Persian MS 384 (The John Rylands Research Institute and Library, The University of Manchester)
Persian Manuscripts
Contents
For an earlier copy evidently completed during the author's lifetime, see Meredith-Owens' catalogue.
Physical Description
Collation
Condition
Layout
Single column, with 17 lines per page. Ruled with a misṭarah hand guide.
Hand(s)
Written in nasta‘līq script in black with subheadings and verse markers in red.
Folios 1b to 7b and 9a to 28b completed by another nasta‘līq hand to restore missing portions of the text, also in black with subheadings and verse markers in red.
Inscriptions:
- The first right flyleaf a side (f. ia) bears the title, author, and date of the manuscript's completion, likely in the hand of Muhīn Dās, assistant to former owner Colonel George William Hamilton.
- Folio 274a Persian acquisition notation dated 8 Rabī‘ I 1180 AH (17 May 1690 CE):
‘(؟).بسالی هشتم شهر ربیغ الاول سنه ۱۱۰۱ روز پنجشنبه رو قصبه دیواری از مطالع و اصلاح(؟) الفاظ این کتاب فراغ دسر داد آن شی بملله تولی کلی صاحب الیهم ’.
- Left doublure, ‘Bibliotheca Lindesiana’ with shelf mark ‘2/I’ and ‘Hamilton MSS 301’.
Binding
Evidently rebound for former owner Colonel George William Hamilton, probably in Multan between 1858 to 1867. Unsupported sewing at two stations, text block edges roughly trimmed, with Islamic-style twined chevron endbands worked over a cord core in blue and white silk threads. Covered in a hybrid British-Indian style binding in full, tight backed, red goatskin leather over pasteboards, with squares and defined exterior joints. Internal doublures of the same red leather, with the extended width put down as hinges attached to the first and last flyleaves. Endpapers comprised of comparatively thin, externally sized and hand-polished, machine-made wove paper manufactured in Europe, with strips of paper adhered over the leather hinges to neaten the appearance of the leather hinges.
Boards decorated with single and double ruled lines in yellow, one about 10 mm in from the edges and the other surrounding perimeters of the boards, with the outer perimeters and spine dyed black. Title written on an acotagonal paper label in nasta‘līq applied to the spine.
246 × 163 × 46 mm.
In fair condition. Tightly bound, opening restricted, due to extensive adhesive tipped in the gutters. Final endleaf torn. Loose sewing at the beginning of the volume cause folios to protrude at the fore-edge. Extensive white salts (spew) evident on the doublures resulting from prolonged exposure to moisture. Boxed.
Three library seals of the kings of Awadh (Oude), intaglio-carved in nasta‘līq script in two stacked lines, in impressed in vermillion ink, evidently cut out from the original flyleaves and pasted onto second right flyleaf a side by the bookbinder who restored the volume
- 1: Rectangular seal impression ofthe library of Nāṣir al-Dīn Ḥaydar Shāh (b. 1803, r. 1827–1837) dated 1244 AH (1828–29 CE), inscribed with his title Sulaymān Jāh:
‘ خوش است مهر کتبخانه سلیمان جاه * بهر کتاب مزین چو نقش بسم الله، ١٢۴۴’
‘Khvush ast muhur-i kitābkhānah-'i Sulaymān Jāh bahr-i kitāb; muzayyin chaw naqsh-i basmallah, 1244 ’ (‘The seal of the library of Sulaymān Jāh is good; it embellishes the book like the design of a basmallah, 1244’).
17 × 37 mm.
- 2: Rectangular seal impression surmounted by the royal emblem of Awadh, of Amjad ‘Alī Shāh (b. 1801, r. 1842–1847) dated 1260 AH (1844–45 CE):
‘ناسخ هر مهر شد چون شد مزین بر کتاب * خاتم امجد علی شاه زمان عالیجناب، ١٢٦٠’
‘Nāsukh har muhur shud chun shud muzayyin bar kitāb; khātim-i Amjad ‘Alī Shāh zamān-i ‘Ālījanāb, 1260’ (‘Every [prior] seal became cancelled since the book became embellished by the seal of Amjad ‘Alī Shāh in the era of his Sublime Majesty, 1260’).
53 × 45 mm.
- 3: Rectangular seal impression surmounted by the royal emblem Awadh, of Wājid ‘Alī Shāh (1822–1887), King of Awadh (r. 1847–1856) dated 1262 AH (1846–47 CE):
‘ خاتم واجد علی سلطان عالم بر کتاب * ثابت و پر نور بادا تا فروغ آفتاب، ١٢۶۲ ’
‘Khātim-i Wājid ‘Alī, Sulṭān-i ‘Ālam bar kitāb, s̄abit va pur nūr bādā tā farūgh-i āftāb, 1262’ (‘The seal of Wājid ‘Alī, Sulṭān of the World, upon the book shall be permanent and as bright as sunlight, 1262 AH [1847 CE]’).
41 × 26 mm.
Accompanying Material
Table of contents written on 4 detached folios (2 bifolia, tipped together in the gutter margins) tucked between the first and second right flyleaves (ff. ib–iia), likely in the hand of Muhīn Dās, assistant to former owner Colonel George William Hamilton.
History
Provenance and Acquisition
Acquired by an an unidentified person as per the notation dated 8 Rabī‘ I 1180 AH (17 May 1690 CE) on folio 274a.
Later accessioned by the royal library of royal library of Awadh (Oude) in Awadh (Oude) as indicated by the seals of Nāṣir al-Dīn Ḥaydar Shāh (b. 1803, r. 1827–1837), Amjad ‘Alī Shāh (b. 1801, r. 1842–1847), and Wājid ‘Alī Shāh (1822–1887), King of Awadh (r. 1847–1856), then presumably looted during India's First War of Independence, when British soldiers ransacked the Qaisarbagh palace and library on 15 March 1858.
Subsequently acquired by Colonel George William Hamilton (1807-1868) who served in India from 1823 to 1867, latterly as Commissioner in Delhi. He acquired over a thousand Indian and Persian manuscripts from which the British Museum selected 352 after his death, now held in the British Library.
Alexander Lindsay, 25th Earl of Crawford (1812–1880), purchased the remainder in 1868.
Purchased by Enriqueta Rylands (1843–1908) (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 catalogue by Michael Kerney, circa 1890s and his Bibliotheca Lindesiana, Hand-list of Oriental Manuscripts: Arabic, Persian, Turkish, 1898.
Manuscript description by Jake Benson in 2021 with reference to the volume.
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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