Persian MS 10 (The John Rylands Research Institute and Library, The University of Manchester)

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Persian Manuscripts

Album of 40 calligraphy specimens primarily by Lucknow calligrapher Muḥammad ‘Ali Mīrzā given by Antoine Polier to Sir William Jones.

Summary of Contents: This volume contains contains forty mounted and interleaved calligraphy specimens in various styles, chiefly by the celebrated Lucknow master Muḥammad ‘Alī Mīrzā (fl. ca. 1760–1800), all mounted on elaborately painted margins. Swiss mercenary Colonel Antoine-Louis-Henri Polier (1741–1795) commissioned it as a gift to his friend Sir William Jones (1746–1794), in whose honour it contains an ode on folio 1a dated 1200 AH (1785–1786 CE), the latest in the volume. The compositions and their arrangement both closely follow another album that Polier also intended for Jones, but kept by its courier Warren Hastings (1732–1818), now held in the National Art Library (MSL/1858/4765). The volume also features specimens signed by Muḥammad Ṣādiq Murīd Khān Ṭabāṭabā' (fl. ca. 1735–1785), Muḥammad Ja‘far Kifāyat Khān (d. 1683), and Muḥammad Ibrāhīm (fl. late 18th c.).

Author: Various Authors

Calligrapher, Scribe, Compiler, Autographer and Contributor: Muḥammad ‘Alī Mīrzā (fl. ca. 1760–1800);
محمد علی میرزا

Patron: Polier, Antoine-Louis-Henri, Colonel, 1741–1795

Dedicatee and Honoree: Jones, William, Sir, 1746–1794

Title: Album of Forty Specimens of Calligraphy

Language(s): Persian and Arabic

For a detailed analysis of this album in relation to its counterpart held in the National Art Library (MSL/1858/4765), together with a comparison with other volumes completed for Polier, and of the floral marginal painting, see Benson, Weis, and Imbert essays in Weis ed. Eighteenth-Century Indian Muraqqaʻs : Audiences, Artists, Patrons and Collectors. For other volumes that Jones formerly owned now held in the Rylands, see Persian MS 133, 187, 192, 219, 240, and 340.

Physical Description

Form: codex

Support: All items uniformly mounted on thin laminates of at least six layers of ivory-coloured paper, probably handmade in Awadh, all sized and polished, then fully decorated (see decoration). All mounts interleaved with very thin, ivory-coloured, machine-made and calendered paper paper, probably manufactured in Britain, tipped onto the gutters.

Extent: 40 interleaved folios, 9 flyleaves (ff. ix + 40 [+40 interleavings] + vii).

Dimensions (leaf): 342 × 262 mm.

Foliation: Modern pencilled Arabic numbers, from left to right, on the upper-right corners of the a sides throughout.

Collation

Collation probably reconfigured when rebound. Currently comprised primarily quaternions made by hinging the mounts together with thin cotton shirting adhered to the gutters. 6III(36)1II(40).

Condition

Underlying mounts in fair condition, with some damage to the edges and bumped ocrners. Interleaving in fair but stable condition, with occasional staining, soiling, and creasing. Moderate staining and insect damage to the central compositions.

Layout

All items individually mounted in either portrait or landscape format.

Decoration

Illumination: Folio 1b bears a scalloped domed headpiece with gilt palmette foliate scrollwork on an ultramarine ground and an uninscribed central cartouche, and four vertical radiating lines.

Floral Margins: Polychrome hand-painted floral scrollwork margins, all executed by the same, unidentified commercial artist, whose ubiquitous hand similarly embellish a majority of Polier's album folios.

Applied Margins: Strips of indigo, salmon pink, and slate-coloured papers, measuring ~9–10 mm wide, adhered as decorative borders then painted in gold and silver with various deigns frame all central compositions and folio perimeters.

Ruling: Folios 1b and 2a ruled in gold outlined with thin black lines, and surrounded by another single line. The margins of folios 2b onwards ruled with single lines of ultramarine blue.

Additions:
Bookplates: Left pastedown: ‘Bibliotheca Lindesiana’ with pencilled shelfmark ‘F/3’, and ‘Bland MSS No. 20’, with the name and number crossed out and ‘Persian’ and ‘10’ written aside.

Binding

Probably rebound for former owner Nathaniel Bland, as the volume matches another album that her formerly owned (Indian Drawings 13), also ex-Polier, but obtained from another, as-yet unidentified source.

Sewn on five recessed cords. Case-bound, hollow-backed, covered in full, black levant-grained goatskin leather over pasteboards with light blue silk lining the board interiors. Earlier flyleaves of medium-weight, cross-grained, ivory-coloured, externally sized and polished paper probably handmade in Awadh, with heavily flocked, machine-made blue paper flyleaves added to the volume when restored.

351 × 271 × 64 mm.

Handle binding with caution. In poor condition, with the left board separating, bumped corners, and boards badly warped. Folios 8b–9a adhered together in the gutter margins when rebound, restricting the opening.

History

Origin: Probably assembled by Muḥammad ‘Alī Mīrzā on behalf of Colonel Antoine-Louis-Henri Polier (d. 1795) in Lucknow; 1200 AH (1785 CE), as a gift to his friend, British orientalist and linguist Sir William Jones (1746-1795).

Provenance and Acquisition

After Jones death, inherited by his wife Lady Anna Maria Jones (1748–1829), then after her death, sold by the London firm of R. H. Evans (1778–1857) on 20 May 1831 (lot 454), where Nathaniel Bland (1803–1865) purchased it for £4, 4 shillings.

After Bland's death, London bookseller Bernard Quaritch (1819–1899) sold his oriental manuscripts to Alexander Lindsay, 25th Earl of Crawford (1812–1880) in 1866.

Purchased by Enriqueta Rylands (1843–1908) in 1901 from James Ludovic Lindsay, 26th Earl of Crawford (1847–1913).

Bequeathed by Enriqueta Rylands (1843–1908) in 1908 to the John Rylands Library.

Persian MS 10/1

Summary of Contents: An ode (qaṣidah) in honour of Sir William Jones (d. 1794). Lucknow calligrapher Muḥammad ‘Alī Mīrzā copied the poem as a formal oblique (chalīpā) calligraphy specimen (qiṭ‘ah) in refined nasta‘līq script. While it now appears first, due to modern European foliation, when read from right-to-left as intended, this folio would be the final composition, one that Polier evidently intended as an eloquent punchline that his friend would have undoubtedly appreciated. While Jones sold other manuscripts from his collection, he obviously treasured this volume, which he kept for the remainder of his life.

Folio 1b

Author and Bibliographic antecedent: Khāqānī, Afz̤al al-Dīn Shirvānī, ca. 1126–1199

Author, Scribe and Autographer: Muḥammad ‘Alī
محمد علي

Title: Qaṣīdah on the name of Sir William Jones.

Title: قصیده بنام سر ولیم جونس

Incipit: (beginning) الا ای صاحب ما سر ولیم جونس * قوی از عدل تو احکام عیسی | هنر دگر آسمان گردد مفخر * بدوران چو تو جستیس دانا

Explicit: وفا از طبع عالی چون گهر ریخت * ز نوک کلک این ابیات عزا

Colophon: در سنه یکهزار و دوصد هجری فقیر محمد علی تحریر یافت

Colophon: Signed ‘Dar sanah yakhazār u dūṣad-i Hijrī [1200 AH (1785–1786 CE)] faqīr-i Muḥammad ‘Alī taḥrīr yāft (In the year one thousand and two hundred Hijrī, the poor Muṃammad ‘Alī wrote it)’.

Language(s): Persian

Presumably completed in Lucknow, the date of this specimen appears to be the latest within the album. For the circumstances of this panegyric ode's composition, see Benson; for how the calligrapher's adapted it from an earlier one by Khāqānī, see Weis.

References

J. Benson, 'Polier's Posterior Album: Rylands Persian MS 10' Eighteenth-Century Indian Muraqqaʿs: Audiences – Artists – Patrons and Collectors, edited by Friederike Weis (Leiden: Brill; 2024), pp. 280, fig. 11.12A (top), and related compositions. pp. 280–283, figs. 11.12B–15b .

Ghulām Muḥammad Haft Qalamī Dihlavī, Tad̲h̲kira-i-k̲h̲us̲h̲navīsān of Mawlānā G̲h̲ulām Muḥammad Dihlavī. Edited by M. Hidayet Husain (Calcutta: Asiatic Society of Bengal) 1910), pp. 65–67.

F. Weis, 'To Be Viewed from Both Ends: The Surviving Polier Albums' Eighteenth-Century Indian Muraqqaʿs: Audiences – Artists – Patrons and Collectors, edited by Friederike Weis (Leiden: Brill; 2024), pp. 165–167 .

Physical Description

Support: Central calligraphy written on eggshell-coloured, externally sized and polished paper, with two interior and exterior 'post-and-lintel' borders formed of applied strips of dark indigo paper, all probably handmade in Awadh.
Calligraphy: 244 × 154 mm.
Interior Applied Border: 265 × 173 mm.

Intermediate Floral Margin: 310 × 230 mm.
Exterior Applied Border: 330 × 250 mm.
Folio: 342 × 262 mm.

Layout

Portrait format, written in 3 oblique columns with a header and 4 couplets, hence 9 lines each. Probably ruled with a misṭarah hand guide.

Hand(s)

Written in black nasta‘līq by Muḥammad ‘Alī Mīrzā.

Decoration

Line Fill: Each line partially outlined with gold cloud bands in infilled with gold and silver foliate scrollwork.

Margins: The interior and exterior applied borders bear silver vegetal scrollwork with alternating gilt foliage. vine, while the margin between them bears bold floral scrollwork.

Ruling: Interior and exterior borders ruled in gold outlined in thin black single interior and double exterior lines.

History

Origin: Signed by Muḥammad ‘Alī Mīrzā, probably in Lucknow; , 1200 AH (1785–1786 CE).

Persian MS 10/2

Summary of Contents: This specimen features excerpts of two ghazals and a quintain by Salīm Tihrānī (d. 1057/1647) written in shafī‘ā'i script. Albeit unsigned and undated, Muḥammad ‘Alī Mīrzā probably copied it in Lucknow before 1200 AH (1785–1786 CE).

Folio 2b

Author: Salīm Tihrānī, Muḥammad Qulī, d. ca. 1647
سليم تهرانى، محمد قلى

Scribe: Muḥammad ‘Alī
محمد علي

Title: Excerpts of Poems by Salīm Tihrānī

Title: Khaṭṭ-i Shafī‘ā’ī

Title: خط شفیعای

Incipit: (beginning) هوّ الودود

Incipit: یک کس بجهان خاطر وارسته ندارد * گوزهٔ دولاب یکی دسته ندارد

Incipit: یاد ایامی که بلبل چون من محزون نبود * همچو قمری، گفتگوی من به یک مضمون نبود

Incipit: چو می فروش به مینا شراب ناب کند * اشاره ای ز تنک ظرفی شراب کند

Colophon: No colophon.

Language(s): Persian

Stronge and Atighi-Moqaddam note how this variation of shikastah script, named after Muḥammad Shafī‘ Haravī Ḥusaynī (d. 1670), grew popular in both Iran and India.

References

Susan Stronge and Behnaz Atighi-Moghaddam, 'An Unrecorded Polier Muraqqa‘ (c. 1785): New Insights into British-Hindustani Cultural Interaction', Adle Nāmeh Studies in Memory of Chahriyar Adle Alireza Anisi (Tehran: Research Institute for Cultural Heritage and Tourism, 2018), p. 205.

Muḥammad Qulī Salīm Tihrānī Dīvān-i Kāmil-i Muḥammad Qulī Salīm Tihrānī: shāmil-i ghazalīyāt, qaṣāʼid, mas̲navīyāt, qiṭaʻāt va rubāʻīyāt. Edited by Raḥīm Riz̤ā (Tehran: Ibn Sīnā, 1349 SH (1970 CE)), pp. 212–213, nos. 502–503, 505..

Physical Description

Support: Central calligraphy written on ivory-coloured, externally sized and polished paper, with two interior and exterior 'post-and-lintel' borders formed of strips of salmon pink-coloured paper, all probably handmade in Awadh.
Calligraphy: 200 × 118 mm.
Interior Applied Border: 220 × 138 mm.
Intermediate Floral Margin: 315 × 238 mm.
Exterior Applied Border: 337 × 258 mm.
Folio: 342 × 262 mm.

Condition

In good condition, although the paper of the central composition appears slightly yellowed.

Layout

Portrait format, written in 3 oblique columns with a header and 4 couplets, hence 9 lines each. Probably ruled with a misṭarah hand guide.

Hand(s)

Written in black shafī‘ā'i script, possibly by Muḥammad ‘Alī Mīrzā.

Decoration

Line Fill: Each line partially outlined with gold cloud bands in infilled with gold and silver foliate scrollwork.

Margins: The interior and exterior applied borders bear silver vegetal scrollwork with alternating gilt foliage. vine, while the margin between them bears bold floral scrollwork.

Ruling: Interior and exterior borders ruled in gold outlined in thin black single interior and double exterior lines.

History

Origin: Probably completed by Muḥammad ‘Alī Mīrzā in Lucknow undated, but before 1200 AH (1785–1786 CE).

Persian MS 10/3

Summary of Contents: Unidentified ornate prose Persian composition written in shafī‘ā'i script signed by Muḥammad ‘Alī Mīrzā and dated 1199 AH (1784–1785 CE).

Folio 3b

Author: Anonymous

Scribe and Autographer: Muḥammad ‘Alī
محمد علي

Title: Khaṭṭ-i Shafī‘ā’ī

Title: خط شفیعای

Incipit: (beginning) هوّ الله سبحانه

Incipit: مرید فدوی باستلام سده سهر عرش احترام بهره آندور دولت دو جهانی...

Colophon: محمد علی تحریر نمود، ۱۱۹۹

Colophon: Signed ‘Muḥammad ‘Alī taḥrīr namūd (Written by Muḥammad ‘Alī) 1199 AH (1784–1785 CE)’.

Language(s): Persian

Stronge and Atighi-Moqaddam notes how this variation of shikastah script, named after Muḥammad Shafī‘ Haravī Ḥusaynī (d. 1670), grew popular in both Iran and India.

