Or 16055 (Oriental Manuscripts, British Library)

A treatise on agriculture. By Raja Ghansham Singh, a landowner (zamīndār) of Deo (Diyū) in the suba of Bihar.

The work is primarily concerned with types of crop and the manner and season in which they are sown and harvested. In a verse chronogram at the end, the author appears to give the date of composition as Kitāb-i zirāʿat; the abjad numerical value of this phrase yields the date 1101/1689-90; since this is surprisingly early, the words forming the intended chronogram may be different.

Begins: ‘Basmalah... Az ḥikmat-i Rabbānī va fayz̤-i khvur va bārān shud / sang-i girān-qaymat ghallat shudah arzān, Ghullat kih arzānast shud zindagī-'i ʿālam / v ān sang-i girān qaymat zībad sar-i shāhān. Dāvarī kih sabza-zār-i aflāk-rā az dāna-hā-yi kavākib va khūsha-hā-yi Parvīn... ’

Ends: ‘Darīn diyār kih rasm-i zirāʿat ast ravāj / raqm kandam va kardam zi ḥukm-i ū inshā, Shuda Kitāb-i Zirāʿat [pasand?] tārīkhash / kih nām-i nuskhah zi tārīkh mīshavad paydā ’

No colophon. India, 12th/18th or early 13th/19th century

Nasta‘līq. 13 lines. Headings written or overlined in red. Light beige Indian paper of medium thickness; slight worm damage. 21 folios, plus 8 blank. 222 x 146 mm.; text area approximately 155 x 95 mm. Brown half calf binding in European style with marbled paper over boards.