Delhi Persian 598 (Oriental Manuscripts, British Library)

India Office Library

A Persian translation of part of Alf laylah wa-laylah

Summary of Contents: A Persian translation of the first 200 nights of the Alf laylah wa-laylah (الف ليلة وليلة) translated by Murād ʻAlī Muʼaddī(?) of the ẓillah Allahabad.

Author: Murād ʻAlī Muʼaddī مراد علی مؤدی

Title: Tarjumah-’i Alf Laylā

Title: ترجمهٔ الف ليلة

Colophon: (F. 326r) Completed on 17th July 1825 corresponding to 29 Zu’l-Qaʻdah 1240 AH by Ḥimāyat ʻAlī in the Shalimar garden at the request of Capt. Stapleton and General Ochterlony [ie. Major-General Sir David Ochterlony, 1758-1825].

Followed on f. 327 by notes on reading and writing (در خواندن و نوشتن) and on f. 329 on acting justly (در انصاف کردن).

Language(s): Persian

Physical Description

Form: codex

Extent: ff. v+329+v. Folio 326v is blank

Dimensions (leaf): 240 × 145 mm.

Dimensions (written): 200 × 88 mm.

Foliation:

Foliated on every fifth leaf in pencil.

Collation

Catchwords on the bottom-left corners of the verso.

Condition

Detached binding.

Layout

21 lines per page.

Hand(s)

Nastaʻlīq; copied in black ink, with headings,in red.

Additions:

Note on f. 1r giving date of purchase, 19 Jumada II 1245 AH (16 December 1829) from book-binders (ṣaḥḥāfān) Muḥammad Fāz̤il and ʻAlī Bakhsh.

Binding

Red leather Indian binding with blind-tooled central medallion, vertical pendants (two above and below), corners and triple ruled gilt-painted frame. Marbled pastedowns.

Seal(s):

Rectangular seal of former owner Ḥāfiẓ Barakat Allāh, 1233 (1817/18) (f. 1r).

Black Government of India Delhi MSS oval stamp (ff. 1r, 238v).

History

Origin: 17th July 1825 corresponding to 29 Zu’l-Qaʻdah 1240 AH; Shalimar garden, India

Provenance and Acquisition

Purchased by the Government of India at sale organised by Delhi Prize Agents, 1859. Administrative deposit India Office Library, 1876.

Acquired by the Government of India in 1876

Record Sources

Based on R. Levy's description in "Drafts for Catalogue of Persian Manuscripts in the India Office Library, vol. III"Mss Eur 207/28, f. 43r. Revised by Ursula Sims-Williams

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. For information on catalogues and ordering manuscripts see Finding and ordering Persian manuscripts in the British Library.

Union Catalogue of Manuscripts from the Islamicate World