References

Physical Description

Support: Central calligraphy written on ivory-coloured, externally sized and polished paper, with two interior and exterior 'post-and-lintel' borders formed of applied strips of salmon pink-coloured paper, all probably handmade in Awadh.
Calligraphy: 242 × 152 mm.
Interior Applied Border: 264 × 174 mm.
Intermediate Floral Margin: 316 × 238 mm.
Exterior Applied Border: 338 × 258 mm.
Folio: 342 × 262 mm.

Condition

In good condition.

Layout

Portrait format, written in 1 oblique column in 12 lines, with a smaller header and colophon above and below. Probably ruled with a misṭarah hand guide.

Hand(s)

Written in black shafī‘ā'i by Muḥammad ‘Alī Mīrzā.

Decoration

Line Fill: All lines outlined with gold cloud bands in infilled with gold and silver foliate scrollwork.

Margins: The interior and exterior applied borders bear silver vegetal scrollwork with alternating gilt foliage. vine, while the margin between them bears bold floral scrollwork.

Ruling: Interior and exterior borders ruled in gold outlined in thin black single interior and double exterior lines.

History

Origin: Signed by Muḥammad ‘Alī Mīrzā, probably in Lucknow; 1199 AH (1784–1785 CE).

Persian MS 10/4

Summary of Contents: Unsigned and undated mounted folio detached from a manuscript of the Akhlāq-i Muḥsinī (Ethics of the Beneficent) by Ḥusayn Vā‘iz al-Kāshifī (d. ca. 1504) written by an unidentified hand in shikastah script.

Folio 4b

Author: Ḥusayn Vā‘iz al-Kāshifī, d. ca. 1504
كاشفى، حسين واعظ

Title: Detached folio from the introduction to the Akhlāq-i Muḥsinī

Title: Khaṭṭ-i Shikastah

Title: خط شکاسیته

Incipit: (beginning) که تخلق باخلاق الهی امریست لازم و ارتقاء بدين درجه علیاً فرضیست...

Colophon: No colophon.

Language(s): Persian

References

Ḥusayn Vāʻiẓ Kāshifī, 'An Unrecorded Polier Muraqqa‘ (c. 1785): New Insights into British-Hindustani Cultural Interaction', Akhlāq-i Muḥsinī. Edited by Sayyid Ḥasan Naqībī (Qum: Zāʼir, 1393 SH [2014 CE]), pp. 31–32.

M. E. Subtelny, 'Kāšefī, Kamāl-aL-Dīn Ḥosayn Wāʿeẓ', Encyclopædia Iranica, Vol. XV, Fasc. 6 (2011), pp. 658–661.

Physical Description

Support: Central calligraphy written on buff-coloured paper, finely spattered, sized, and polished, probably handmade in the Indian subcontinent. Two interior and exterior 'post-and-lintel' borders formed of strips of slate grey-coloured paper, all probably handmade in Awadh.
Calligraphy: 122 × 64 mm.
Interior Applied Border: 144 × 84 mm.
Intermediate Floral Margin: 313 × 235 mm.
Exterior Applied Border: 337 × 255 mm.
Folio: 342 × 262 mm.

Condition

In fair condition, with some discolouration.

Layout

Portrait format, written in 1 column with 11 lines. Probably ruled with a misṭarah hand guide.

Hand(s)

Written in a hasty black shikastah hand, with horizontal red markings.

Decoration

Margins: The interior and exterior applied borders bear silver vegetal scrollwork with alternating gilt foliage. vine, while the margin between them bears bold floral scrollwork.

Ruling: Interior and exterior borders ruled in gold outlined in thin black single interior and double exterior lines.

History

Origin: Completed by an unidentified scribe, probably in the Indian subcontinent undated, but before 1200 AH (1785–1786 CE).

Persian MS 10/5

Summary of Contents: This undated elaborate latticework composition features Ayat al-Kursī (Throne Verse), written in ṭughrā script and signed by Muḥammad ‘Alī Mīrzā.

Folio 5b

Scribe and Autographer: Muḥammad ‘Alī
محمد علي

Title: Āyat al-Kursī (Throne Verse, Qur'ān 2:256)

Title: آية الكرسي

Title: Āyat al-Kursī

Title: Khaṭṭ-i Ṭughrā

Title: خط طغرا

Incipit: (beginning) هوّ الله الذي لا اله الا هو الحي القیوم...

Colophon: محمد علی

Colophon: Signed ‘Muḥammad ‘Alī’.

Language(s): Persian

For a comparison of this composition with another completed by the same calligrapher see Stronge and Atighi-Moghaddam, as well as Benson.

References

National Art Library, MSL/1858/4765, folio 15.

S. Stronge and B. Atighi-Moghaddam, 'An Unrecorded Polier Muraqqa‘ (c. 1785): New Insights into British-Hindustani Cultural Interaction', Adle Nāmeh Studies in Memory of Chahriyar Adle Alireza Anisi (Tehran: Research Institute for Cultural Heritage and Tourism, 2018), pp. 209–210, 222, no. 14, fig. 8.

Physical Description

Support: Central calligraphy written on straw-coloured, externally sized and polished paper, with two interior and exterior 'post-and-lintel' borders formed of applied strips of salmon pink-coloured paper, all probably handmade in Awadh.
Calligraphy: 242 × 152 mm.
Interior Applied Border: 264 × 174 mm.
Intermediate Floral Margin: 316 × 238 mm.
Exterior Applied Border: 338 × 258 mm.
Folio: 342 × 262 mm.

Condition

In good condition.

Layout

Portrait format, written in 8 columns in 6 lines. Probably ruled with a misṭarah hand guide.

Hand(s)

Written in black ṭughrā script by Muḥammad ‘Alī Mīrzā.

Decoration

Margins: The interior and exterior applied borders bear silver vegetal scrollwork with alternating gilt foliage. vine, while the margin between them bears bold floral scrollwork.

Ruling: Interior and exterior borders ruled in gold outlined in thin black single interior and double exterior lines.

History

Origin: Signed by Muḥammad ‘Alī Mīrzā, probably in Lucknow undated, but before 1200 AH (1785–1786 CE).

Persian MS 10/6

Summary of Contents: This square calligraphic emblem written in ṭughrā script features an Arabic slogan Lā fatá illā ‘Alī wa lā sayf illā Dhū-al-Fiqār (There is no hero but ‘Ali and no sword except for Dhū-al-Fiqār), praising ‘Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib (ca. 600–661 CE), and his famous twin-bladed sword named Dhū-al-Fiqār. Albeit unsigned and undated, Muḥammad ‘Alī probably copied it in Lucknow before 1200 AH (1785–1786 CE).

Folio 6b

Scribe: Muḥammad ‘Alī
محمد علي

Title: Khaṭṭ-i Ṭughrā

Title: خط طغرا

Incipit: لا فتی إلا علي ولا سیف إلا ذو الفقار

Colophon: No colophon

Language(s): Persian

References

ʻAlī ibn Ibrāhīm Qummī, Tafsīr al-Qummī, Vol. 1. Edited by Ṭayyib al-Mūsawī Jazāʼirī (Najaf: Maktabat al-Hudá, 1386 AH [1967 CE]), p. 116.

Physical Description

Support: Central calligraphy written on mottled straw-coloured, externally sized and polished paper, with two interior and exterior 'post-and-lintel' borders formed of applied strips of slate grey-coloured paper, all probably handmade in Awadh.
Calligraphy: 156 × 140 mm.
Interior Applied Border: 177 × 162 mm.
Intermediate Floral Margin: 316 × 238 mm.
Exterior Applied Border: 338 × 258 mm.
Folio: 342 × 262 mm.

Condition

In good condition.

Layout

Portrait format in 4 stacked lines.

Hand(s)

Written in black ṭughrā script.

Decoration

Margins: The interior and exterior applied borders bear silver vegetal scrollwork with alternating gilt foliage, while the margin between them bears bold floral scrollwork.

Ruling: Interior and exterior borders ruled in gold outlined in thin black single interior and double exterior lines.

History

Origin: Probably completed by Muḥammad ‘Alī Mīrzā in Lucknow undated, but before 1200 AH (1785–1786 CE).

Persian MS 10/7

Summary of Contents: This composition entwines two Arabic slogans, Tawakkaltu bi-maghfirat al-Muhaymin (I entrust myself to the forgiveness of the Guardian) in black and Huwa al-Ghafūr Dhū-al-Raḥmah (He is the All-forgiving Lord of Mercy) in red s̱ulus̱ script. Albeit unsigned and undated, Muḥammad ‘Alī probably copied it in Lucknow before 1200 AH (1785–1786 CE). An illuminator named Zayn al-Dīn Maḥmūd (d. ca. 1519) completed the earliest-known example of this popular composition, which many others, from the Ottoman Empire to India, subsequently copied.

Folio 7b

Scribe: Muḥammad ‘Alī
محمد علي

Title: Khaṭṭ-i S̱ulus̱

Title: خط ثلث

Incipit: توكلت مغفرة المهيمن، هو الغفور ذو الرحمة.

Colophon: No colophon

Language(s): Arabic

For a comparison of this intertwined composition in relation to others by the same calligrapher and earlier versions discussed by Kühnel, as well as Stronge and Atighi-Moghaddam, see Benson. For the margins, see Imbert.

References

London, National Art Library, MSL/1858/4765, folio 19, probably also copied by Muḥammad ‘Alī Mīrzā.

Berlin, Museum für Islamische Kunst, I. 4595, folio 17b, probably also copied by Muḥammad ‘Alī

Dublin, Chester Beatty Library T 447, folio 7r, copied by Ottoman-era calligrapher Dervīş ‘Alī (d. 1673).

Staatsbibliotek zu Berlin Ms. or. oct. 146, a 16th-century Safavid talismanic scroll.

Istanbul University Library, F. 1426, folio 46a, illuminated by Zayn al-Dīn Maḥmūd (d. ca. 1519).

M. Bayānī, Aḥvāl va Ās̱ār-i Khvushnivīsān, Vol. 3 (Tehran: University of Tehran Press, 1348 SH [1970 CE]), pp. 864–866, no. 1293.

S. Blair, Islamic Calligraphy (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2006), pp. 452–453, fig. 10.17, 427 n126–127. [IUL F. 1426, f. 46a].

M. U. Derman and N. M. Çetin, The Art of Calligraphy in the Islamic Heritage Translated by Mohamed Zakariya (İstanbul: IRCICA, 1998), p. 210, no. 41 [IUL F. 1426, f. 46a].

I. Imbert, 'Like a Garden Bedecked: Floral Margins in the Muraqqaʿs of Antoine Polier' Eighteenth-Century Indian Muraqqaʿs: Audiences – Artists – Patrons and Collectors, edited by Friederike Weis (Leiden: Brill; 2024), pp. 212–213, fig. 9.3 .

E. Kühnel, Islamische Handscrift 3rd ed. (Graz: Akademische Druck- u. Verlagsanstalt, 1986), p. 55, no. 57 [MIK I. 4595, f. 17b].

V. Minorsky, Calligraphers and Painters: A Treatise by Qādī Ahmad, Son of Mir-Munshī, circa A.H. 1015/A.D. 1606 Translated by T. Minorsky Freer Gallery of Art, Smithsonian Institution) 1959), p. 106, 126.

T. Nünlist, 'Devotion and Protection: Four Amuletic Scrolls from Safavid Persia', Image-Making in Eurasia, Edited by Yuka Kadoi (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2018), pp. 86, 88, fig. 5.4 [SB Ms. or. oct. 146].

T. Nünlist, 'Der Persische Typ.', Schutz Und Andacht Im Islam: Dokumente in Rollenform Aus Dem 14.–19. Jh Nünlist, Tobias. In Schutz Und Andacht Im Islam: Dokumente in Rollenform Aus Dem 14.–19. Jh (Leiden: Brill, 2020), pp. 472, 488, fig. 97[SB Ms. or. oct. 146].

M. Ülker, Başlangıţan Günümüze Türk Hat Sanatı, (Ankara: Türkiye İş Bankası Kültür Yayınları, 1987), 195–96 [IUL F. 1426, f. 46a].

Qāz̤ī Aḥmad Qummī, Gulistān-i Hunar. Edited by A. S. Khvānsārī. (Tehran: Intishārāt-i Bunyād-i Farhang-i Īrān, 1352 SH [1973 CE]), pp. 62, 79–80.

Physical Description

Support: Central calligraphy written on mottled straw-coloured, externally sized and polished paper, with two interior and exterior 'post-and-lintel' borders formed of applied strips of applied slate grey-coloured paper, all probably handmade in Awadh.
Calligraphy: 227 × 139 mm.
Interior Applied Border: 250 × 160 mm.
Intermediate Floral Margin: 314 × 234 mm.
Exterior Applied Border: 335 × 256 mm.
Folio: 342 × 262 mm.

Condition

In good condition.

Layout

Landscape format in one interlaced line.

Hand(s)

Written in intertwined black and red s̱ulus̱ script.

Decoration

Line Fill: Outlined in a single gold cloud band with the exterior infilled with gold and silver foliate scrollwork.

Margins: The interior and exterior applied borders bear silver vegetal scrollwork with alternating gilt foliage, while the margin between them bears bold floral scrollwork.

Ruling: Interior and exterior borders ruled in gold outlined in thin black single interior and double exterior lines.

History

Origin: Probably completed by Muḥammad ‘Alī Mīrzā in Lucknow undated, but before 1200 AH (1785–1786 CE).

Persian MS 10/8

Summary of Contents: This composition features six aphorisms attributed to ‘Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib (ca. 600–661 CE) written in black s̱ulus̱ script. Albeit unsigned and undated, Muḥammad ‘Alī Mīrzā probably copied it in Lucknow before 1200 AH (1785–1786 CE).

Folio 8b

Author and Attributed name: ‘Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib, ca. 600–661 CE

Scribe: Muḥammad ‘Alī
محمد علي

Title: Khaṭṭ-i S̱ulus̱

Title: خط ثلث

Incipit: من كلمات معجزت بما الله تعالى وجهه: إذا قدرت على عدوْك فاعجل العفو عنه شكراً للقدرة عليه، ولا شفيع أنجح من التوبة، وعزّ من قنع وذل من طمع، ظلمة الظلم بظلم الايمان، عش قنعاً تكن ملكاً، ومن كثر فكره في العوافب.

Colophon: No colophon

Language(s): Arabic

Published: Benson, 'Polier’s Posterior Album', p. 272, fig. 11.4A (top). For a prior version of this composition, probably completed by the same calligrapher, see Stronge and Atighi-Moghaddam.

