IO Islamic 3941 (Oriental Manuscripts, British Library)

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Irvine Collection

Mir'at al-ahval-i jahan-numa

1 copy of Mirʾāt al-aḥvāl-i jahān numā by Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ʿAlī ibn Muḥammad Bāqir al-Iṣfahānī al-mashhūr bi-al-Bihbahānī

Author: Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ʿAlī ibn Muḥammad Bāqir al-Iṣfahānī al-mashhūr bi-al-Bihbahānī احمد ابن محمّد على ابن محمّد باقر الاصفهانى المشهور بالبهبهانى

Title: Mirʾāt al-aḥvāl-i jahān numā

Title: مرآۃ الاحوال جهان نما

Incorrect title (f. 3r): Taz̲kirah-yi Mīrzā Muḥammad Bāqir Lāhawrī

Autobiography, beginning with biographical notices of prominent Shi'ite scholars related to the author: 1) Muḥammad Taqī, 2) Muḥammad Bāqir ibn Muḥammad Taqī, 3) Muḥammad Ṣaliḥ, 4) Muḥammad Bāqir ibn Muḥammad Akmal al-Bihbihānī

Bears a dedication to Muḥammad ʿAlī Khān Bahādur Qājār

Concludes (ff. 261r-321v) with a description of the world according to Copernicus, discussing China, the Pope (Pāpā), and royal dynasties of England from the Saxon Kingdoms to the Hanoverian, King George III ("the English are very pleased with him"), describing London, and terminating abruptly with a discussion on English laws (subsequent folios lost)

Language(s): Persian

Transcribed by order of G. J. Nicholls, Judge at Farrukhabad, from a manuscript obtained from Agra

Physical Description

Form: codex

Extent: 316 ff. (earlier Persian foliation on verso)

Dimensions (leaf): 145 × 205 mm.

Condition

Gauze overlay; water staining and smudges; worm holes

Folios trimmed and remounted before present binding

Hand(s)

Rough scribal nastaʿlīq

Additions:

Binding

History

Origin: 1810 - 1850 CE ; India

Provenance and Acquisition

William Irvine

1913-08-15

William Irvine

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Based on unpublished description in Catalogue of Persian Manuscripts in the India Office Library, vol. 3.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 E207/16

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

16_112r

Funding of Cataloguing

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