Gaster MS Misc 1501 (The John Rylands Research Institute and Library, The University of Manchester)
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Persian Manuscripts
Contents
Summary of Contents: Basāwan La‘l bin Nansuk’h Rāy Kāyat’h Saksēnah Bilgrāmī, pen named ‘S̲h̲ādān’ first composed the Amīr'nāmah (Book of the Prince), a biography of his patron, the first Nawāb of Tonk,Amīr Khān (b. 1768, r. 1806–1834), in 1240 AH (1824–1825 CE). In his preface, he describes how he had then served the Nawāb for twelve years as Nā'ib Munshī (Associate Secterary). This manuscript, completed by ‘Nā’ib Amīr Munshī’ for the Nawāb of Tonk's son and successor Muḥamamd Wazīr Khān (b. 1807, r. 1834–1864) on 12 Jumādà I 1277 (26 Nov 1860) suggests that the author copied this manuscript himself much again later in life, when he had served for some forty-eight years, hence it may be a later revised and extended redaction.Author and Scribe: Bilgrām,, Basāwan La‘l bin Nansukh Rāy Kāyath Sakkīnah, fl. ca. 1810–1860;
Shādān Nā’ib Amīr Munshī بساون لعل بلگرامی ؛
شادان؛
Title: Amīr'nāmahTitle: امیرنامهIncipit: (basmala) برگ ۱پ (folio 1b): بنام شهدار کون و مکان * که فتح و شکست است در حکم آنExplicit: برگ ۲۵۷ر (folio 257a): ز باغ امیدش خزان باد دور * بود دائم او را بـهار سـرورColophon: برگ ۲۵۷ر (folio 257a): تمت تمام شد نسخه متبرکه امیر نامه من تصنیف نائب امیر منشی بساون لعل محرره بتاریخ دواز[د]هم ماه جمادی الاولی سنه ۱۱۷۷ هجری قمری در عبد نواب معلی القاب گردون وقار نواب محمد وزیر خان نصر جنگ بهادر دام افباله و صاحبقرانی زیور(؟) اختتام پذیرفت.
نوشته بماند سیه بر سفید * نویسنده را نیست فردا امید.Colophon: Completed by ‘Nā’ib Amīr Munshī’ for Muḥammad Wazīr K̲h̲ān̲ on 12 Jumādà I 1277 (26 Nov 1860).Language(s): PersianPhysical Description
Form: codexSupport: Textblock of cross-grained, externally sized and polished, straw-coloured paper possibly handmade in the Rajputana (Rajasthan) with ~8 laid lines per cm and no discernible chain lines.Extent: 257 folios, 5 flyleaves endleaves (ff. ii + 257 + iii)Foliation: Modern pencilled Arabic numeral pagination at top-left, posssibly every ten pages throughout.Collation
Undetermined, but likely primarily quaternions throughout Catchwords present on the lower-left corners of the b sides throughout completed by the scribe..Condition
Handle with caution. In fair but stable condition.Layout
Written in 1 to 2 columns with 15 lines per page. Ruled with a misṭarah hand guide.
Hand(s)
Primarily written in clear, neat black nasta‘līq with occasional shikastah ligatures, with subheaders and markings in red, by Nā’ib Amīr Munshī.
Additions:
Inscriptions:
Folio 1a:Binding
Unsupported sewing at two stations, 19th-c Ottoman binding. Spine and board edges hemmed in maroon goatskin leather faced with European-manufactured gray-green shell-patterned marbled paper.
The right board exterior, top bears an ornamentally cut white paper label:
امیر ⟨نامه⟩ [؟] تاریخ
۱۳۳ ص ج ۱× mm.
Handle binding with caution. Spine leather in severely deteriorated condition, with fragile delaminated fragments. Boxed.
History
Origin: Completed by ‘Nā’ib Amīr Munshī’ for Muḥammad Wazīr K̲h̲ān̲, most probably in Tonk; 12 Jumādà I 1277 (26 Nov 1860) AH.Provenance and Acquisition
Acquired by collector and folklorist Moses Gaster (1856–1939) from an unidentified source.
Acquired in 1954 by the John Rylands Library from the heirs of Moses Gaster.
Record Sources
Bibliographical description derived from the Handlist of the Gaster Manuscripts, published in 1995.
Manuscript description by Jake Benson in 2023, derived from a Persian description of the volume published by Tawfiq Subhani in 1993.
Availability
To book an in-person or online appointment to consult the manuscript, visit Using the Special Collections Reading Rooms. For any other enquiries please email uml.special-collections@manchester.ac.uk.
Bibliography
M. Gaster, M. Ettinghausen, and V. I Gaster. Handlist of the Gaster Manuscripts: Held Mostly in the British Library (Formerly British Museum) London and in the John Rylands Library Manchester (London: Hebrew Section, Oriental and India Office Collections the British Library 1995.Tawfīq Subḥānī, 'Kitāb'hā-yi khaṭṭī-i Fārsī fihrist nashudah dar Kitābkhānah Jān Rāylāndz, Manchistir' Majallah-'i Dānishkadah-i Adabiyāt va ‘Ulūm-i Insānī n.s., Vol. 1, Nos. 2-3 (1372 SH [1993 CE]): p. 179, no. 28.Funding of Cataloguing
The John Rylands Research Institute and Library
The Soudavar Memorial Foundation
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