Persian MS 465 (The John Rylands Research Institute and Library, The University of Manchester)
Persian Manuscripts
Contents
In his manuscript handlist, Michael Kerney vaguely describes this manuscript as about 100 years old; however, the seal impression on folio 1a dated regnal year ‘Ālamgīri 36 (1 Ramaz̤ān 1103–29 Sha‘bān 1104 AH / 17 May 1692–5 May 1693 CE) proves it must be older, hence probably completed in the mid-17th century. For a detailed description of what may be an initial portion of this compilation, see Ivanow. This volume may contain variant entries from other manuscripts, which await further study and comparison.
Physical Description
Collation
Condition
Layout
Primarily in 1 column with 13 lines per page. Ruled with a misṭarah hand guide.
Hand(s)
Copied as a specimen of of elegant composition, albeit hastily, in black nastalīq with shikastah ligatures and with red subheaders.
Marginalia: Notes in various hands throughout.
Inscriptions: The right flyleaf a side (f. ia) bears an unsigned description of the work with the name of former owner Colonel George William Hamilton, likely in the hand of his assistant Muhīn Dās.
Folios 1a bears a partly obliterated ownership note superimposed by a seal impression of Mīr Abd al-Qudūs ibn Mū'min Khān, hence probably his signature:
‘اقل الخلیفة بالملک الحقیقة ⟨میر عبد القدوس(؟)⟩ ... عفی الله عنه’
Bookplates: The left pastedown: ‘Bibliotheca Lindesiana’ with pencilled shelfmark ‘1/I’, and ‘Hamilton MSS No. 382’, with the name and number crossed out and ‘Persian’ and ‘465’ written aside.
Binding
Probably rebound in a hybrid British-Indian style in Dehli for Colonel George William Hamilton (1807-1868) after 1863.
Resewn all-along on a single flat support. Endpapers of comparatively coarse, eggshell-coloured handmade paper added at the beginning and end, then edges trimmed and chevron endbands twined in red and white threads at head and tail over round cores. Covered in full, crimson goatskin leather, tight-backed, over pasteboards, with squares along the edges, defined joints, but without a flap (Type III binding per Déroche).
Spine and board margins stained brown, with a thin strips of green paper applied along the interior edge, repeatedly stamped with insular dots, then outlined with single yellow lines, with another interior margin of the same, and double lines along the board perimeters (compare with Rylands Persian MS 674). Octagonal paper spine label bears the title written in black nasta‘līq.
221 × 147 × 26 mm.
Handle binding with caution. In fair condition, with surface abrasion, cracking spine, and torn headcaps. Sewing broken between folios 40b–40a and 148b-149a.
Circular black seal impression in three stacked nasta'līq lines read upwards, triple-ruled, of Mīr Abd al-Qudūs ‘ibn Mū'min Khān, dated regnal year ‘Ālamgīri 36 (1 Ramaz̤ān 1103–29 Sha‘bān 1104 AH/17 May 1692–5 May 1693 CE).
~29 mm. diam.
History
Provenance and Acquisition
Previously owned by Mīr ‘Abd al-Qudūs ibn Mū'min Khān as per his seal impressions dated regnal year ‘Ālamgīri 36 (1 Ramaz̤ān 1103–29 Sha‘bān 1104 AH/17 May 1692–5 May 1693 CE) on folio 1a.
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 purchased 352 from his widow, Charlotte Logie Hamilton (1817–1893), now held in the British Library.
Alexander Lindsay, 25th Earl of Crawford (1812–1880) purchased the remainder of Hamilton's collection in 1868.
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.
Subsequently augmented and enhanced by Jake Benson in 2023 with reference to the manuscript in hand, and in consultation with Dr. Hunter Bandy, École Pratique des Hautes Études-section des sciences religieuses and Laboratoire d'études sur les monothéismes (LEM) who correctly identified this work.
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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