IO Islamic 4044 (Oriental Manuscripts, British Library)
Irvine Collection
Insha'-i Harkarn
Contents
1 copy of Inshāʾ-i Harikaran
Fragment corresponding to the opening of a much larger collection of formal inshāʾ or epistolary arts and official letters from the period of the Timurid or Mughal Emperor Jahāngīr (d. 1627)
Consists of the standard recension of the preface, except for the inclusion of anachronistic references to the reigning monarch, Emperor Muḥammad Shāh (d. 1748), and the omission of the section on organisation into bābs or chapters. This is followed by 3 letters with anachronistic references dating them to the early eighteenth century, with mention of Prince Rafīʿ al-Dawlah, Prince Sulṭān Muʿizz al-Dīn, and the same Sulṭān Muʿizz al-Dīn as Emperor Jahāndār Shāh with Kūkaltāsh Khān and Prince ʿAẓīm al-Shaʾn Bahādur
According to William Irvine, the fragment is suspected to be a forgery
Not dated
Transcribed by order of G. J. Nicholls, Judge at Farrukhabad, from a manuscript obtained from Agra
Physical Description
Hand(s)
Clear nastaʿlīq
. Scribe: [Muḥammad] ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz of Bhitrī (?)
Notes by William Irvine (f. 1v)
Binding
History
Provenance and Acquisition
Muḥammad ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz of Bhitrī
1913-08-15
William Irvine
Record Sources
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
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