Delhi Persian 1222A (Oriental Manuscripts, British Library)
India Office Library
Tuḥfat al-aḥrār by Jāmī
Contents
Physical Description
India Office stamped foliation. Handwritten Persian foliation in black ink.
Collation
Catchwords.
Condition
Worm-eaten and damp-stained. Remargined, repaired with silk gauze and rebound in 1916.
Layout
The preface in prose is written in 1 column. The poetry is written in 2 columns. 11 lines per page.
Hand(s)
Nastaʻlīq; copied in black ink, headings in red. The additional notes on ff. 1r and 76v are written in taʻliq, in black and ochre ink.
Vowels, glossary for some Arabic and Persian words and some marginal corrections added in ochre ink.
Decoration
Illuminated polychrome headpiece (f. 1v).
Opening pages framed in blue and gold; red rulings on ff. 1r and 76v.
Translation of Arabic quotation on f. 1v.
F. 1r includes several verses and an acquisition note recording that Sulās or Hūlās Rāy acquired this book on 25 Ṣafar 1152 (3 June 1739), in Jahanabad (Delhi), via Mīr Muḥammad Shafīʻ, a descendant of Mīr Fayz̤ al-Dīn Ṣāḥib, and inspection notes dated regnal year 4 of Aḥmad Shāh, corresponding to year 1164 AH (1750/51) and 1 Muḥarram 1167, corresponding to regnal year 6 of Aḥmad Shāh (1753/54).
F. 76v also includes verses and a note stating that Sulās/Hūlās Rāy finished reading the book on 21 Shaʻban 1152 (23 November 1739), and would authenticate it subsequently.
Binding
Red half-leather India Office binding stamped 1916.
Oval Persian seal, possibly dated 1141 (1728/29) Hulās Rāy Hind (ff. 1r, 76v).
Black Government of India Delhi MSS oval stamp (ff. 1r, 76v).
History
Provenance and Acquisition
Purchased by Sulās Rāy via Mīr Muḥammad Shafīʻ at 25-2-1152
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 in1876
Record Sources
Based on C.A. Storey's description inDrafts for Catalogue of Persian Manuscripts in the India Office Library, vol. III, Mss Eur E207/15, ff. 140-41. Revised by Sheida Heydarishovir
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.
Bibliography
Funding of Cataloguing
BL
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