Delhi Persian 822B (Oriental Manuscripts, British Library)

Untitled Shīʿī doctrinal treatise on contemporary knowledge of medical benefits and preparation methods for chūb-i Chīnī or Chinese root (Smilax china), qahvah or coffee, and chāy or tea, by Mīrzā Qāz̤ī Muḥammad ibn Kāshif al-Dīn Muḥammad (d. 1075/1664-5), the latter being physician to Shāh ʿAbbās [I] (d. 1038/1629), to whom the work is dedicated.

The author held the position of Shaykh al-Islām of Iṣfahān, the shah’s cosmopolitan capital city. As a result, the work interestingly references the generalised attitudes of European physicians on the subject.

The work was written at speed in Persian for the benefit of commoners and élites, for stewards (ghulāmān) and the partisans or Shīʿiyān of Imām ʿAlī.

The work consists of three bāb further subdivided into faṣl, with each bāb dealing with the three ingredients individually from a staunchly pro-Shīʿī perspective.

Colophon (f. 35v): completed by Ḥakīm ʿAbd Allāh, who collated his copy with the author’s manuscript; not dated.

Scribal naskh, with shikastah used in the colophon and annotations.

Annotations and corrections by multiple hands in the margin.

Stamped foliation.

Lacking original covers.

Paper dust wrapper (BEIC legal publication on regulations for court martial); watermarked (Britannia/Minerva seated in crowned oval frame; not dated); labels, torn and stained.

Folios unbound; water stains, wormholes, later repairs, cropped.