Union Catalogue of Manuscripts from the Islamicate World

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

India Office Library

Miscellaneous works on Sufism, 6 works (items a-f)

Contents

Summary of Contents: Collection of miscellaneous Persian works on literature, diplomatic relations, and history relating to Iran and India. Volume not dated; individual items dated (items a, b, e, and f), ranging from 21 Z̲ī al-Qaʿdah 1238-22 Rabīʿ al-S̲ānī 1239/30 July-26 December 1823, during the reign of Emperor Akbar Shāh II. Variable naskh, nastaʿlīq, shikastah āmīz, and Indian taʿlīq hands. Stamped foliation. Lacks original binding or covers. Folios unbound, gathering exposed; cropped and occasional wormholes and perforations. Condition, fragile.
1. ff. 1r-7r

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.

Language(s): Persian and Urdu
2. ff. 13v-23r

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.

Language(s): Persian and Arabic
3. ff. 24v-130r

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.

Language(s): Persian
4. ff. 134v-381r
Language(s): Persian

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.

5. ff. 384v-412r
Language(s): Persian

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.

6. ff. 412v-416r
Language(s): Persian

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.

Title: Ṭirāzī
Title: طرازى

Physical Description

Form: codex
Extent: 416 ff. (+1)
Dimensions (leaf): 283 × 175 mm.
Dimensions (written):

Hand(s)

History

Origin: 21 Z̲ī al-Qaʿdah 1238-22 Rabīʿ al-S̲ānī 1239 (30 July 1823 - 26 December 1823) AH ; India

Record Sources

Based on unpublished description in Catalogue of Persian Manuscripts in the India Office Library, vol. 3. Available on British Library Digitised Manuscripts, manuscript number: MSS Eur E207/14_f073r

Availability

Entry to read in the Library is permitted only on presentation of a valid reader's card for admissions procedures contact British Library, Registering for a Reader Pass. Contact apac-enquiries@bl.uk for further information on the availability of this manuscript. For information on catalogues and ordering manuscripts see Finding and ordering Persian manuscripts in the British Library.

Bibliography

Funding of Cataloguing

BL


Comments

Comment on this record

Please fill out your details.

How are we using your feedback? See our privacy policy.

See the Availability section of this record for information on viewing the item in a reading room.

TO TOP