IO Islamic 4379 (Oriental Manuscripts, British Library)

Illuminated scroll of a Persian qaṣīdah or eulogy consisting of 31 abyāt in mas̲navī form (rhyming couplets) in praise of Queen Victoria and her receipt of the title of ‘Qayṣar-i Hind’ (Empress of India) by the poet Kanhayyā Lāl (d. 1888; Executive Engineers' Well Workers, Lahore Division), written in 1877 following the title's proclamation in India at the Delhi Durbar of 1 January 1877, although Victoria officially took the title on 1 May 1876 after Prime Minister Disraeli pushed through the Royal Titles Act earlier that year

Oversize tooled and gilded leather tubular case (601 mm x 71 mm diameter), lined with purple watered silk, presently housing the scroll, does not match and most likely belongs to another, unidentified object. The case is inscribed: ‘ humble[sic] Address of the Municipal Corporation of Bombay 1878 ’