq, with the occasional use of modern Urdu adapted allographs.

Item b.

Abridged Persian translation of Krishna’s oration to the warrior Arjun, the Sanskrit Gītā [Govinda], by ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿAbd al-Rasūl ʿAbbās al-ʿAlavī al-Chishtī (d. 1682?), written to compliment a translation of the Yogabasishtha by a certain Shaykh Ṣūfī.

Dated colophon (f. 23r): completed by (diacritics omitted) Gajpat Singh, Friday, 22 Rabīʿ al-S̲ānī in RY 17 of Emperor Akbar Shāh, 1239/26 December 1823.

Indian taʿlīq. Subscript Persian translations in red ink under Arabic passages.

Item c.

Untitled collection of the official and private correspondence of the munshīʾ al-mamālik to Shāh ʿAbbās Ṣafavī II, the "Vaḥīd al-Zamān" Mīrzā Muḥammad Ṭāhir Vaḥīd ibn Ḥusayn Qazvīnī (d. 1112/1700), representing a rich resource for the diplomatic history of Safavid relations with the Timurid, Deccan, Central Asian, and Ottoman courts.

Not dated at end.

Rubricated headings until folio 75 with gaps left blank thereafter, only resuming at folio 89.

Neat and disciplined nastaʿlīq; occasional use of modern Urdu adapted allographs.

Item d.

Official regnal chronicle conventionally entitled Tārīkh-i Nādirī (although not mentioned in the text) covering the reign of Nādir Shāh Afshār (d. 1160/1747) by the munshīʾ al-mamālik appointed as the official historian, Muḥammad Mahdī Munshīʾ ibn Muḥammad Naṣīr Astarābādī “Kawkabī” (d. circa 1759), intended as a vindication of his late master’s strong leadership and rescuing Iran from instability and fragmentation after the Afghan insurgency.

This copy contains certain passages and phrases not found in other manuscripts.

Not dated at end.

Inconsistent rubrication.

Neat and disciplined nastaʿlīq; occasional use of modern Urdu adapted allographs.

Foliated separately with Persian numerals.

Item e.

Popular treatise on selections of poetry, analysing tropes and metaphors, organised according to parts of the (male) body and peculiar physiological features, entitled Anīs al-ʿushshāq, by Ḥasan ibn Muḥammad, entitled Sharaf, but also known as Aḥsan Allāh, "Rāmī" of Tabrīz.

The work was begun in the reign of the Īlkhān, Sulṭān Muʿiz al-Dīn Abū al-Fatḥ Shaykh Uvays Bahādur Khān (r. 757-777/1356-1374), apparently inspired by the deceased Naṣīr al-Dīn Ṭūsī while the author visited his tomb.

The work is divided into nineteen bāb and further subdivided into multiple nawʿ.

Dated colophon (f. 412r): completed Thursday, 21 Z̲ī al-Qaʿdah 1238/30 July 1823.

Item f.

Dissertation in mas̲navī form on the Persian alphabet and grammatical particles by an unnamed author.

Dated colophon (f. 416r): completed Saturday, 23 Z̲ī Qaʿdah 1238, in RY 17 [of Emperor Akbar Shāh]/1 August 1823.

Text written in two columns. Interlinear and marginal annotations.