Delhi Persian 1206A (Oriental Manuscripts, British Library)
India Office Library
Lata’if al-tava’if by Safi
Contents
Written after a year-long siege of Hirāt (Herat) in praise of a Naṣīr al-Dīn Ẓahīr al-Millah Shāh Muḥammad Sulṭān, and in a simple prose style with poetry for the delight of his élite and common contemporaries.
The work comprises fourteen chapters termed bāb.
Dated colophon (f. 225r): completed in the city of Kashmīr (Srinagar), 18 Rabīʿ al-S̲ānī 1141/21 November 1728.
Scribal nastaʿlīq tending to shikastah āmīz by multiple hands; irregular use of naskh for Arabic passages or rubrics.
Annotations in margins.
Stamped foliation.
Lacking original binding.
Paper dust wrapper (BEIC legal publication on Regulation II for 12 February 1819, 2 Phagun 1225 Banglah era, 2 Phagun 1226 faṣlī era, 3 Phagun 1226 Vilāyatī era, 2 Phagun 1875 samvat era, 16 Rabīʿ al-S̲ānī 1234 hijrī era); torn and stained.
Folios unbound, stains, wormholes.
Condition fragile.
Physical Description
Hand(s)
History
Provenance and Acquisition
Purchased by the Government of India at sale organised by Delhi Prize Agents, 1859; administrative deposit India Office Library, 1876
1876
Government of India
Availability
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Funding of Cataloguing
BL
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