References

London, National Art Library, MSL/1858/4765, folio 28.

Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib (attributed), Exalted Aphorisms And Pearls Of Speech A Translation of: Ghurar Al-Hikam Wa Durar Al- Kalim [English & Arabic] Compiled by Abdul Wahid al-Tamimi al-Amudi, translated by Tahir Ridha Jaffer (Qum: Ansariyan, 2012), pp. 749, no. 65, 1069, no. 39.

‘Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib (attributed), ‘Letter 31: Advice to one of his sons after returning from the Battle of Siffin’, Nahj al-Balāghah (Mashhad?: Al-Hassanain(p) Network, 2022), pp. 710–711 .

Muḥammad ibn Mukarram Ibn Manẓūr, Lisān al-‘Arab, Vol. 8 (Beirut: Dār Ṣādir, 1375 AH [1955 CE]), p. 298.

Abu ʿAli al-Fadl b. al-Hasan al-Tabarsi, Kitāb Nathr al-La‘ālī, Vol. 1 (Mashhad: Intishārāt-i Āstān-i Quds Raz̤avī, 1384 SH [2005]), p. 86.

Rashīd al-Dīn Vaṭvāṭ, Maṭlūb kull ṭālib min kalām 'Alī ibn abī Ṭālib, (Qum: Bunyād-i Nahj al-Balāghah, 1374 SH [1996]), p. 326, no. 75.

Physical Description

Support: Central calligraphy written on mottled ivory-coloured, externally sized and polished paper, with two interior and exterior 'post-and-lintel' borders formed of applied strips of applied salmon pink-coloured paper, all probably handmade in Awadh.
Calligraphy: 246 × 153 mm.
Interior Applied Border: 263 × 174 mm.
Intermediate Floral Margin: 315 × 235 mm.
Exterior Applied Border: 338 × 258 mm.
Folio: 342 × 262 mm.

Condition

Handle folio with caution. Very tight opening to the gutter margin.

Layout

Landscape format, single column, in four lines. Probably ruled with a misṭarah hand guide.

Hand(s)

Written in black s̱ulus̱ script.

Decoration

Line Fill: All lines outlined with gold cloud bands in infilled with gold and silver foliate scrollwork.

Margins: The interior and exterior applied borders bear silver vegetal scrollwork with alternating gilt foliage, while the margin between them bears bold floral scrollwork.

Ruling: Interior and exterior borders ruled in gold outlined in thin black single interior and double exterior lines.

History

Origin: Probably completed by Muḥammad ‘Alī Mīrzā in Lucknow undated, but before 1200 AH (1785–1786 CE).

Persian MS 10/9

Summary of Contents: In this composition signed by Lucknow calligrapher Muḥammad ‘Alī Mīrzā, he combines Arabic blessings (ṣalawāt) upon the Prophet Muḥammad and a concluding prayer (khatm) completing a recitation of the entire Qur’ān, written in alternating single lines of bold s̱ulus̱ and three of comparatively small naskh, a format frequently observed in Qur'ān manuscripts.

Folio 9b

Honoree: Muḥammad, Prophet d. 632 CE

Scribe and Autographer: Muḥammad ‘Alī
محمد علي

Title: Khaṭṭ-i Naskh va S̱ulus̱

Title: خط نسخ و ثلث

Incipit: (basmala) صدق الله صدق الله العلي العظيم وصدق رسوله النبي الكريم.

Colophon: فاكتبه محمد علي.

Colophon: Signed ‘Fā-aktubuhu Muḥammad ‘Alī’ (Thus I write it, Muḥammad ‘Alī).

Language(s): Arabic

References

Physical Description

Support: Central calligraphy written on a decoratively mottled, externally sized and polished, buff-coloured paper, with a separate, vertical strip applied at left to fill a gap. Two interior and exterior 'post-and-lintel' borders formed of strips of applied salmon pink-coloured paper, all probably handmade in Awadh.
Calligraphy: 231 × 148 mm.
Interior Applied Border: 253 × 171 mm.
Intermediate Floral Margin: 317 × 236 mm.
Exterior Applied Border: 341 × 258 mm.
Folio: 342 × 262 mm.

Condition

In good condition, albeit closely trimmed off at head and tail when rebound.

Layout

Portrait format, 1 column, in 12 lines. Probably ruled with a misṭarah hand guide.

Hand(s)

Written in bold black s̱ulus̱ and small naskh scripts by Muḥammad ‘Alī Mīrzā.

Decoration

Line Fill: All lines outlined with gold cloud bands in infilled with gold and silver foliate scrollwork.

Margins: The interior and exterior applied borders bear silver vegetal scrollwork with alternating gilt foliage, while the margin between them bears bold floral scrollwork.

Ruling: Interior and exterior borders ruled in gold outlined in thin black single interior and double exterior lines.

History

Origin: Signed by Muḥammad ‘Alī Mīrzā, probably in Lucknow undated, but before 1200 AH (1785–1786 CE).

Persian MS 10/10

Summary of Contents: This formal calligraphy specimen features the basmala at top, followed by initial ten verses from the Qur’ān, Surah al-Baqarah (The Cow) 2:1–10, which then curiously concludes with verses 13 then 11 on the final two lines. Albeit unsigned and undated, Muḥammad ‘Alī probably copied it in Lucknow before 1200 AH (1785–1786 CE).

Folio 10b

Scribe: Muḥammad ‘Alī
محمد علي

Title: Sūrat al-Baqarah

Title: Chapter of the Cow

Title: Khaṭṭ-i S̱ulus̱

Title: خط نسخ و ثلث

Incipit: (basmala) صدق الله صدق الله العلي العظيم وصدق رسوله النبي الكريم.

Colophon: فاكتبه محمد علي.

Language(s): Arabic

Physical Description

Support: Central calligraphy written on bone-coloured paper, now mottled yellow. Two interior and exterior 'post-and-lintel' borders formed of strips of applied dark indigo-coloured paper, all probably handmade in Awadh.
Calligraphy: 227 × 161 mm.
Interior Applied Border: 228 × 182 mm.
Intermediate Floral Margin: 308 × 233 mm.
Exterior Applied Border: 333 × 253 mm.
Folio: 342 × 262 mm.

Condition

In good condition.

Layout

Portrait format, 1 column, in 10 lines. Probably ruled with a misṭarah hand guide.

Hand(s)

Written in medium-sized black naskh scripts by Muḥammad ‘Alī Mīrzā.

Decoration

Line Fill: All lines outlined with gold cloud bands in infilled with gold and silver foliate scrollwork.

Margins: The interior and exterior applied borders bear silver vegetal scrollwork with alternating gilt foliage, while the margin between them bears bold floral scrollwork.

Ruling: Interior and exterior borders ruled in gold outlined in thin black single interior and double exterior lines.

History

Origin: Probably completed by Muḥammad ‘Alī Mīrzā in Lucknow undated, but before 1200 AH (1785–1786 CE).

Persian MS 10/11

Summary of Contents: This undated Arabic composition signed by Muḥammad ‘Alī features the ninety-nine names or attributes of God, written in alternating oblique angles in naskh script.

Folio 11b

Scribe: Muḥammad ‘Alī
محمد علي

Title: Divine Names

Title: Asmāʼ Allāh al-Ḥusná

Title: Khaṭṭ-i Naskh

Title: خط نسخ

Incipit: (basmala) یا الله یا رحمن یا رحیم...

Colophon: کتبه العبد المذنب محمد علي غفر الله ذنوبه و ستر عیوبه

Colophon: Signed ‘Katabuhu al-‘Abd al-Muẕannib Muḥammad ‘Alī, ghafar Allāh ẕunubuhu va sattar ‘uyūbuhu. (The sinful servant Muḥammad ‘Alī wrote it, God forgive his sins and veil his faults)’.

Language(s): Arabic

For a prior version of this composition completed by the same calligrapher, see Stronge and Atighi-Moghaddam.

References

National Art Library, MSL/1858/4765, folio 16.

Physical Description

Support: Central calligraphy written on mottled straw-coloured paper. Two interior and exterior 'post-and-lintel' borders formed of strips of applied salmon pink-coloured paper, all probably handmade in Awadh.
Calligraphy: 208 × 161 mm.
Interior Applied Border: 230 × 178 mm.
Intermediate Floral Margin: 314 × 235 mm.
Exterior Applied Border: 338 × 258 mm.
Folio: 342 × 262 mm.

Condition

In good condition, albeit with modest insect damage on the upper-right corner of the central calligraphy.

Layout

Portrait format, written in 9 oblique columns at alternating angles in 12 lines. Probably ruled with a misṭarah hand guide.

Hand(s)

Written in medium-sized black naskh scripts by Muḥammad ‘Alī Mīrzā.

Decoration

Line Fill: All lines outlined with gold cloud bands in infilled with gold and silver foliate scrollwork.

Margins: The interior and exterior applied borders bear silver vegetal scrollwork with alternating gilt foliage, while the margin between them bears bold floral scrollwork.

Ruling: Interior and exterior borders ruled in gold outlined in thin black single interior and double exterior lines.

History

Origin: Signed by Muḥammad ‘Alī Mīrzā, probably in Lucknow undated, but before 1200 AH (1785–1786 CE).

Persian MS 10/12

Summary of Contents: This excerpt from a decree (firmān), issued late in the reign of Safavid ruler Shāh Ṭahmāsp (b. 1514, r. 1526–1576), appoints illuminator Ḥasan Baghdādī as director of the companies of illuminators, painters, bookbinders, and stationers in Tabriz in Shavvāl 980 AH (mid-Feb–March 1573 CE). Copied in elegant ta‘līq script and signed vertically on the right by ‘Muḥammad Ja‘far’ and dated ‘Saturday 2 Shavvāl, regnal year 20 of ‘Alamgir [1088 AH] (28 Nov. 1677 CE)’, who would appear to be famed Mughal-era mathematician and calligrapher Muḥammad Ja‘far Kifāyat Khān (d. 1683), a son and grandson of court calligraphers Muqīm Khān and Mīrzā Muḥammad Ḥusayn, and who ultimately worked for Shāh Jahān I (b. 1592 r. 1628–58) for 25 years.

Folio 12b

Responsible party: Ṭahmāsp I, Shah of Iran, 1514-1576

Scribe and Autographer: Muḥammad Ja‘far Kifāyat Khān, d. 1683
محمد جعفر كفايت خان

Title: Excerpt from a copy of a Firmān of Shāh Ṭahmāsb

Title: Khaṭṭ-i Ta‘līq

Title: خط تعليق

Incipit: (beginning) چون لوح پرداز صحابی ابداع و صفحه دار از صحایف ایجاد و اختراع که خامهٔ صنعش بزنجیر کہکشان بر حاشه چرخ زرفشان ترتیب نموده و قاسم قدرتش اوراق نه رواق لاجوردی را با زر ورق ثوابت و سیارات که سپهر جدول خطوط شاعری مهر تذهیب فرموده شمسه‌ٔایوان سلطنت و پادشاهی مارا زینت مجلدات افلاک گردانیده و دیباچه خلافت و شاهنشاهی ما را از دوات سمین ماه پ مداد شب بر صفحات روزگار به کلک ثبات و استمرار تحریر گرده چنانچه دبیر خرد مو شکاف مضمون این قطعه را در این باب رقم زده که: اذ کتب‌خانه‌اش اوراق فلک دیوانی است * که بر او ثبت شده از کرم یزدانی | از شهاب خور و قوس قزح و سیاره * جدول و شمسه و شیرازه و زرافشانی...

Colophon: این صفحه را روز شنبه ۲ شوال سنه ۲۰ جلوس عالمگیری که چهار روز بود بدست تب گرفتار بود نوشت اقل العباد محمد جعفر امید که عافیت و صحت مقرون بود

Colophon: Signed ‘Īn ṣafḥah rā rūz-i shanbah 2 Shavvāl sanah 20 julūs-i ‘Alāmgīrī kih chahār rūz būd bi-dast-i tab giriftār būd nivisht aqall al-‘ibād Muḥammad Ja‘far umīd ka ‘āfiyat va ṣiḥḥat maqrūn buvad (The lowliest of servants Muhammad Ja’far wrote this page on Saturday 2 Shavvāl, regnal year 20 of ‘Alamgir [1088 AH, 28 Nov. 1677 CE], when he had been in the grip of fever for four days. He hopes happiness and health shall be granted).’.

Language(s): Persian

For an account of this calligrapher's life, see Haft Qalamī Dihlavī, for a specimen completed by his son Dirāyat Khān preserved in National Art Library, see Stronge and Atigh-Moghaddam. For variant published transcriptions of the original document, see Navā'ī, Qummī (ed. Khvānsārī), and Karīmʹzādah-Tabrīzī.

References

Islamimc Parliamentary Council Library, firmān no. 606, pp. 133–136.

M. A. Karīmʹzādah-Tabrīzī Aḥvāl va Ās̲ār-i Naqqāshān-i Qadīm-i Īrān va barkhī az Mashāhīr-i Nigārʹgar-i Hind va ʻUs̲mānī, Vol. 1 (London: M. A. Karīmʹzādah-Tabrīzī, 1985), pp. 148–151, no. 268.

Iskandar Beg Monshi, History of Shah ʻAbbas the Great (Tārīḵ-e ‘Ālamārā-ye-‘Abbāsī), Vol. I. Translated by Roger Savory (Boulder: Westview Press, 1978), p. 274.

Iskandar Bayg Munshī, Tārīkh-i ‘Ālam'ārā-yi ‘Abbāsī, Vol. 1. Edited by Īrāj Afshār (Tehran: Amīr Kabīr, 1334 SH [1955 CE]), p. 177.

Qāz̤ī Aḥmad Qummī, Gulistān-i Hunar. Edited by A. S. Khvānsārī. (Tehran: Intishārāt-i Bunyād-i Farhang-i Īrān, 1352 SH [1973 CE]) pp. 145–147.

‘Abd al-Ḥusayn Navā'ī, Shāh Ṭahmāsb Ṣafavī: majmū‘ah-'i asnād va makātabāt-i tārīkhī hamrāh bā yāddāshtʹhā-yi tafṣīlī. (Tehran: Intishārāt-i Bunyād-i Farhang-i Īrān, 1350 SH [1971 CE]), pp. 24–26.

