Persian MS 1010 (The John Rylands Research Institute and Library, The University of Manchester)
Persian Manuscripts
Contents
Summary of Contents: The third of three incomplete volumes of the Razmnāmah (Book of Battles) a Persian translation of the Mahābhārata. Translated at the behest of the Mughal ruler Akbar I (b. 1542, r. 1566–1605) starting in 990 AH (1582–83 CE) by four scholars, chiefly Ibn ʿAbd al-Laṭīf Ḥusaynī Naqīb-K̲h̲ān (d. ca. 1614), as well as ʻAbd al-Qādir Badāʼūnī (ca. 1540–1615), Muḥammad Sulṭān Thānīsārī fl. late 16th c, and Mullā S̲h̲īrī (d. ca. 1586), to which the vizier Abū al-Faz̤l (1551–1602) added a preface. One of two sets of this work previously held in the Chetham Library, Manchester.
Title: Razmnāmah
Title: رزمنامه
Title: Mahābhārata
Title: महाभारतम्
Title: مهابهارته
Title: ترجمهٔ هابهارته
Incipit: برگ ۱پ (folio 1b): ای هژده هزار عالم از شوق تو مست * سر در سر جست و جوی جان بر کف دست.
Colophon:
Language(s): Persian
For another three-volume set of this work held in the Rylands, see Persian MS 1004 to 1007. For another ornate prose redaction based upon this version by Abū al-Faz̤l's brother, the poet Fayz̤ī (d. 1595) in two volumes, see Persian MS 835 and 836.
Physical Description
Form: codex
Dimensions (leaf): × mm.
Dimensions (written): × mm.
Foliation:
Collation
Condition
Layout
Hand(s)
Additions:
Binding
History
Origin:
Provenance and Acquisition
Previously held in the Chetham Library, Manchester.
Purchased in 1981 by the John Rylands Library, together with other oriental manuscripts for £2000 .
Record Sources
Manuscript description by Jake Benson in 2023 .
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
A. S. Bazmee Ansari, 'ʿBadāʾūnī, ʿAab-al-Qāder' Encyclopaedia Iranica, Vol. III, Fasc. 4 (1988), pp. 364–365.
G. P. Greswell, Bibliotheca Chethamensis: Sive Bibliothecæ Publicæ Mancuniensis Ab Humfredo Chetham Armigero Fundatæ Catalogus, Vol. III (Mancunii: Henricus Smith, 1826), p. 164, no. 7986
M. A. Hukk, A Descriptive Catalogue of the Arabic and Persian Manuscripts in Edinburgh University Library (Hertford: Printed for the University of Edinburgh by S. Austin & Sons, 1925) pp. 290–291, no. 325 [University of Edinburgh Or. Ms. 325].
D. N. Marshall, Mughals in India: A Bibliographical Survey. Vol. 1. Manuscripts (Bombay: Asia Publishing House, 1962), p.18, no. 53(iii).
S. H. Qasemi, A Descriptive Catalogue of Persian Translations of Indian Works (New Delhi: National Mission for Manuscripts, 2014), pp. 76–79, nos. 871-952.
Q. H. Radavi and ‘Abd al-Muqtadir, Catalogue Raisonné of the Būhār Library: Catalogue of the Persian manuscripts, Vol. I (Calcutta: Imperial Library, 1921), pp. 79–81, nos. 103–105.
C. Rieu, Catalogue of the Persian manuscripts in the British Museum, Vol. I (London: British Museum, 1879), pp. 57–58 [British Library Add. 5638–5640, &c.].
E. Sachau and H. Ethé, Catalogue of the Persian, Turkish, Hindûstani, and Pushtû manuscripts in the Bodleian Library, Vol. I (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1889), col. 808, no. 1306] [Bodleian MS Ouseley 326-329, &c.].
C. A. Storey [Online] (2021), Persian Literature: A Bio-bibliographical Survey, Vol. III, Pt. 3 Tales no. 709(i).
P. P. Subrahmanya, A descriptive catalogue of the Islamic manuscripts in the Government Oriental manuscripts library, Madras, Vol. I (Madras: Government Press, 1939), pp. 409–410, nos. 343
Funding of Cataloguing
The John Rylands Research Institute and Library
The Soudavar Memorial Foundation
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