Persian MS 275 (The John Rylands Research Institute and Library, The University of Manchester)
- Display:
-
Persian Manuscripts
Contents
Summary of Contents: The Futūḥāt-i Sikandarī (Conquests of Alexander) comprises a prose abridgment of the Iskandarʹnāmah of Niẓāmī Ganjavī (ca. 1140–1203) composed by Ghulām Ḥusayn Khān Munshī in 1209 AH (1794–1795 CE). A scribe named Sayyid Makhdūm Munshī completed this manuscript on behalf of Charles Marriott (1781–1848) at Vellore, Tamil Nadu on Thursday, 27 Ṣafar 1227 AH (12 March 1812).Author and Bibliographic antecedent: Niẓāmī Ganjavī, 1140 or 41-1202 or 3;
نظامى گنجوىScribe: Sayyid Makhdūm Munshī;
سید مخدوم منشیPatron: Marriott, Charles, 1781–1848Title: Futūḥāt-i SikandarīTitle: فتوحات سکندریTitle: Conquest of AlexanderIncipit: (basmalla) برگ ۱پ (folio 1b): شکر و سپاس متکاثر و حـمـد و ستایش متوافر سزاوار ذات فرمان روای اقلیم ملکوت و جبروت استExplicit: برگ ۲۵۳ر (folio 253a): بتاریخ پانصد نود هفت سال * که خواننده راز و نگردد ملال. بفضلهُ کتاب مستطاب فتوحات سکندری من تصنیف علام حسین خان منشی ترجمه شرف نامهٔ حضرت مولانا نظامی گنجوی قدس الله سره العزیز خصوصاً این نسخهٔ دلپذیرColophon: برگ ۲۵۳پ (folio 253b):: حسب الفرمایش صاحب والا مناقب فیض بخش فیضرسان ملجا و ماوای امیران و غریبان سرادار نامدار بلند اقتدار عظیم اشان (ایشان) عالی خاندان یعنی مستر چارلیس ماریٿ صاحب بہادر ادام الله تعالی اثار چشمه کاتب الحروف سید مخدوم منشی بتاریخ بیست و ہفتم ماه صفر المظفر بروز پنجشنبه بوقت سعید در مقام رای ویلور باتمام رسانید سنه ۱۲۳۷ ہجری. [برگ ۲۵۴ر] نوشته بماند بخط غریب * که نصرٌ من الله فتح قریب.Colophon: Completed by Sayyid Makhdūm Munshī on behalf of Charles Marriott at Vellore, Thursday, 27 Ṣafar 1227 AH (12 March 1812).Maj. Charles Marriott was the youngest son of Maj. Gen. Randolph Marriott (1736–1807), onetime Resident at Balasore, who returned to Britain in circa 1770 then married. Charles' elder brother Col. Thomas (1773–1847) took part in the defeat of Tipu Sultan and then escorted some 600 women as their caretaker to the fort in Vellore. He then appointed his younger brother to succeed him in that role.
Language(s): PersianPhysical Description
Form: codexSupport: Thin-weight, straight-grained, ivory-coloured, British-made paper with ~19 laid lines per 20 mm and 23 mm between chain lines and average thickness of 61 microns (measured on the first ten folios), partially watermarked with an heart-shaped VEIC (East India Company) insignia with ‘S. Wise & Patch’ manufactured by Stacey Wise (1783–1842) in partnership with Christopher Patch (fl. 19th c.) who then operated the Padsole Mill in Maidstone, Kent.Extent: 254 folios, 16 flyleaves (ff. viii + 254 + viii).Dimensions (leaf): 181 × 104 × 0.061 mm.Dimensions (written): 140 × 74 mm.Foliation: Modern pencilled Arabic numerals added to the upper-left corners of the a sides on the first ten folios then every ten thereafter.Collation
Undetermined. Catchwords throughout most of the lower-left corners of the b sides.Condition
Text in good condition.Layout
Written in 1 column with 13 lines per page. Ruled with a misṭarah hand guide.
Hand(s)
Written in clear black nasta‘līq with red subheaders.
Decoration
Headpiece: Folios 1b bears a cartouche for the basmala surmounted by a scalloped dome executed in silver with a floral gound above it in gold, all outlined in black.
Ruling: Text margins of folios 1b ruled with interior double red lines surrounded by double black lines, but single black lines thereafter.
Additions: Inscriptions The first right flyleaf b side beas the number ‘17’ and a pencilled English description of the volume in an unidentified hand.
Bookplates: The left paste-down: ‘Bibliotheca Lindesiana’ with pencilled shelf mark ‘1/K’, and ‘Bland MSS No. 494 (changed to 495)’, with the name and number crossed out and ‘Persian’ and ‘275’ written aside. A pencilled mark underneath notes it should be numbered ‘495’.Binding
Probably bound in Vellore for Charles Marriott.
Endpapers added to the beginning and end of British-made paper with ~21 laid lines per 20 mm and 24 mm. between chain lines, partially watermarked with an heart-shaped VEIC (East India Company) insignia with ‘S. Wise & Patch’ underneath, dated 1808, manufactured by Stacey Wise (1783–1842) in partnership with Christopher Patch (fl. 19th c.) who then operated the Padsole Mill in Maidstone, Kent. Sewn at two stations, unsupported. Edges trimmed and chevron endbands of possibly yellow and black threads twined at twined at head and tail. Covered in full red polished sheepskin leather, with interior doublures of the same, with their excess widths adhered to the first and last flyleaves and wide strips of what may be bright blue Chinese block-printed paper, crenellated along one edge, adhered over top to disguise the joins.
Spine titled:
FUTÚHAT SEKANDARI.189 × 115 × 39 mm.
Handle binding with caution. In fair but stable condition with grain layer delaminating on the exterior, and insect damage especially near the head.
History
Origin: Completed by Sayyid Makhdūm Munshī on behalf of Charles Marriott at Vellore; Thursday, 27 Ṣafar 1227 AH (12 March 1812).Provenance and Acquisition
Presumably brought to Britain after Marriott retired in 1822.
Subsequently acquired by scholar Nathaniel Bland (1803–1865) for his library at Randalls Park, Leatherhead.
After Bland's death, London bookseller Bernard Quaritch (1819–1899) sold his oriental manuscripts to Alexander Lindsay, 25th Earl of Crawford (1812–1880) in June, 1866, paid in two instalments of £450 and £400, and then moved to Bibliotheca Lindesiana at Haigh Hall, Wigan.
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, Manchester.
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 2025 with reference to the volume in hand.
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.
Bibliography
F. du Blois, Persian Literature a Bio-Bibliographical Survey : Poetry of the Pre-Mongol Period, Vol. V (London: RoutledgeCurzon, 2004), pp. 406–407, no. 258 (v/15).E. G. Browne, A Catalogue of Persian manuscripts in the Library of the University of Cambridge, (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1896) p. 309, no. CCXVII [Cambridge University Library Add. 314]E. G. Browne, E. G. Browne: A hand-list of the Muḥammadan manuscripts, including all those written in the Arabic character, preserved in the Library of the University of Cambridge, (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1900) p. 132, no. 724 [Cambridge University Library Add. 314]D. N. Marshall, Mughals in India: A Bibliographical Survey. Vol. 1. Manuscripts (Bombay: Asia Publishing House, 1962), p. 157, no. 515(ii).Funding of Cataloguing
Iran Heritage Foundation
The John Rylands Research Institute
The Soudavar Memorial Foundation
TO TOP
See the Availability section of this record for information on viewing the item in a reading room.