M. S. Simpson and M. Farhad, Sultan Ibrahim Mirza's Haft Awrang: A Princely Manuscript from Sixteenth-Century Iran (Washington D.C: Freer Gallery of Art, Smithsonian Institution) 1997), pp. 302, 307 n10.

Physical Description

Support: Central calligraphy written on buff-coloured paper dusted with fine gold spray. Two interior and exterior 'post-and-lintel' borders formed of strips of applied slate grey-coloured paper, all probably handmade in Awadh.
Calligraphy: 202 × 170 mm.
Interior Applied Border: 224 × 193 mm.
Intermediate Floral Margin: 313 × 243 mm.
Exterior Applied Border: 335 × 258 mm.
Folio: 342 × 262 mm.

Condition

Calligraphy specimen evidently trimmed down from a larger document then mounted. In fair condition, with surface creases and wrinkles, media abraded.Insect damage on the upper-left corner of the margin.

Layout

Portrait format, written primarily in 1 column in 7 lines that curve gently upwards at left, although lines 4–5 feature couplets, and the colophon written vertically from top to bottom at right. Probably ruled with a misṭarah hand guide.

Hand(s)

Written in medium-sized black ta‘līq script by Muḥammad Ja‘far Kifāyat Khān.

Decoration

Line Fill: All lines outlined with gold cloud bands in infilled with gold and silver foliate scrollwork.

Margins: The interior and exterior applied borders bear silver vegetal scrollwork with alternating gilt foliage, while the margin between them bears bold floral scrollwork.

Ruling: Interior and exterior borders ruled in gold outlined in thin black single interior and double exterior lines.

History

Origin: Signed by Muḥammad Ja‘far Kifāyat Khān, d. 1683, probably in Shāhjahānābād (Dehli); 2 Shavvāl, 20th year of the Mughal ruler ‘Ālamgīr's reign [1088 AH] (28 Nov. 1677 CE).

Persian MS 10/13

Summary of Contents: Unsigned, initial portion of an ornate Persian rhyming prose composition copied in elegant ta‘līq script.

Folio 13b

Title: Excerpt of an ornate prose composition copied in ta‘līq

Title: Khaṭṭ-i Ta‘līq

Title: خط تعليق

Incipit: (beginning) انشاء حمدی که منشیان بلاغت نشان قدیران فصاحت‌یان هرگز...

Colophon: ‌‌No colophon.

Language(s): Persian

Physical Description

Support: Central calligraphy written on mottled straw-coloured paper. Two interior and exterior 'post-and-lintel' borders formed of strips of applied dark indigo-coloured paper, all probably handmade in Awadh.
Calligraphy: 228 × 146 mm.
Interior Applied Border: 241 × 181 mm.
Intermediate Floral Margin: 308 × 230 mm.
Exterior Applied Border: 330 × 252 mm.
Folio: 342 × 262 mm.

Condition

In good condition, albeit with modest insect damage on the upper-left corner of the central calligraphy.

Layout

Portrait format, written primarily in 1 column in 7 lines that curve gently upwards at left, althought lines 4–5 feature couplets, and the colophon written vertically from top to bottom at right. Probably ruled with a misṭarah hand guide.

Hand(s)

Written in medium-sized black ta‘līq script.

Decoration

Line Fill: All lines outlined with gold cloud bands in infilled with gold and silver foliate scrollwork.

Margins: The interior and exterior applied borders bear silver vegetal scrollwork with alternating gilt foliage, while the margin between them bears bold floral scrollwork.

Ruling: Interior and exterior borders ruled in gold outlined in thin black single interior and double exterior lines.

History

Origin: Probably completed in the Indian subcontinent undated, but probably 18th-century.

Persian MS 10/14

Summary of Contents: A text on the recitation of prayers and Qur’anic passages copied in elegant ta‘līq script, obliquely signed at bottom-right by Muḥammad Ṣādiq Murīd Khān Ṭabāṭabā (fl. ca. 1735–1785), and dated 29 Shawwal 1148 AH (mid-Feb.–Mar. 1736 CE). Scion of an Iranian sayyid family who emigrated to India, this calligrapher first rose to prominence during the reign of the Mughal rule Muḥammad Shāh (b. 1702 r. 1719–1748) from whom he received the title of Nawwāb (Regent). He mainly resided in ‘Aẓīmābād (Patna), where he likely wrote completed this composition.

Folio 14b

Author:

Scribe and Autographer: Muḥammad Ṣādiq Murīd Khān Ṭabāṭabā, fl. ca. 1735–1785
مريد خان طباطبا

Title: Excerpt of ornate prose on the recitation of prayers and Qur’anic passages.

Title: Khaṭṭ-i Ta‘līq

Title: خط تعليق

Incipit: (beginning) بدانکه هر روز سه نوبت هرکس به آن طریق بخواند تا مدت چهل روز که چشم باتمام رسد مقصود حاصل شود و از روزی که شروع در خواندن کند.

Colophon: مشق شب بیست و نهم شهر شوال سنه ۱۱۴۸ کتبه مرید خان طباطبا

Colophon: Signed ‘Mashq-i shab-i bist u nuhum-i shahr-i Shavvāl sana 1148 katabahu Murīd Khān-i Ṭabāṭabā (Draft of the the night of the 29 Shawwal year 1148 [AH] (mid-Feb.–Mar. 1736 CE). Murīd Khān of Tabataba wrote it)’.

Language(s): Persian

For an account of this calligrapher's life, see Haft Qalamī Dihlavī.

References

Physical Description

Support: Central calligraphy written on straw-coloured paper, probably handmade in the Indian subcontinent. Two interior and exterior 'post-and-lintel' borders formed of strips of applied dark indigo-coloured paper, probably handmade in Awadh.
Calligraphy: 228 × 146 mm.
Interior Applied Border: 250 × 165 mm.
Intermediate Floral Margin: 307 × 230 mm.
Exterior Applied Border: 328 × 250 mm.
Folio: 342 × 262 mm.

Condition

Calligraphy specimen evidently trimmed down from a larger document then mounted. In fair condition, with surface creases and wrinkles, media abraded. Insect damage on the upper-left corner of the margin.

Layout

Portrait format, written in two passages in six horizontal lines at top and another 9 oblique at bottom. Possibly ruled with a misṭarah hand guide.

Hand(s)

Written in medium-sized black ta‘līq script by Muḥammad Ṣādiq Murīd Khān Ṭabāṭabā.

Decoration

Line Fill: All lines outlined with gold cloud bands in infilled with gold and silver foliate scrollwork.

Margins: The interior and exterior applied borders bear silver vegetal scrollwork with alternating gilt foliage, while the margin between them bears bold floral scrollwork.

Ruling: Interior and exterior borders ruled in gold outlined in thin black single interior and double exterior lines.

History

Origin: Signed by Muḥammad Ṣādiq Murīd Khān Ṭabāṭabā, probably in ‘Aẓīmābād (Patna); 29 Shawwal 1148 AH (mid-Feb.–Mar. 1736 CE).

Persian MS 10/15

Summary of Contents: An ornate composition written in gulzār features a slogan culled from the Qur'ān, Sūrah al-Ṣaf (‘The Ranks’), verse 13, reads ‘نصر من أللّه والفتح قريب’, Naṣr min Allāh wa-al-Fatḥ Qarīb ([with] aid from God, a speedy victory). Albeit unsigned and undated, Muḥammad ‘Alī probably copied it in Lucknow before 1200 AH (1785–1786 CE).

Folio 15b

Scribe: Muḥammad ‘Alī
محمد علي

Title: Excerpt from Sūrah al-Ṣaf (The Ranks, Qur'ān 61:13)

Title: Khaṭṭ-i Gulzār

Title: خط گلزار

Incipit: نَصْرٌ مِّنَ اللَّهِ وَفَتْحٌ قَرِيبٌ ۗ

Colophon: No colophon

Language(s): Persian

Published: Benson, 'Polier’s Posterior Album', p. 279, fig. 11.11A (left). For another version of the same verse rendered in micrographic calligraphy held in the Rylands, see Persian MS 51, folio 2b.

References

Physical Description

Support: Central calligraphy written on mottled straw-coloured, externally sized and polished paper, with two interior and exterior 'post-and-lintel' borders formed of applied strips of dark indigo-coloured paper, all probably handmade in Awadh.
Calligraphy: 212 × 72 mm.
Interior Applied Border: 233 × 89 mm.
Intermediate Floral Margin: 308 × 232 mm.
Exterior Applied Border: 330 × 252 mm.
Folio: 342 × 262 mm.

Condition

In good condition, albeit modest insect damage at centre-top of the calligraphy.

Layout

Landscape format in 1 line.

Hand(s)

Written in black gulzār script.

Decoration

Line Fill: All lines outlined with gold cloud bands in infilled with gold and silver foliate scrollwork.

Margins: The interior and exterior applied borders bear silver vegetal scrollwork with alternating gilt foliage, while the margin between them bears bold floral scrollwork over preliminary underdrawing in pale sepia.

Ruling: Interior and exterior borders ruled in gold outlined in thin black single interior and double exterior lines.

History

Origin: Probably completed by Muḥammad ‘Alī Mīrzā in Lucknow undated, but before 1200 AH (1785–1786 CE).

Persian MS 10/16

Summary of Contents: An ornate composition written in gulzār features a slogan adapted from the Qur'ān chapters al-Baqarah (‘The Cow’), verse 259, and al-Ṭalāq (‘The Divorce’), verse 12, reads Inna Allāha ‘alá kulli shay'in Qadīr (Verily God holds power over all things). Albeit unsigned and undated, Muḥammad ‘Alī probably copied it in Lucknow before 1200 AH (1785–1786 CE).

Folio 16b

Scribe: Muḥammad ‘Alī
محمد علي

Title: Excerpts from Sūrah al-Baqarah (The Ranks) and Surah al-Ṭalāq (The Divorce, Qur'ān 2:259, 63:12)

Title: Khaṭṭ-i Gulzār

Title: خط گلزار

Incipit: إِنَّ اللَّهَ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ قَدِير

Colophon: No colophon

Language(s): Persian

Published: Benson, 'Polier’s Posterior Album', p. 279, fig. 11.11B (right).

Physical Description

Support: Central calligraphy written on mottled straw-coloured, externally sized and polished paper, with two interior and exterior 'post-and-lintel' borders formed of applied strips of salmon pink-coloured paper, all probably handmade in Awadh.
Calligraphy: 240 × 150 mm.
Interior Applied Border: 262 × 174 mm.
Intermediate Floral Margin: 314 × 237 mm.
Exterior Applied Border: 337 × 257 mm.
Folio: 342 × 262 mm.

Condition

In good condition.

Layout

Landscape format in 1 line.

Hand(s)

Written in black gulzār script.

Decoration

Line Fill: All lines outlined with gold cloud bands in infilled with gold and silver foliate scrollwork.

Ruling: Interior and exterior borders ruled in gold outlined in thin black single interior and double exterior lines.

History

Origin: Probably completed by Muḥammad ‘Alī Mīrzā in Lucknow undated, but before 1200 AH (1785–1786 CE).

Persian MS 10/17

Summary of Contents: This Persian composition written in nasta‘līq script signed by Muḥammad ‘Alī and dated 1198 AH (1783–1784 CE) reads ‘Bā taw hamṣuḥbatī az bū-al-‘ajabī’hā-yi manast (Fellowship with you is one of my trickster’s feats)’.

Folio 17b

Scribe and Autographer: Muḥammad ‘Alī
محمد علي

Title: Khaṭṭ-i Nasta‘līq

Title: خط نستعليق

Incipit: با تو همصحبتی از بو العجبی‌های منست

Colophon: محمد علی ۱۱۹۸

Colophon: Signed ‘Muḥammad ‘Alī 1198 AH (1783–1784 CE)’.

Language(s): Persian

Published: Benson, 'Polier’s Posterior Album', p. 273, fig. 11.5A (top). For a prior version of this composition completed by the same calligrapher, see Stronge and Atighi-Moghaddam. Note that they consider the placement of this composition at the end of the earlier album as sending a special message from Polier to Jones; however, here it occurs in the middle of the volume instead.

References

National Art Library, MSL/1858/4765, folio 29.

Physical Description

Support: Central calligraphy written on mottled straw-coloured, externally sized and polished paper, with two interior and exterior 'post-and-lintel' borders formed of applied strips of salmon pink-coloured paper, all probably handmade in Awadh.
Calligraphy: 213 × 78 mm.
Interior Applied Border: 235 × 100 mm.
Intermediate Floral Margin: 313 × 238 mm.
Exterior Applied Border: 337 × 258 mm.
Folio: 342 × 262 mm.

Condition

In fair condition with vertically creased and stained paper, with friable media, and the folio closely trimmed off at the fore-edge when rebound.

Layout

Landscape format, written in 1 line that curves gently upward to the left.

Hand(s)

Written in black nasta‘līq by Muḥammad ‘Alī Mīrzā.

Decoration

Line Fill: All lines outlined with gold cloud bands in infilled with gold and silver foliate scrollwork.

Margins: The interior and exterior applied borders bear silver vegetal scrollwork with alternating gilt foliage. vine, while the margin between them bears bold floral scrollwork.

Ruling: Interior and exterior borders ruled in gold outlined in thin black single interior and double exterior lines.

History

Origin: Signed by Muḥammad ‘Alī Mīrzā, probably in Lucknow; 1198 AH (1783–1784 CE).

Persian MS 10/18

Summary of Contents: This popular Arabic aphorism written in bold nasta‘līq script declares ‘‘Azza man qana‘ wa dhal man ṭama‘ (Honour the contented and despise the greedy)’. It combines two separate sayings attributed to ‘Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib (ca. 600–661 CE) together into one slogan, appears in a massive Arabic dictionary entitled Lisān al-‘Arab, completed by Muḥammad ibn Mukarram Ibn Manẓūr in 1290. Albeit unsigned and undated, Muḥammad ‘Alī probably copied it in Lucknow before 1200 AH (1785–1786 CE).

Folio 18b

Author and Attributed name: ‘Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib, ca. 600–661 CE

Scribe and Autographer: Muḥammad ‘Alī
محمد علي

Title: Khaṭṭ-i Nasta‘līq

Title: خط نستعليق

Incipit: عَزَّ من قَنَعَ وَ ذَلَّ مَنْ طَمَعَ

Colophon: no colophon.

The same aphorism appears among others on Persian MS 10/8.

