RSPA 13 (Oriental Manuscripts, British Library)
India Office Library
Jones Collection
Royal Society Arabic and Persian
Siyar al-Mutaʾakhkhirīn
Contents
Language(s): Persian
On f1v, there is a note which reads "W Jones 8th March 1788 sent to F. Gladwin". Gladwin was a professor of Persian literature at Fort William College in Bengal and long time associate of Jones.
This is the first part of the text. The second part of the text is continued on f636v.
Both the date mentioned at the end of this section and the date at the previous section are presumably garbled. The date mentioned translates to the year 1881. Undoubtedly it ought to read 1195AH which would be 1781AD.
At the end of the section section after the colophon, there is a note which reads "This book is the property of Sir William Jones and was lent to Francis Gladwin Esq. 8th March 1788".
Physical Description
Infrequent European numerals in pencil. There is also some, very limited, Perso-Arabic numeral foliation in black ink which follows a different sequence.
Condition
Spine is cracked, as is the binding. Some folios are coming loose from the binding. There are stains, smudges and marks on several folios and some folios have stuck together. Worm damage.
Layout
Hand(s)
Neat black ink nastaʿlīq with rubrications.
Decoration
There are some Persian annotations and additions in the margins throughout the manuscript.
On f0v and f1r, Jones writes the title and notes that the "first part was copied verbatim, according to F. Gladwin, from the Maasir-i-Alamgiri"
Binding
Red leather European-style Indian binding.
Accompanying Material
There is a letter which accompanies the manuscript. The letter is from F. Gladwin, who thanks him for giving him Schulten's third book and gives him this manuscript, explaining the contents and where the first section was copied from ('Sajan Bey' and the Maʿāsir-i ʿĀlamgīrī).
History
Provenance and Acquisition
RSPA 1-118 were presented to the Royal Society in January 1792 by Sir William and Lady Jones. According to Wilkins, this manuscript was presented by Sir William 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
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
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