IO Islamic 3308 (Oriental Manuscripts, British Library)
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India Office Library
Johnson Collection
Akbarnāmah. Vol. 1 by Abū al-Faz̤l ibn Mubārak
Contents
Summary of Contents: Part one of the first book of the Akbarnāmah by Abū al-Faz̤l ibn Mubārak.Title: AkbarnāmahTitle: اكبرنامهIncipit: (f. 1v, basmala) الله اكبر اين جه دريافتیست ثرف وشناختی ...This copy lacks all headings.
Language(s): PersianPhysical Description
Form: codexExtent: ff. 260Dimensions (leaf): 273 × 165 mm.Foliation:European numerals pencilled on every fifth folio.
Condition
Fair.
Layout
19 lines per page.
Hand(s)
Nastaʻlīq; copied in black ink, with markings and overlinings in red.
Additions:Folio 1r contains the following seals and inscriptions:
- An acquisition note of a former owner dated 22 Shaʻban 1164 (16 July 1751) signed by ‘the most insignificant of the servants of God, the Mighty — son of the late Murtazā al‑Ḥusaynī al‑Ṭannūrī?,’ adjacent to his rectangular seal: Muḥammad Ibrāhīm al-Ḥusaynī 1150 (1737/38).
- Statement of purchase of former owner Abū’l-Muḥsin on 6 Muḥarram year 19 (6 May 1737) accompanied by his rectangular seal dated 1183 (1769/70) and his personal talismanic cypher. Abū’l-Muḥsin owned several manuscripts in the Johnson collection.
- Richard Johnson's accession statement: kitāb-i sarkār Navvāb Mumtāz al-Dawlah Mufakhkhar al-Mulk Ḥusām Jang Mistar Richārd Jānsan Ṣāḥib Bahādur dām iqbāluh.
- A further erased illegible inscription, possibly belonging with the octagonal seal (see below) of 1141 (1728/29).
Pastedown includes affixed bookplate of East India College inscribed ‘AUSPICIO REGIS ET SENATUS ANGLIAE’.
A flyleaf records the East India College Library shelfmark as 14.J.3
Seal(s):Binding
Late 19th century full mottled leather covering on plain boards.
Octagonal devotional seal of unidentified former owner, probably named Raḥmān (f. 1r): Bi’smi’llāh al-raḥman al-raḥīm 1141 (1728/29).
Rectangular seal of former owner (f. 1r): Muḥammad Ibrāhīm al-Ḥusaynī 1150 (1737/38).
Rectangular seal of former owner (f. 1r): Abū’l-Muḥsin 1183 (1769/70).
History
Origin: Undated. 18th century CE ; IndiaProvenance and Acquisition
Acquired possibly by Muḥammad Ibrāhīm al-Ḥusaynī — his seal dated 1150 (1737/38) on 22 Shaʻban 1164 (16 July 1751).
Subsequently owned by Abū’l-Muḥsin — his seal dated 1183 (1769/70).
Acquired in India between 1770 and 1790 by East India Company servant Richard Johnson, and brought to England on his return.
The collection of Richard Johnson—comprising 64 albums of paintings and an estimated 1,000 manuscripts—was purchased by the East India Company Library for 3,000 guineas on 18 February 1807.
This manuscript was one of many which were deposited with East India College at Haileybury and received back in 1860 after the College had closed.
Record Sources
Based on H. Ethé's description in Catalogue of Persian Manuscripts in the Library of the India Office, vol. I (Oxford: Printed for the India Office by H. Hart, 1903), Ethé 249. Additional information supplied by Ursula Sims-Williams with reference to the manuscript in hand.
Availability
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Bibliography
Funding of Cataloguing
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