Language(s): Arabic

References

Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib (attributed), Exalted Aphorisms And Pearls Of Speech A Translation of: Ghurar Al-Hikam Wa Durar Al-Kalim [English & Arabic] Compiled by Abdul Wahid al-Tamimi al-Amudi, translated by Tahir Ridha Jaffer (Qum: Ansariyan, 2012), pp. 749, no. 65, 1069, no. 39.

Muḥammad ibn Mukarram Ibn Manẓūr, Lisān al-‘Arab, Vol. 8 (Beirut: Dār Ṣādir, 1375 AH [1955 CE]), p. 298.

Physical Description

Support: Central calligraphy written on mottled straw-coloured, externally sized and polished paper, with two interior and exterior 'post-and-lintel' borders formed of applied strips of dark indigo-coloured paper, all probably handmade in Awadh.
Calligraphy: 154 × 98 mm.
Interior Applied Border: 175 × 118 mm.
Intermediate Floral Margin: 312 × 233 mm.
Exterior Applied Border: 334 × 254 mm.
Folio: 342 × 262 mm.

Condition

In good condition albeit with modest insect damage in the centre.

Layout

Landscape format, written in 1 line.

Hand(s)

Written in black nasta‘līq.

Decoration

Line Fill: All lines outlined with gold cloud bands in infilled with gold and silver foliate scrollwork.

Margins: The interior and exterior applied borders bear silver vegetal scrollwork with alternating gilt foliage. vine, while the margin between them bears bold floral scrollwork.

Ruling: Interior and exterior borders ruled in gold outlined in thin black single interior and double exterior lines.

History

Origin: Probably completed by Muḥammad ‘Alī Mīrzā, in Lucknow; 1198 AH (1783–1784 CE).

Persian MS 10/19

Summary of Contents: This composition quotes an excerpt from the Qur'ān chapter al-Tawbah (Repentence), verse 120, written in bold nasta‘līq script states ‘Innā Allāha lā yuḍī‘u ‘ajra al-muḥsinīn (Indeed, God does not discount the rewards of the righteous)’ Completed by Muḥammad ‘Alī, probably in Lucknow, and dated 1199 AH (1784–1785 CE).

Folio 19b

Scribe and Autographer: Muḥammad ‘Alī
محمد علي

Title: Excerpt from Surah al-Tawbah (Repentence, Qur'ān 9:120)

Title: Khaṭṭ-i Nasta‘līq

Title: خط نستعليق

Incipit: إِنَّ اللَّهَ لَا يُضِيعُ أَجْرَ الْمُحْسِنِينَ

Colophon: محمد علی ۱۱۹۹

Colophon: Signed ‘Muḥammad ‘Alī 1199 AH (1784–1785 CE)’.

Language(s): Arabic

Published: Benson, 'Polier’s Posterior Album', p. 274, fig. 11.6A (top). For a prior version of this composition completed by the same calligrapher in 1195 AH (1780–1781 CE), see Stronge and Atighi-Moghaddam.

For a comparison of this composition with another dated 1195 AH (1780–1781 CE) by the same calligrapher see Stronge and Atighi-Moghaddam, as well as Benson.

References

National Art Library, MSL/1858/4765, fol. 14.

National Art Library, MSL/1858/4765, folio 25.

G. Böwering, 'Abū Saʿīd Abi’l-Ḵayr', Encyclopædia Iranica, Vol. I, Fasc. 4 (1985), pp. 377-380.

Abū Sa‘īd Abū al-Khayr, Sukhanān-i Manẓūm-i Abū Sa‘īd Abū al-Khayr. Edited by Sa‘īd Nafīsī (Tehran: Intishārāt-i Kitābkhānah-‘i Shams, 1334 SH [1955 CE]), p. 213, no. 24.

Physical Description

Support: Central calligraphy written on gold and silver-flecked, externally sized and polished turquoise-coloured paper. Two interior and exterior 'post-and-lintel' borders formed of strips of salmon pink-coloured paper, all probably handmade in Awadh.
Calligraphy: 189 × 73 mm.
Interior Applied Border: 212 × 95 mm.
Intermediate Floral Margin: 315 × 238 mm.
Exterior Applied Border: 338 × 258 mm.
Folio: 342 × 262 mm.

Condition

In good condition, albeit closely trimmed off at head and tail.

Layout

Landscape format, written in 1 line.

Hand(s)

Written in black nasta‘līq by Muḥammad ‘Alī Mīrzā.

Decoration

Line Fill: All lines outlined with gold cloud bands in infilled with gold and silver foliate scrollwork.

Margins: The interior and exterior applied borders bear silver vegetal scrollwork with alternating gilt foliage. vine, while the margin between them bears bold floral scrollwork.

Ruling: Interior and exterior borders ruled in gold outlined in thin black single interior and double exterior lines.

History

Origin: Signed by Muḥammad ‘Alī Mīrzā, probably in Lucknow; 1199 AH (1784–1785 CE).

Persian MS 10/20

Summary of Contents: quatrain (rubā‘ī) by Abū Saʻīd ibn Abī al-Khayr (967–1049) copied by Lucknow calligrapher Muḥammad ‘Alī Mīrzā as a formal oblique (chalīpā) calligraphy specimen (qiṭ‘ah) in nasta‘līq script, and dated 1198 AH (1783–1784 CE).

Folio 20b

Author: Abū Saʻīd ibn Abī al-Khayr, 967-1049

Scribe and Autographer: Muḥammad ‘Alī
محمد علي

Title: Rubāʻī

Title: رباعی ابو سعید

Incipit: هو العزیز الرحیم

Incipit: ای آنکه به ملک خویش پاینده تویی * وز دامن شب صبح نماینده تویی * کار من بیچاره قوی بسته شده * بگشای خدایا که گشاینده تویی

Colophon: ۱۱۹۸ محمد علی

Colophon: Signed ‘Muḥammad ‘Alī, 1198 AH (1783–1784 CE)’.

Language(s): Persian and Arabic

For a comparison of this composition with another dated 1195 AH (1780–1781 CE) by the same calligrapher see Stronge and Atighi-Moghaddam, as well as Benson.

References

National Art Library, MSL/1858/4765, folio 25.

G. Böwering, 'Abū Saʿīd Abi’l-Ḵayr', Encyclopædia Iranica, Vol. I, Fasc. 4 (1985), pp. 377-380.

Abū Sa‘īd Abū al-Khayr, Sukhanān-i Manẓūm-i Abū Sa‘īd Abū al-Khayr. Edited by Sa‘īd Nafīsī (Tehran: Intishārāt-i Kitābkhānah-‘i Shams, 1334 SH [1955 CE]), p. 213, no. 24.

Physical Description

Support: Central calligraphy written on externally sized, polished, and gold-flecked (zar afshān) marbled paper (abrī) that features bisected motifs in pale ochre, green, and pink, as well as two interior and exterior 'post-and-lintel' borders formed of applied strips of dark indigo-coloured paper, all probably handmade in Awadh.
Calligraphy: 220 × 118 mm.
Interior Applied Border: 240 × 140 mm.
Intermediate Floral Margin: 308 × 203 mm.
Exterior Applied Border: 335 × 255 mm.
Folio: 330 × 251 mm.

Condition

In good condition, albeit closely trimmed off at head and tail.

Layout

Portrait format, written in 4 oblique lines. Probably ruled with a misṭarah hand guide.

Hand(s)

Written in black nasta‘līq by Muḥammad ‘Alī Mīrzā.

Decoration

Line Fill: All lines outlined with gold cloud bands in infilled with gold and silver foliate scrollwork.

Margins: The interior and exterior applied borders bear silver vegetal scrollwork with alternating gilt foliage. vine, while the margin between them bears bold floral scrollwork.

Ruling: Interior and exterior borders ruled in gold outlined in thin black single interior and double exterior lines.

History

Origin: Signed by Muḥammad ‘Alī Mīrzā, probably in Lucknow; 1198 AH (1783–1784 CE).

Persian MS 10/21

Summary of Contents: quatrain (rubā‘ī) abridged from a longer lyric (ghazal) poem by Jalāl al-Dīn Rūmī (1207–1273) copied by Lucknow calligrapher Muḥammad ‘Alī Mīrzā as a formal oblique (chalīpā) calligraphy specimen (qiṭ‘ah) in nasta‘līq script, and dated 1197 AH (1782–1783 CE).

Folio 21b

Author: Jalāl al-Dīn Rūmī, 1207–1273

Scribe and Autographer: Muḥammad ‘Alī
محمد علي

Title: Abridged ghazal from the Dīvān-i Shams-i Tabrizī

Title: غزل

Incipit: هو المعزّ

Incipit: یکی لحظه از او دوری نشاید * کز آن دوری خرابی‌ها فزاید * بهر حالی که باشی پیش او باش * که از نزدیک بودن مهر زاند

Colophon: ۱۱۹۷ محمد علی

Colophon: Signed ‘Muḥammad ‘Alī, 1197 AH (1782–1783 CE)’.

Language(s): Persian and Arabic

For an analysis of this composition in relation to others in the album, see Benson. Note the calligrapher wrote the last word of the first line as shāyad instead of bāyad and the final word as zānad instead of zāyad as found in critical editions of the poem.

References

Jalāl al-Dīn Rūmī, Kulliyāt-i Shams-i Tabrīzī : dīvān-i ghazaliyāt, tarjīʻāt, rubāʻiyāt-i Jalāl al-Dīn Muḥammad ibn Shaykh Bahāʼ al-Dīn Muḥammad ibn Ḥusayn Balkhī, mashhūr bi-Mawlavī, Edited by B. Furūzānfar, Ḥ. ʻAmīd and M. Darvīsh (Tehran: Kitābkhānah-ʼi Sanāʼī, 1341 SH [1962 CE]), p. 275, no. 682.

Physical Description

Support: Central calligraphy written on externally sized and polished marbled paper (abrī) that features rows of droplets pale and medium red droplets teased into cloud-like shapes subsequently outlined (tash‘īr) in gold ink, surrounded by two interior and exterior 'post-and-lintel' borders formed of applied strips of salmon pink-coloured paper, all probably handmade in Awadh.
Calligraphy: 218 × 127 mm.
Interior Applied Border: 240 × 148 mm.
Intermediate Floral Margin: 314 × 235 mm.
Exterior Applied Border: 337 × 258 mm.
Folio: 330 × 251 mm.

Condition

In good condition.

Layout

Portrait format, written in 4 oblique lines. Probably ruled with a misṭarah hand guide.

Hand(s)

Written in black nasta‘līq by Muḥammad ‘Alī Mīrzā.

Decoration

Line Fill: All lines outlined with gold cloud bands in infilled with gold and silver foliate scrollwork.

Margins: The interior and exterior applied borders bear silver vegetal scrollwork with alternating gilt foliage. vine, while the margin between them bears bold floral scrollwork.

Ruling: Interior and exterior borders ruled in gold outlined in thin black single interior and double exterior lines.

History

Origin: Signed by Muḥammad ‘Alī Mīrzā, probably in Lucknow; 1197 AH (1782–1783 CE).

Persian MS 10/22

Summary of Contents: Lucknow calligrapher Muḥammad ‘Alī Mīrzā copied these two couplets excerpted from the poem Yusuf and Zukaykhā by Jāmī (1207–1273) and arranged them here as a quatrain (rubā‘ī) for a formal oblique (chalīpā) calligraphy specimen (qiṭ‘ah) in nasta‘līq script. Albeit undated, he signs his full name together with the honorific Muraṣṣa‘ Raqam (Bedecked-Pen).

Folio 22b

Author: Jāmī, 1207–1273

Scribe and Autographer: Muḥammad ‘Alī
محمد علي

Title: Two couplets from Yūsuf va Zulaykhā

Title: یوسف و زلیخا

Incipit: (beginning) هوّ العزیز الرشید

Incipit: منه پا منصبی را در میانه * که عزل و نصب را گردی نشانه * ز آسودن در آن مسند بپرهیز * که گیرد دیگری دستت که برخیز

Colophon: کتبه العبد المذنب محمد علی خان مرصع رقم غفر الله ذنوبه.

Colophon: Signed ‘Katabuhu al-‘Abd al-Mudhannib Muḥammad ‘Alī Khān 'Marṣa‘ Raqam ghafar Allāh ‘uyūbuhu (The Sinful Servant Muḥammad ‘Ali Khān 'Bedecked-Pen', God forgive his faults, wrote it)’.

Language(s): Persian and Arabic

For an analysis of this composition in relation to others in the album, see Benson.

References

Nūr al-Dīn ʻAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Aḥmad Jāmī, Mas̲navī-i Haft Awrang, Vol. 2. Edited by Aʻlākhān Afṣaḥʹzād and Ḥusayn Aḥmad Tarbiyat (Tehran: Mirās̱-i Maktūb, 1378 SH [1999 CE]), p. 204.

P. Losensky, 'Jāmi i. Life and Works’', Encyclopædia Iranica, Vol. XIV, Fasc. 5 (2008), pp. 469-475 .

Physical Description

Support: Central calligraphy written on externally sized and polished marbled paper (abrī) that features yellow and red double-heart droplet motifs on a warm grey-brown striated and repeatedly bisected ground, sparsely flecked with gold, surrounded by two interior and exterior 'post-and-lintel' borders formed of applied strips of salmon pink-coloured paper, all probably handmade in Awadh.
Calligraphy: 224 × 133 mm.
Interior Applied Border: 248 × 156 mm.
Intermediate Floral Margin: 314 × 236 mm.
Exterior Applied Border: 338 × 257 mm.
Folio: 330 × 251 mm.

Condition

In good condition, with a conspicuous vertical crease down the centre that caused distortions in the marbled pattern, made before the calligrapher employed it.

Layout

Portrait format, written in 4 oblique lines. Probably ruled with a misṭarah hand guide.

Hand(s)

Written in black nasta‘līq by Muḥammad ‘Alī Mīrzā.

Decoration

Line Fill: All lines outlined with gold cloud bands in infilled with gold and silver foliate scrollwork.

Margins: The interior and exterior applied borders bear silver vegetal scrollwork with alternating gilt foliage. vine, while the margin between them bears bold floral scrollwork.

Ruling: Interior and exterior borders ruled in gold outlined in thin black single interior and double exterior lines.

History

Origin: Signed by Muḥammad ‘Alī Mīrzā, probably in Lucknow undated, but before 1200 AH (1785–1786 CE).

