Persian MS 155 (The John Rylands Research Institute and Library, The University of Manchester)
Persian Manuscripts
Contents
For a full discussion of this work together with a longer redaction by the same author entitled Tārīkh-i Khān Jahānī (History of Khān Jahān) and the differences between them, with translated passages, see Elliot and Dowson.
Physical Description
Collation
Condition
Layout
ًWritten in 1 and 2 columns with 11 to 17 lines per page. Ruled with a misṭarah hand guide.
Hand(s)
Written in nasta‘līq script in black with subheaders in red.
Inscriptions:
- Number ‘59’ pencilled on the right flyleaf a side (f. 1a), and left pastedown.
- Folio 1a ‘Afghan & Pathan History’ pencilled in English, with another alternate title for the work, ‘Majma‘ al-Tavārīkh-i Khān-Jahānī Lūdī’, written in nastaliq script in black.
Binding
Resewn upon three sawn-in cords laced into the pasteboards. Stuck-on endbands of yellow silk wrapping a cord applied to spine. Rebound in an early full rose-coloured embossed morocco-grained bookcloth (See Andrea Krupp, Bookcloth, pp. 25, 36, no. Lea1 Morocco). English endpapers watermarked Britannia with the letter H in a five-pointed star atop the letter G over the number one, dated 1830. Since this cloth matches Rylands Persian MS 30, and the endpapers date to well after Martin owned the volume, former owner Nathaniel Bland likely had it rebound.
253 × 164 × 55 mm.
Binding in good condition albeit faded on the spine.
Folio 1b:
Relief-cut stamped impression of name this manuscript's patron and former owner ‘Claude Martin’ appears above the header in red.
6 × 57 mm.History
Provenance and Acquisition
After Martin's death, sent to Calcutta [Kolkata] for sale, as part of a collection of 505 Persian manuscripts briefly referenced in the final entry of an inventory of printed books in his library sold there on 10 Mar. 1801, hence likely sent for sale before then (see Lafont). Possibly sold by Tulloh & Co., which advertised several sales, including ‘an extensive, curious and valuable Collection of Persian and Shanscrit Books’ in the Calcutta Gazette (see Hill); however, the exact date and seller await identification, and the volume's purchaser, and circumstanced by which the volume arrived in Britain remain unclear.
Subsequently acquired by Persian scholar Nathaniel Bland (1803–1865), after whose death London antiquarian dealer 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.
Record Sources
Bibliographical description based on an index created by Reza Navabpour circa 1993, derived from a manuscript handlist by Michael Kerney, circa 1890s, subsequently 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 Rosie Llewellyn-Jones MBE, Royal Society for Asian Affairs.
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.
Digital Images
Manchester Digital Collections (full digital facsimile).
Bibliography
Funding of Cataloguing
Iran Heritage Foundation
The John Rylands Research Institute
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