Union Catalogue of Manuscripts from the Islamicate World

RSPA 91 (Oriental Manuscripts, British Library)

India Office Library

Jones Collection

Royal Society Arabic and Persian

Fatāwā ʿĀlamgīrī, vol 4

Contents

1 copy of Fatāwā ʿĀlamgīrī

Language(s): Arabic

Incipit: بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم. كتاب الشفعة وهي تشتمل علي سبعة عشر باباز الباب الأول في نفسيرها وشرطها وصفتها وحكمتها.
Explicit: فللجدة السدس وللأخت النصف والباقي رد عليهما وسقط الجد الفاسد بإجماع كذا في الاختيار شرح المختار.
Colophon: ه تم كتاب الفرائض بعون الله تعالي بيدا ضعف العباد محمد مقيم اللاهوري عفي الله عنه بأوسع فضله وكرمه.

The fourth volume of an important collection of judicial decisions made by order of Aurangzeb.

Unlike the other MMS which comprise Jones's Fatāwā ʿĀlamgīrī, the index is included in the Perso-Arabic pagination (in black-ink numerals). However, strangely the Perso-Arabic numerals restart on f3r with "3", so that, again unlike the other volumes, the European numerals match the Perso-Arabic numerals. The European foiliation begins on the final page of the index, again unusually.

From the signed colophon, we can tell that MSS RSPA 88, 89, 90 and 91 were all copied out by a man called Muḥammad Muqīm al-Lāhūrī, as the hand is the same throughout all these volumes of Jones's Fatāwā ʿĀlamgīrī. MS 87, the first volume, was produced by a different hand and bears many differences in design.

On f2v Jones has written "W. Jones", and to the heading "Fetāwīi 'Aālamgīri, or Decisions Collected by order of Aurangzīb, Vol.IV." Above someone has written "huwā" in Arabic script.

On an unfoliated page at the beginning of the manuscript just after the endpapers, there is an ownership seal of Ḥāfiẓ Masʿūd Khān dated 1153 (1740), as also found on all the MSS in Jones's collection of manuscripts of Fatāwā ʿĀlamgīrī.

Author:

Physical Description

Form: codex
Support: Text written on light cream coloured woven paper.
Extent: ff.ii+645+iv.
Dimensions (leaf): 305 × 200 mm.
Dimensions (written): 200 × 110 mm.
Foliation:

European numerals in pencil as well as Perso-Arabic numerals in black ink.

Condition

The manuscript is in very good condition. The binding is secure, no pages are missing or loose and the pages are generally in good condition, with their (copious) worm damage mostly repaired. Some pages bear slight discoloration and there are occasional smudges.

Layout

Uniform layout of one column per side consisting of 23 lines per column. Colums are bordered by thin-line blue and red textboxes.  

Hand(s)

Neat black-ink naskh with rubrications and red-ink indexing.

Decoration

Gold illuminated heading.

Additions:

There are no marginal comments except for the scribe's own addition of missed words or corrections of spelling errors. Jones has highlighted wiuth a curly bracket the index for Kitāb al-Farāʾiḍ.

Catchwords are present on every page.

Binding

Standard half-leather brown India Office binding with wine-coloured marbled paper.

Accompanying Material

History

Origin:

Provenance and Acquisition

RSPA 1-118 were presented to the Royal Society in January 1792 by Sir William and Lady Jones. According to Wilkins, the MSS of Fatāwā ʿĀlamgīrīwere presented to the Royal Society by Lady Jones.

The Royal Society's collection of 280 Persian and Arabic, and 86 Sanskrit manuscripts were transferred to the India Office Library in 1876.

1876

India Office Library

Record Sources

Manuscript description based on E. Denison Ross and E. G. Browne, Catalogue of two collections of Persian and Arabic manuscripts preserved in the India Office Library (London: Eyre and Spottiswoode, 1902), p. 63 no. XCI

Availability

Entry to read in the Library is permitted only on presentation of a valid reader's card for admissions procedures contact British Library, Registering for a Reader Pass. Contact apac-enquiries@bl.uk for further information on the availability of this manuscript. For information on catalogues and ordering manuscripts see Finding and ordering Persian manuscripts in the British Library.

Funding of Cataloguing

BL

Subjects


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