Persian MS 10/23

Summary of Contents: This anonymous quatrain (rubā‘ī) comprises a form of tongue-twister that repeats the letter kāf. Lucknow calligrapher Muḥammad ‘Alī Mīrzā copied it as a formal oblique (chalīpā) calligraphy specimen (qiṭ‘ah), in nasta‘līq script in 1197 AH (1782–1783 CE).

Folio 23b

Author: Anonymous

Scribe and Autographer: Muḥammad ‘Alī
محمد علي

Title: Tongue-Twisting Quatrain

Title: یوسف و زلیخا

Incipit: (beginning) هوّ العزیز الرشید

Incipit: کاشکی که یک شَبَکی کنج باغکی * بودی چراغکی، مِیَکی با ایاغکی * معشوقکی شکر لبکی زود خشمکی * بد مستکی جفا کنکی تر دماغکی

Colophon: ۱۱۹۷ محمد علی

Colophon: Signed ‘Muḥammad ‘Alī, 1197 AH (1782–1783 CE)’.

Language(s): Persian and Arabic

References

Physical Description

Support: Central calligraphy written on externally sized and polished , cross-grained pale turquoise-coloured paper, surrounded by two interior and exterior 'post-and-lintel' borders formed of applied strips of salmon pink-coloured paper, all probably handmade in Awadh.
Calligraphy: 225 × 123 mm.
Interior Applied Border: 246 × 156 mm.
Intermediate Floral Margin: 313 × 235 mm.
Exterior Applied Border: 337 × 257 mm.
Folio: 330 × 251 mm.

Condition

In good condition.

Layout

Portrait format, written in 4 oblique lines. Probably ruled with a misṭarah hand guide.

Hand(s)

Written in black nasta‘līq by Muḥammad ‘Alī Mīrzā.

Decoration

Line Fill: All lines outlined with gold cloud bands in infilled with gold and silver foliate scrollwork.

Margins: The interior and exterior applied borders bear silver vegetal scrollwork with alternating gilt foliage. vine, while the margin between them bears bold floral scrollwork.

Ruling: Interior and exterior borders ruled in gold outlined in thin black single interior and double exterior lines.

History

Origin: Signed by Muḥammad ‘Alī Mīrzā, probably in Lucknow; 1197 AH (1782–1783 CE).

Persian MS 10/24

Summary of Contents: Lucknow calligrapher Muḥammad ‘Alī Mīrzā copied this variation on two couplets excerpted from a lyric poem (ghazal) by Ṭālib Āmulī (1586–1626) as a formal oblique (chalīpā) calligraphy specimen (qiṭ‘ah), in nasta‘līq script in 1198 AH (1783–1784 CE).

Folio 24b

Author: Ṭālib Āmulī, 1586-1626

Scribe and Autographer: Muḥammad ‘Alī
محمد علي

Title: Couplets excerpted from a ghazal

Title: Khaṭṭ-i Nasta‘līq

Title: خط نستعليق

Incipit: (beginning) هوّ المعزّ

Incipit: چشمان تو شوخي بغزال ختن آموخت * رفتار تو آرام به سرو چمن آموخت * افروختن و سوختن و جامه دريدن * پروانه ز من شمع ز من گل ز من آموخت

Colophon: ۱۱۹۸ محمد علی

Colophon: Signed ‘Muḥammad ‘Alī, 1198 AH (1783–1784 CE)’.

Language(s): Persian and Arabic

For a discussion of this composition in relation to an earlier one by the same calligrapher, see Benson. For the margins, see Imbert. 'Polier’s Posterior Album', p. 275, fig. 11.7A (top). Comprised of the first and fourth hemistichs, this redaction reverses hemistichs in the first line, and the order of the first three words in the first hemistich, and replaces tamkīn with chashmān in the second.

References

Ṭālib Āmulī, Kulliyāt-i Ashʻār-i Malik al-Shuʻarāʼ Ṭālib Āmulī. Edited by Ṭāhirī Shihāb (Tehran: Kitābkhānah-ʼi Sanāʼī, 1346 SH [1967 CE]), p. 314, no. 229.

Physical Description

Support: Central calligraphy written on externally sized and polished, gold-dusted buff-coloured paper, surrounded by two interior and exterior 'post-and-lintel' borders formed of applied strips of dark indigo-coloured paper, all probably handmade in Awadh.
Calligraphy: 300 × 167 mm.
Interior Applied Border: 315 × 190 mm.
Intermediate Floral Margin: 321 × 235 mm.
Exterior Applied Border: 335 × 255 mm.
Folio: 330 × 251 mm.

Condition

In fair condition, with insect damage on the surface of the calligraphy and in the margin at top-right.

Layout

Portrait format, written in 4 oblique lines. Probably ruled with a misṭarah hand guide.

Hand(s)

Written in black nasta‘līq by Muḥammad ‘Alī Mīrzā.

Decoration

Line Fill: All lines outlined with gold cloud bands in infilled with gold and silver foliate scrollwork.

Margins: The interior and exterior applied borders bear silver vegetal scrollwork with alternating gilt foliage. vine, while the margin between them bears bold floral scrollwork.

Ruling: Interior and exterior borders ruled in gold outlined in thin black single interior and double exterior lines.

History

Origin: Signed by Muḥammad ‘Alī Mīrzā, probably in Lucknow; 1198 AH (1783–1784 CE).

Persian MS 10/25

Summary of Contents: A little-known late 18th-century calligrapher Muḥammad Ibrāhīm copied this anonymous tongue-twisting quatrain as a formal oblique (chalīpā) calligraphy specimen (qiṭ‘ah) in nasta‘līq script.

Folio 25b

Author: Anonymous

Scribe and Autographer: Muḥammad Ibrāhīm, fl. late 18th to early 19th c.
محمد ابراهیم

Title: Fragment

Title: قطاعه

Incipit: (beginning) هوّ المعزّ

Incipit: زیب ختنی زینت تخت چینی * بی چین چنین تخت چین نشینی * بنشین بشین بخشش فیض بخش * زین بخشش فیض فیض بخشش هسنی

Colophon: راقمه محمد ابراهیم

Colophon: Signed ‘Rāqimuhu Muḥammad Ibrāhīm’.

Language(s): Persian and Arabic

For another example of this composition by the same calligrapher, see Bodleian Library, MS. Ouseley Add. 173, folio 23a. Mahdī Bayāni describes him as evidently active in India during the mid-18th to early 19th century, including one preserved in the same Bodleian album on folio 12b dated 1216 AH (1801–02 CE).

References

Mahdī Bayānī, Aḥvāl va Ās̱ār-i Khvushnivīsān, vol. 3 (Tehran: University of Tehran Press, 1348 SH [1970 CE]), p. 623, no. 844.

Physical Description

Support: Central calligraphy written on externally sized and polished, gold and silver flecked, ivory-coloured paper, probably handmade in the Indian subcontinent, surrounded by two interior and exterior 'post-and-lintel' borders formed of applied strips of slate grey-coloured paper, probably handmade in Awadh.
Calligraphy: 195 × 95 mm.
Interior Applied Border: 216 × 118 mm.
Intermediate Floral Margin: 321 × 235 mm.
Exterior Applied Border: 314 × 235 mm.
Folio: 332 × 257 mm.

Condition

In fair condition, with some discolouration, and closely trimmed off at the tail edge.

Layout

Portrait format, written in 4 oblique lines. Probably ruled with a misṭarah hand guide.

Hand(s)

Written in black nasta‘līq by Muḥammad ‘Alī Mīrzā.

Decoration

Line Fill: All lines outlined with gold cloud bands in infilled with gold and silver foliate scrollwork.

Margins: The interior and exterior applied borders bear silver vegetal scrollwork with alternating gilt foliage. vine, while the margin between them bears bold floral scrollwork.

Ruling: Interior and exterior borders ruled in gold outlined in thin black single interior and double exterior lines.

History

Origin: Signed by Muḥammad Ibrāhīm, possibly in Lucknow undated, but before 1200 AH (1785–1786 CE).

Persian MS 10/26

Summary of Contents: Famed calligrapher ‘Abd al-Rashīd Daylamī (d. ca. 1670), also known as Āqā Rashīd and ‘Rashīdā’ copied this panegyric sextain (musaddis) praising a pious man named Mullā Muḥammad Ṣalāḥ excerpted by from a lyric (ghazal) poem of Ḥāfiẓ (967–1049), for this formal oblique (chalīpā) calligraphy specimen (qiṭ‘ah) copied in refined nasta‘līq script. A nephew and student of famed Iranian calligrapher Mīr ‘Imād al-Ḥasanī (d. 1615), he fled Isfahan for Delhi after his uncle’s murder, where the Mughal ruler Shah Jahan I (b. 1592, r. 1628–1658) employed him to teach his children.. A principal proponent of his uncle's style of nasta‘līq script in the Indian subcontinent, subsequent calligraphers within the region, such as Muḥammad ‘Alī Mīrzā and others represented within this album, especially admired and emulated him.

Folio 26b

Scribe and Autographer: ‘Abd al-Rashīd Daylamī, d. ca. 1670
عبد الرشید دیلمی
Āqā Rashīd
آقا رشید
Rashīdā
رشیدا

Title: Khaṭṭ-i Nasta‘līq

Title: خط نستعليق

Incipit: (beginning) هوّ العزیز الرحیم

Incipit: با طوار ملا محمد صلاح * کسی یاد ندهد ز اهل جهان | بتقوی او زاهد صالحی * نبودست در زمرهٔ زاهدان | همیشه بیاد خدا و رسول * ⟨نـ⟩شد غافل از ذکرشان

Colophon: الفقیر المذنب عبد الرشید غفر له

Colophon: Signed ‘Katabuhu al-Faqīr ‘Abd al-Rashīd, ghafar lahu. (The poor ‘Abd al-Rashīd wrote it, forgive him)’.

Language(s): Arabic

For a discussion of the margins, see Imbert.

References

Mahdī Bayānī, Aḥvāl va Ās̱ār-i Khvushnivīsān, Vol. 2 (Tehran: University of Tehran Press, 1348 SH [1970 CE]), pp. 393-400, no. 531.

P. Soucek, 'ʿAbd-al-Rašīd Daylamī', Encyclopædia Iranica, Vol. I, Fasc. 2 (1985), pp. 149-150.

Physical Description

Support: Central calligraphy written on externally sized and polished mottled buff-coloured paper, probably handmade in the Indian subcontinent. Two interior and exterior 'post-and-lintel' borders formed of strips of slate grey-coloured paper, probably handmade in Awadh.
Calligraphy: 198 × 74 mm.
Interior Applied Border: 218 × 95 mm.
Intermediate Floral Margin: 315 × 235 mm.
Exterior Applied Border: 337 × 255 mm.
Folio: 338 × 257 mm.

Condition

Calligraphy in fair condition, with mould and insect damage on the upper surface and paper discoloured.

Layout

Portrait format, written in one column in 6 lines with a smaller header and colophon above and below.

Hand(s)

Written in black nasta‘līq by ‘Abd al-Rashīd Daylamī.

Decoration

Line Fill: All lines outlined with gold cloud bands in infilled with gold and silver foliate scrollwork.

Margins: The interior and exterior applied borders bear silver vegetal scrollwork with alternating gilt foliage. vine, while the margin between them bears bold floral scrollwork.

Ruling: Interior and exterior borders ruled in gold outlined in thin black single interior and double exterior lines.

History

Origin: Signed by ‘Abd al-Rashīd Daylamī, probably in Shāhjahānābād (Dehli).

Persian MS 10/27

Summary of Contents: Delhi calligrapher Shams al-Dīn ‘Alī Khān (fl. late 17th-early 18th c.), known as ‘Jawhar Raqam-i S̱ānī’ copied the initial lines excerpted from a sextain (musaddis) by poet Riz̤ā'ī Kāshānī (d. 1590) as a formal oblique (chalīpā) calligraphy specimen (qiṭ‘ah) in refined nasta‘līq script, dated at the start of Ẕī-al-Ḥijjah 1136 AH (End of Aug. 1724 CE).

Folio 27b

Scribe and Autographer: Shams al-Dīn ‘Alī Khān Jawhar Raqam-i S̱ānī
شمس الدین علی خان جوهر رقم ثانی

Title: Khaṭṭ-i Nasta‘līq

Title: خط نستعليق

Incipit: (beginning) ز گرمیهای دوشین تو امشب یاد میکردم * سپندآسا ز جا می‌جستم و فریاد می‌کردم | فریب خویش میدادم که اینک یار آندمی * به هر آواز پائی خاطر خود شاد می کردم |

Colophon: جوهر رقم ثانی تبریزی نوشت غرهٔ ذی الحجه ۱۱۳۶

Colophon: Signed ‘Jawhar Raqam-i S̱ānī Tabrīzī nivisht, ghurah-'i Ẕī-al-Ḥijjah 1136 AH’ (The Second Bedecked Pen of Tabriz wrote it at the start of Ẕī-al-Ḥijjah 1136 [AH End of Aug. 1724 CE].

Language(s): Arabic

The scribe replaced the final word in the third hemisitch, mī-āyād with andamī in the version reported by his contemporary Taqī al-Dīn Awḥadī, who knew him personally.

References

Taqī al-Dīn Awḥādī, ʿArafāt al-ʿĀshiqīn wa-ʿAraṣāt al-ʿĀrifīn, Vol. 3. Edited by Ẕabīḥ-Allāh Ṣāḥibkārī and Āmina Fakhr-Aḥmad (Tehran: Mīrās̱-i Maktūb, 1389 SH [2010 CE]), p. 1606.

Mīr Taqī al-Dīn Kāshānī, Khulāṣat al-Ashʿār wa Zubdat al-Afkār, Vol. 6.1: Bakhsh-i Kāshān. Edited by ʿAbd al-ʿAlī Khān Burūmānd and Muḥammad Ḥusayn Naṣīrī Kahnamūyī (Tehran: Mīrās̱-i Maktūb, 1384 SH [2005 CE]), p. 1606.

Physical Description

Support: Central calligraphy written on externally sized and polished buff-coloured paper. Two interior and exterior 'post-and-lintel' borders formed of strips of slate grey-coloured paper, all probably handmade in Awadh.
Calligraphy: 220 × 110 mm.
Interior Applied Border: 242 × 131 mm.
Intermediate Floral Margin: 314 × 235 mm.
Exterior Applied Border: 336 × 255 mm.
Folio: 338 × 257 mm.

