Union Catalogue of Manuscripts from the Islamicate World

Delhi Persian 647 (Oriental Manuscripts, British Library)

India Office Library

Contents

1 copy of Durrah-'i Nādirah by Mahdī Khān Astarābādī, active 1733-1759

Language(s): Persian and Arabic

Official regnal chronicle, conventionally entitled Durrah-'i Nādirah or the rare pearl, covering the reign of Nādir Shāh Afshār (d. 1160/1747) by the munshīʾ al-mamālik appointed as the official historian, Muḥammad Mahdī Munshīʾ ibn Muḥammad Naṣīr Astarābādī “Kawkabī” (d. circa 1759), written in refine prose and poetry in a style evoking the famous Tāʾrīkh-i Vaṣṣāf.

It is suggested in an inscription at the beginning (f. 1r) that this manuscript is the first draft of the Nādir'nāmah.

Not dated at end; datable to the early nineteenth century.

Nastaʿlīq.

Foliated separately with Persian numerals.

Original covers lost.

Folios unbound; cropped, water and fungal stains, creased.

Physical Description

Form: codex
Extent: 152 ff.

Hand(s)

History

Origin: Early 19th century India

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

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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