Delhi Persian 1131 (Oriental Manuscripts, British Library)

India Office Library

Maktūbāt-i ʻAbd al-Quddūs by Khiz̤r Jawnpūrī

Summary of Contents: Maktūbāt-i ʻAbd al-Quddūs, a collection of letters of the famous Indian saint ʻAbd al-Quddūs ibn Ismāʻīl Ḥanafī Gangūhī, compiled by his disciple Khiz̤r Budhan Ṣiddīqī of Jawnpūr, called Miyān Khān ibn Qivām al-Mulk (f. 3b).

Author: Khiz̤r Budhan Ṣiddīqī Jawnpūrī, known as Mīyān Khān ibn Qivām al-Mulk خضر بدهن صدیقی جونپوری مشهور به میان خان ابن قوام الملک

Title: Maktūbāt-i ʻAbd al-Quddūs

Title: مکتوبات عبد القدوس

Incipit: حمد بیحد مر خدای را که دلهای عارفان را مخزن اسرار خود گردانیده و جانهای دوستان را مظهر عشق و محبت خود ساخت و به نور ذکر دلهای ایشان منور گردانید تا نام اغیار بر لسان ایشان جاری نگردد

Explicit: مدتی مدید گذشته است که اخبار نرسیده است موانع به خیر باد و بالنبی و آله الامجاد

Colophon: تمت تمام شد کار من نظام شد کار من به کام

Folios 1v-5v contain a table of contents listing 168 letters (maktūbāt) and their correspondents, whereas there are in fact 193 letters. A note on f. 6r states that there are 6 folios of contents, which suggests that one folio is missing after folio 5.

The last letter (f. 241r) seems unfinished and stops suddenly, suggesting the work is incomplete at the end.

Language(s): Persian

Physical Description

Form: codex

Extent: ff. iii+241+iii

Dimensions (leaf): 284 × 215 mm.

Dimensions (written): 193 × 123 mm.

Foliation:

India Office stamped foliation. Also foliated with Persian numerals which do not correspond.

Collation

Catchwords.

Condition

Worm-eaten. Remargined, gauzed and rebound by India Office Library.

Layout

19 lines per page.

Hand(s)

Nastaʻlīq, copied in black ink, with headings, ovelinings and punctuation marks in red.

Decoration

Illuminated headpiece (f. 6v).

Margins ruled in red and blue. Outer frame ruled in blue.

Additions:

F. 1r contains a prayer for when a snake bites someone, and two notes stating the number of folios.

F. 6r contains another note counting the folios and a note on how to arrange the folios in the correct order.

Binding

Half-leather red India Office Library binding stamped 8 February 1936.

Seal(s):

Black circular seal of ʻAbd al-Rafīʻ, servant of the court of ʻĀlamgīr (bandah-i dargāh-i Ālamgīr Pādshāh Ghāzī), date illegible (f. 6r).

Black Government of India Delhi MSS oval stamp (ff. 1r, 241v).

History

Origin: Undated, probably 17th century; India.

Provenance and Acquisition

Belonged to ʻAbd al-Rafīʻ, a court official of the Mughal emperor Aurangzib ʻĀlamgīr (r.1658-1707).

Purchased by the Government of India at sale organised by Delhi Prize Agents, 1859.

Acquired by the India Office Library as an administrative deposit in 1876.

Record Sources

Based on A.J. Arberry's description in Drafts for Catalogue of Persian Manuscripts in the India Office Library, vol. III, Mss Eur E207/3, f. 16r and R. Levy's description in the same work,Mss Eur E207/13, f. 75r. 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.

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