Condition

Calligraphy in poor condition with extensive mould and insect damage to the surface and discolouration of the paper.

Layout

Portrait format, written in 1 column in 5 oblique lines, with the signature written horizontally at bottom.

Hand(s)

Written in black nasta‘līq by Shams al-Dīn ‘Alī Khān.

Decoration

Line Fill: All lines outlined with gold cloud bands in infilled with gold and silver foliate scrollwork.

Margins: The interior and exterior applied borders bear silver vegetal scrollwork with alternating gilt foliage. vine, while the margin between them bears bold floral scrollwork.

Ruling: Interior and exterior borders ruled in gold outlined in thin black single interior and double exterior lines.

History

Origin: Completed by Shams al-Dīn ‘Alī Khān, probably in Shāhjahānābād (Dehli); at the start of Ẕī-al-Ḥijjah 1136 AH (End of Aug. 1724 CE).

Persian MS 10/28

Summary of Contents: Lucknow calligrapher Muḥammad ‘Alī copied these lines excerpted from a lyric (ghazal) poem by Ḥāfiẓ (967–1049) as a formal oblique (chalīpā) calligraphy specimen (qiṭ‘ah) in refined nasta‘līq script, dated 1199 AH (1784–1785 CE).

Folio 28b

Scribe and Autographer: Muḥammad ‘Alī
محمد علي

Title: Khaṭṭ-i Nasta‘līq

Title: خط نستعليق

Incipit: هو المعزّ

Incipit: ای قبای پادشاهی راست بر بالای تو * تاج شاهی را فروغ از گوهر والای تو | آفتاب فتح را هر دم طلوعی میدهد * از کلاه خسروی رخسار مه سیمای تو | جلوه گاه طایر اقبال باشد هر کجا * سایه‌اندازد همای چتر گردون سای تو | عرض حاجت در حریم حضرتت محتاج نیست * راز کس مخفی نماند با فروغ رای تو | گر چه خورشید فلک چشم و چراغ عالم است * روشنائی بخش چشم اوست خاک پای تو | حافظ اندر حضرتت لاف غلامی می زند * بر امید عفو جان بخش گنه بخشای تو

Colophon: محمد علی ۱۱۹۹

Colophon: Signed ‘Muḥammad ‘Alī 1199 AH (1784–1785 CE)’.

Language(s): Arabic

This redaction includes the first three couplets, with a variant second hemistich in the first, then proceeds to the eight then sixth lines then concludes with the final tenth one.

References

Ḥāfiẓ, The Divan of Hafez: A Bilingual Text Persian-English. Translated by Reza Saberi (Lanham: University Press of America, 2002), p. 474, no. 402.

Physical Description

Support: Central calligraphy written on externally sized and polished buff-coloured paper. Two interior and exterior 'post-and-lintel' borders formed of strips of salmon pink-coloured paper, all probably handmade in Awadh.
Calligraphy: 238 × 140 mm.
Interior Applied Border: 260 × 164 mm.
Intermediate Floral Margin: 315 × 237 mm.
Exterior Applied Border: 338 × 258 mm.
Folio: 338 × 257 mm.

Condition

In good condition.

Layout

Portrait format, written in two columns in 12 lines with a smaller header and colophon above and below.

Hand(s)

Written in black nasta‘līq by Muḥammad ‘Alī Mīrzā.

Decoration

Line Fill: All lines outlined with gold cloud bands in infilled with gold and silver foliate scrollwork.

Margins: The interior and exterior applied borders bear silver vegetal scrollwork with alternating gilt foliage. vine, while the margin between them bears bold floral scrollwork.

Ruling: Interior and exterior borders ruled in gold outlined in thin black single interior and double exterior lines.

History

Origin: Signed by Muḥammad ‘Alī Mīrzā, probably in Lucknow; 1199 AH (1784–1785 CE).

Persian MS 10/29

Summary of Contents: This composition features combinations of murakkibāt practice lettering of the entire abjad Arabic alphabet, followed by a brief excerpt from the Qur'ān chapter al-Mu'minūn (The Believers), verse 14, written in bold nasta‘līq. Albeit unsigned and undated, Muḥammad ‘Alī Mīrzā probably copied it in Lucknow before 1200 AH (1785–1786 CE).

Folio 29b

Scribe and Autographer: Muḥammad ‘Alī
محمد علي

Title: Practice letters followed by an excerpt from Surah al-Mu'minūn (The Believers, Qur'ān 23:14)

Title: Khaṭṭ-i Nasta‘līq

Title: خط نستعليق

Colophon: No colophon.

Language(s): Arabic

For a comparison of this composition with an earlier one probably by the same calligrapher discussed by Stronge and Atighi-Moghaddam, see Benson.

References

National Art Library, MSL/1858/4765, folio 13.

Physical Description

Support: Central calligraphy written on gold and silver-flecked, externally sized and polished, ivory-coloured paper. Two interior and exterior 'post-and-lintel' borders formed of strips of slate grey-coloured paper, all probably handmade in Awadh.
Calligraphy: 260 × 143 mm.
Interior Applied Border: 283 × 165 mm.
Intermediate Floral Margin: 315 × 236 mm.
Exterior Applied Border: 335 × 255 mm.
Folio: 342 × 262 mm.

Condition

In good condition, albeit closely trimmed off at head and tail.

Layout

Landscape format, written in 2 lines.

Hand(s)

Written in black nasta‘līq.

Decoration

Line Fill: All lines outlined with gold cloud bands in infilled with gold and silver foliate scrollwork.

Margins: The interior and exterior applied borders bear silver vegetal scrollwork with alternating gilt foliage. vine, while the margin between them bears bold floral scrollwork.

Ruling: Interior and exterior borders ruled in gold outlined in thin black single interior and double exterior lines.

History

Origin: Probably completed by Muḥammad ‘Alī in Lucknow undated, but before 1200 AH (1785–1786 CE).

Persian MS 10/30

Summary of Contents: This composition features combinations of murakkibāt practice lettering beginning with the Arabic letter hā (هـ) written in bold nasta‘līq. Albeit unsigned and undated, Muḥammad ‘Alī Mīrzā probably copied it in Lucknow before 1200 AH (1785–1786 CE).

Folio 30b

Scribe and Autographer: Muḥammad ‘Alī
محمد علي

Title: Khaṭṭ-i Nasta‘līq

Title: خط نستعليق

Colophon: No colophon.

Language(s): Arabic

For a prior version of this composition probably completed by the same calligrapher, see Stronge and Atighi-Moghaddam.

References

National Art Library, MSL/1858/4765, folio 12.

Physical Description

Support: Central calligraphy written on gold and silver-flecked, externally sized and polished, ivory-coloured paper. Two interior and exterior 'post-and-lintel' borders formed of strips of slate grey-coloured paper, all probably handmade in Awadh.
Calligraphy: 261 × 145 mm.
Interior Applied Border: 283 × 168 mm.
Intermediate Floral Margin: 315 × 236 mm.
Exterior Applied Border: 336 × 257 mm.
Folio: 342 × 262 mm.

Condition

In good condition, albeit discoloured yellowing and closely trimmed off at the tail.

Layout

Landscape format, written in 2 lines.

Hand(s)

Written in black nasta‘līq.

Decoration

Line Fill: All lines outlined with gold cloud bands in infilled with gold and silver foliate scrollwork.

Margins: The interior and exterior applied borders bear silver vegetal scrollwork with alternating gilt foliage. vine, while the margin between them bears bold floral scrollwork.

Ruling: Interior and exterior borders ruled in gold outlined in thin black single interior and double exterior lines.

History

Origin: Probably completed by Muḥammad ‘Alī in Lucknow undated, but before 1200 AH (1785–1786 CE).

Persian MS 10/31

Summary of Contents: This composition features combinations of murakkibāt practice lettering beginning with the Arabic letter mīm (مـ) written in bold nasta‘līq. Albeit unsigned and undated, Muḥammad ‘Alī Mīrzā probably copied it in Lucknow before 1200 AH (1785–1786 CE).

Folio 31b

Scribe and Autographer: Muḥammad ‘Alī
محمد علي

Title: Khaṭṭ-i Nasta‘līq

Title: خط نستعليق

Colophon: No colophon.

Language(s): Arabic

For a prior version of this composition probably completed by the same calligrapher, see Stronge and Atighi-Moghaddam.

References

National Art Library, MSL/1858/4765, fol. 11.

Physical Description

Support: Central calligraphy written on gold and silver-flecked, externally sized and polished, ivory-coloured paper. Two interior and exterior 'post-and-lintel' borders formed of strips of slate grey-coloured paper, all probably handmade in Awadh.
Calligraphy: 267 × 145 mm.
Interior Applied Border: 288 × 166 mm.
Intermediate Floral Margin: 315 × 236 mm.
Exterior Applied Border: 335 × 255 mm.
Folio: 342 × 262 mm.

Condition

In good condition, albeit discoloured yellow and closely trimmed off at the tail.

Layout

Landscape format, written in 2 lines.

Hand(s)

Written in black nasta‘līq.

Decoration

Line Fill: All lines outlined with gold cloud bands in infilled with gold and silver foliate scrollwork.

Margins: The interior and exterior applied borders bear silver vegetal scrollwork with alternating gilt foliage. vine, while the margin between them bears bold floral scrollwork.

Ruling: Interior and exterior borders ruled in gold outlined in thin black single interior and double exterior lines.

History

Origin: Probably completed by Muḥammad ‘Alī in Lucknow undated, but before 1200 AH (1785–1786 CE).

Persian MS 10/32

Summary of Contents: This composition features combinations of murakkibāt practice lettering beginning with the Arabic letter kāf (کـ) written in bold nasta‘līq. Albeit unsigned and undated, Muḥammad ‘Alī Mīrzā probably copied it in Lucknow before 1200 AH (1785–1786 CE).

Folio 32b

Scribe and Autographer: Muḥammad ‘Alī
محمد علي

Title: Khaṭṭ-i Nasta‘līq

Title: خط نستعليق

Colophon: No colophon.

Language(s): Arabic

For a prior version of this composition probably completed by the same calligrapher, see Stronge and Atighi-Moghaddam.

References

National Art Library, MSL/1858/4765, fol. 10.

Physical Description

Support: Central calligraphy written on gold and silver-flecked, externally sized and polished, ivory-coloured paper. Two interior and exterior 'post-and-lintel' borders formed of strips of slate grey-coloured paper, all probably handmade in Awadh.
Calligraphy: 261 × 146 mm.
Interior Applied Border: 281 × 168 mm.
Intermediate Floral Margin: 315 × 238 mm.
Exterior Applied Border: 338 × 256 mm.
Folio: 342 × 262 mm.

Condition

In good condition, albeit discoloured yellow, and very tight opening to the gutter margin.

Layout

Landscape format, written in 2 lines.

Hand(s)

Written in black nasta‘līq.

Decoration

Line Fill: All lines outlined with gold cloud bands in infilled with gold and silver foliate scrollwork.

Margins: The interior and exterior applied borders bear silver vegetal scrollwork with alternating gilt foliage. vine, while the margin between them bears bold floral scrollwork.

Ruling: Interior and exterior borders ruled in gold outlined in thin black single interior and double exterior lines.

History

Origin: Probably completed by Muḥammad ‘Alī in Lucknow undated, but before 1200 AH (1785–1786 CE).

Persian MS 10/33

Summary of Contents: This composition features combinations of murakkibāt practice lettering beginning with the Arabic letter fā (فـ) written in bold nasta‘līq. Albeit unsigned and undated, Muḥammad ‘Alī Mīrzā probably copied it in Lucknow before 1200 AH (1785–1786 CE).

Folio 33b

Scribe and Autographer: Muḥammad ‘Alī
محمد علي

Title: Khaṭṭ-i Nasta‘līq

Title: خط نستعليق

Colophon: No colophon.

Language(s): Arabic

For a prior version of this composition probably completed by the same calligrapher, see Stronge and Atighi-Moghaddam.

References

National Art Library, MSL/1858/4765, fol. 9.

Physical Description

Support: Central calligraphy written on gold and silver-flecked, externally sized and polished, ivory-coloured paper. Two interior and exterior 'post-and-lintel' borders formed of strips of slate grey-coloured paper, all probably handmade in Awadh.
Calligraphy: 261 × 142 mm.
Interior Applied Border: 280 × 162 mm.
Intermediate Floral Margin: 315 × 235 mm.
Exterior Applied Border: 336 × 254 mm.
Folio: 342 × 262 mm.

Condition

In good condition, albeit discoloured yellow. Outlining of the marginal ruling unfinished at head and tail.

Layout

Landscape format, written in 2 lines.

Hand(s)

Written in black nasta‘līq.

Decoration

Line Fill: All lines outlined with gold cloud bands in infilled with gold and silver foliate scrollwork.

Margins: The interior and exterior applied borders bear silver vegetal scrollwork with alternating gilt foliage. vine, while the margin between them bears bold floral scrollwork.

Ruling: Interior and exterior borders ruled in gold outlined in thin black single interior and double exterior lines.

History

Origin: Probably completed by Muḥammad ‘Alī in Lucknow undated, but before 1200 AH (1785–1786 CE).

Persian MS 10/34

Summary of Contents: This composition features combinations of murakkibāt practice lettering beginning with the Arabic letter ‘ayn (عـ) written in bold nasta‘līq. Albeit unsigned and undated, Muḥammad ‘Alī Mīrzā probably copied it in Lucknow before 1200 AH (1785–1786 CE).

Folio 34b

Scribe and Autographer: Muḥammad ‘Alī
محمد علي

Title: Khaṭṭ-i Nasta‘līq

Title: خط نستعليق

Colophon: No colophon.

Language(s): Arabic

For a prior version of this composition probably completed by the same calligrapher, see Stronge and Atighi-Moghaddam.

References

National Art Library, MSL/1858/4765, fol. 8.

Physical Description

Support: Central calligraphy written on gold and silver-flecked, externally sized and polished, ivory-coloured paper. Two interior and exterior 'post-and-lintel' borders formed of strips of slate grey-coloured paper, all probably handmade in Awadh.
Calligraphy: 261 × 145 mm.
Interior Applied Border: 281 × 167 mm.
Intermediate Floral Margin: 315 × 235 mm.
Exterior Applied Border: 335 × 255 mm.
Folio: 342 × 262 mm.

Condition

In good condition, albeit discoloured yellow. Outlining of the marginal ruling unfinished at head and tail.

Layout

Landscape format, written in 2 lines.

Hand(s)

Written in black nasta‘līq.

Decoration

Line Fill: All lines outlined with gold cloud bands in infilled with gold and silver foliate scrollwork.

Margins: The interior and exterior applied borders bear silver vegetal scrollwork with alternating gilt foliage. vine, while the margin between them bears bold floral scrollwork.

Ruling: Interior and exterior borders ruled in gold outlined in thin black single interior and double exterior lines.

History

Origin: Probably completed by Muḥammad ‘Alī in Lucknow undated, but before 1200 AH (1785–1786 CE).

Persian MS 10/35

Summary of Contents: This composition features combinations of murakkibāt practice lettering beginning with the Arabic letter ṭā (طـ) written in bold nasta‘līq. Albeit unsigned and undated, Muḥammad ‘Alī Mīrzā probably copied it in Lucknow before 1200 AH (1785–1786 CE).

Folio 35b

Scribe and Autographer: Muḥammad ‘Alī
محمد علي

Title: Khaṭṭ-i Nasta‘līq

Title: خط نستعليق

Colophon: No colophon.

Language(s): Arabic

For a prior version of this composition probably completed by the same calligrapher, see Stronge and Atighi-Moghaddam.

References

National Art Library, MSL/1858/4765, fol. 7.

Physical Description

Support: Central calligraphy written on gold and silver-flecked, externally sized and polished, ivory-coloured paper. Two interior and exterior 'post-and-lintel' borders formed of strips of slate grey-coloured paper, all probably handmade in Awadh.
Calligraphy: 258 × 148 mm.
Interior Applied Border: 280 × 168 mm.
Intermediate Floral Margin: 315 × 235 mm.
Exterior Applied Border: 335 × 255 mm.
Folio: 342 × 262 mm.

Condition

In good condition, albeit discoloured yellow and tight opening to the gutter margin. Outlining of exterior marginal ruling left unfinished.

Layout

Landscape format, written in 2 lines.

Hand(s)

Written in black nasta‘līq.

Decoration

Line Fill: All lines outlined with gold cloud bands in infilled with gold and silver foliate scrollwork.

Margins: The interior and exterior applied borders bear silver vegetal scrollwork with alternating gilt foliage. vine, while the margin between them bears bold floral scrollwork.

Ruling: Interior and exterior borders ruled in gold outlined in thin black single interior and double exterior lines.

History

Origin: Probably completed by Muḥammad ‘Alī in Lucknow undated, but before 1200 AH (1785–1786 CE).

Persian MS 10/36

Summary of Contents: This composition features combinations of murakkibāt practice lettering beginning with the Arabic letter ṣāḍ (صـ) written in bold nasta‘līq. Albeit unsigned and undated, Muḥammad ‘Alī Mīrzā probably copied it in Lucknow before 1200 AH (1785–1786 CE).

Folio 36b

Scribe and Autographer: Muḥammad ‘Alī
محمد علي

Title: Khaṭṭ-i Nasta‘līq

Title: خط نستعليق

Colophon: No colophon.

Language(s): Arabic

For a prior version of this composition probably completed by the same calligrapher, see Stronge and Atighi-Moghaddam.

References

National Art Library, MSL/1858/4765, fol. 6.

Physical Description

Support: Central calligraphy written on gold and silver-flecked, externally sized and polished, ivory-coloured paper. Two interior and exterior 'post-and-lintel' borders formed of strips of slate grey-coloured paper, all probably handmade in Awadh.
Calligraphy: 260 × 145 mm.
Interior Applied Border: 280 × 166 mm.
Intermediate Floral Margin: 315 × 235 mm.
Exterior Applied Border: 337 × 258 mm.
Folio: 342 × 262 mm.

Condition

In good condition, albeit discoloured yellow and tight opening to the gutter margin. Outlining of exterior marginal ruling left unfinished at tail and fore-edge.

Layout

Landscape format, written in 2 lines.

Hand(s)

Written in black nasta‘līq.

Decoration

Line Fill: All lines outlined with gold cloud bands in infilled with gold and silver foliate scrollwork.

Margins: The interior and exterior applied borders bear silver vegetal scrollwork with alternating gilt foliage. vine, while the margin between them bears bold floral scrollwork.

Ruling: Interior and exterior borders ruled in gold outlined in thin black single interior and double exterior lines.

History

Origin: Probably completed by Muḥammad ‘Alī in Lucknow undated, but before 1200 AH (1785–1786 CE).

Persian MS 10/37

Summary of Contents: This composition features combinations of murakkibāt practice lettering beginning with the Arabic letter sīn (سـ) written in bold nasta‘līq. Albeit unsigned and undated, Muḥammad ‘Alī Mīrzā probably copied it in Lucknow before 1200 AH (1785–1786 CE).

Folio 37b

Scribe and Autographer: Muḥammad ‘Alī
محمد علي

Title: Khaṭṭ-i Nasta‘līq

Title: خط نستعليق

Colophon: No colophon.

Language(s): Arabic

For a prior version of this composition probably completed by the same calligrapher, see Stronge and Atighi-Moghaddam.

References

National Art Library, MSL/1858/4765, fol. 5.

Physical Description

Support: Central calligraphy written on gold and silver-flecked, externally sized and polished, ivory-coloured paper. Two interior and exterior 'post-and-lintel' borders formed of strips of slate grey-coloured paper, all probably handmade in Awadh.
Calligraphy: 264 × 135 mm.
Interior Applied Border: 285 × 157 mm.
Intermediate Floral Margin: 315 × 235 mm.
Exterior Applied Border: 335 × 255 mm.
Folio: 342 × 262 mm.

Condition

In good condition, albeit discoloured yellow and tight opening to the gutter margin. Outlining of exterior marginal ruling left unfinished at tail and fore-edge.

Layout

Landscape format, written in 2 lines.

Hand(s)

Written in black nasta‘līq.

Decoration

Line Fill: All lines outlined with gold cloud bands in infilled with gold and silver foliate scrollwork.

Margins: The interior and exterior applied borders bear silver vegetal scrollwork with alternating gilt foliage. vine, while the margin between them bears bold floral scrollwork.

Ruling: Interior and exterior borders ruled in gold outlined in thin black single interior and double exterior lines.

History

Origin: Probably completed by Muḥammad ‘Alī in Lucknow undated, but before 1200 AH (1785–1786 CE).

Persian MS 10/38

Summary of Contents: This composition features combinations of murakkibāt practice lettering beginning with the Arabic letter jīm (جـ) written in bold nasta‘līq. Albeit unsigned and undated, Muḥammad ‘Alī Mīrzā probably copied it in Lucknow before 1200 AH (1785–1786 CE).

Folio 38b

Scribe and Autographer: Muḥammad ‘Alī
محمد علي

Title: Khaṭṭ-i Nasta‘līq

Title: خط نستعليق

Colophon: No colophon.

Language(s): Arabic

For a prior version of this composition probably completed by the same calligrapher, see Stronge and Atighi-Moghaddam.

References

National Art Library, MSL/1858/4765, fol. 4.

Physical Description

Support: Central calligraphy written on gold and silver-flecked, externally sized and polished, ivory-coloured paper. Two interior and exterior 'post-and-lintel' borders formed of strips of slate grey-coloured paper, all probably handmade in Awadh.
Calligraphy: 264 × 135 mm.
Interior Applied Border: 285 × 157 mm.
Intermediate Floral Margin: 315 × 235 mm.
Exterior Applied Border: 335 × 255 mm.
Folio: 342 × 262 mm.

Condition

In good condition, albeit discoloured yellow and tight opening to the gutter margin. Outlining of exterior marginal ruling left unfinished at tail and fore-edge.

Layout

Landscape format, written in 2 lines.

Hand(s)

Written in black nasta‘līq.

Decoration

Line Fill: All lines outlined with gold cloud bands in infilled with gold and silver foliate scrollwork.

Margins: The interior and exterior applied borders bear silver vegetal scrollwork with alternating gilt foliage. vine, while the margin between them bears bold floral scrollwork.

Ruling: Interior and exterior borders ruled in gold outlined in thin black single interior and double exterior lines.

History

Origin: Probably completed by Muḥammad ‘Alī in Lucknow undated, but before 1200 AH (1785–1786 CE).

Persian MS 10/39

Summary of Contents: This composition features combinations of murakkibāt practice lettering beginning with the Arabic letter bā (بـ) written in bold nasta‘līq. Albeit unsigned and undated, Muḥammad ‘Alī Mīrzā probably copied it in Lucknow before 1200 AH (1785–1786 CE).

Folio 39b

Scribe and Autographer: Muḥammad ‘Alī
محمد علي

Title: Khaṭṭ-i Nasta‘līq

Title: خط نستعليق

Colophon: No colophon.

Language(s): Arabic

For a prior version of this composition probably completed by the same calligrapher, see Stronge and Atighi-Moghaddam.

References

National Art Library, MSL/1858/4765, fol. 3.

Physical Description

Support: Central calligraphy written on gold and silver-flecked, externally sized and polished, ivory-coloured paper. Two interior and exterior 'post-and-lintel' borders formed of strips of slate grey-coloured paper, all probably handmade in Awadh.
Calligraphy: 257 × 145 mm.
Interior Applied Border: 278 × 165 mm.
Intermediate Floral Margin: 315 × 237 mm.
Exterior Applied Border: 336 × 255 mm.
Folio: 342 × 262 mm.

Condition

In good condition, albeit discoloured yellow and tight opening to the gutter margin.

Layout

Landscape format, written in 2 lines.

Hand(s)

Written in black nasta‘līq.

Decoration

Line Fill: All lines outlined with gold cloud bands in infilled with gold and silver foliate scrollwork.

Margins: The interior and exterior applied borders bear silver vegetal scrollwork with alternating gilt foliage. vine, while the margin between them bears bold floral scrollwork.

Ruling: Interior and exterior borders ruled in gold outlined in thin black single interior and double exterior lines.

History

Origin: Probably completed by Muḥammad ‘Alī in Lucknow undated, but before 1200 AH (1785–1786 CE).

Persian MS 10/40

Summary of Contents: This composition features mufridāt practice lettering of the entire Arabic abjad alphabet written out as isolated letters in bold nasta‘līq, which opens the album when read from right-to-left. Albeit unsigned and undated, Muḥammad ‘Alī Mīrzā probably copied it in Lucknow before 1200 AH (1785–1786 CE).

Folio 40b

Scribe and Autographer: Muḥammad ‘Alī
محمد علي

Title: Khaṭṭ-i Nasta‘līq

Title: خط نستعليق

Colophon: No colophon.

Language(s): Arabic

For a comparison of this composition with an earlier one probably by the same calligrapher discussed by Stronge and Atighi-Moghaddam, see Benson.

References

National Art Library, MSL/1858/4765, fol. 2.

Physical Description

Support: Central calligraphy written on gold and silver-flecked, externally sized and polished, ivory-coloured paper. Two interior and exterior 'post-and-lintel' borders formed of strips of slate grey-coloured paper, all probably handmade in Awadh.
Calligraphy: 260 × 145 mm.
Interior Applied Border: 280 × 168 mm.
Intermediate Floral Margin: 315 × 237 mm.
Exterior Applied Border: 335 × 256 mm.
Folio: 342 × 262 mm.

Condition

In good condition, albeit discoloured yellow and tight opening to the gutter margin.

Layout

Landscape format, written in 2 lines.

Hand(s)

Written in black nasta‘līq.

Decoration

Line Fill: All lines outlined with gold cloud bands in infilled with gold and silver foliate scrollwork.

Margins: The interior and exterior applied borders bear silver vegetal scrollwork with alternating gilt foliage. vine, while the margin between them bears bold floral scrollwork.

Ruling: Interior and exterior borders ruled in gold outlined in thin black single interior and double exterior lines.

History

Origin: Probably completed by Muḥammad ‘Alī in Lucknow undated, but before 1200 AH (1785–1786 CE).

Additional Information

Record Sources

Bibliographical description based on an index created by Reza Navabpour circa 1993, derived from a manuscript catalogue by Michael Kerney, circa 1890s, concisely published as Bibliotheca Lindesiana, Hand-list of Oriental Manuscripts: Arabic, Persian, Turkish, 1898.

Manuscript description by Jake Benson in 2022 with reference to the volume in hand, and in consultation with Friederike Weis, regarding Polier's correspondence revealing the circumstances for commissioning this album, and with Susan Stronge, Curator, Victoria and Albert Museum, concerning the corresponding volume held in the National Art Library.

Availability

To book an in-person or online appointment to consult the manuscript, visit Using the Special Collections Reading Rooms. For any other enquiries please email uml.special-collections@manchester.ac.uk.

Custodial History

Exhibited in Gilded Word and Radiant Image at the John Rylands Library, sponsored by Altajir Trust, 9 Sept. to 21 Dec. 1992.

Digital Images

Manchester Digital Collections (full digital facsimile).

Bibliography

National Art Library, MSL/1858/4765.

Mr. [R. H.] Evans, Catalogue of the Library of the Late Sir William Jones, Judge of the Supreme Court of Bengal, and President of the Asiatic Society : with the Books Added Subsequently to His Death, by His Widow, Lady Jones... London: Mr. Evans, 1831) p. 19, no. 454.

W. Kwiatkowski, 'Expanding the Canon: Mir Muhammad Husayn ʿAta Khan and the Polier Albums' Eighteenth-Century Indian Muraqqaʿs: Audiences – Artists – Patrons and Collectors, edited by Friederike Weis (Leiden: Brill; 2024), pp. 287–313 .

J. Lawrence, 'Building a Library: The Arabic and Persian Manuscript Collection of Sir William Jones', Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, Vol. 31, No. 1 (Jan. 2021): pp. 1–70.

S. Stronge and B. Atighi-Moghaddam Atighi-Moghaddam, 'An Unrecorded Polier Muraqqa‘ (c.1785). New Insights into British-Hindustani Cultural Interaction', Adle Nāmeh Studies in Memory of Chahriyar Adle Alireza Anisi (Tehran: Research Institute for Cultural Heritage and Tourism, 2018), pp. 195–228.

Funding of Cataloguing

Iran Heritage Foundation

The John Rylands Research Institute

Subjects

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