Persian MS 500 (The John Rylands Research Institute and Library, The University of Manchester)
Persian Manuscripts
Contents
While an inscription on the flyleaf asserts that the compiler served as personal secretary to the Mughal ruler Akbar, no record of such a person by that name appears in historical sources. The exact source(s) for the contents and authorship/compiler await clarification.
The author's name appears as simply 'Majnūn', but whether in fact Majnūn Rafīqī Haravī, d. 1544 awaits confirmation. The first poem concerns bloodletting
The exact source for this text remains unclear, but it may be that of al-Muaqaddisi.
The exact author remains unidentified, but possibly a reference to the Greek philosopher Anaxagoras (d. ca. 428 BCE).
The precise source for this text remains unclear.
Physical Description
Collation
Condition
Layout
Written in 1 and 2 columns with 15 lines per page. Ruled with a misṭarah hand guide.
Hand(s)
Written in hasty but legible black nasta‘līq script.
Inscriptions:
- The right flyleaf a side (f. ia) bears a descriptive title, likely in the hand of an assistant of former owner Colonel George William Hamilton, Muhīn Dās, which describes the author, Mullā Ḥusayn as a personal secretary to Akbar, likely erroneous:
‘انشائي متفرقه منشی خاص اکبر بادشاه تصنیف ملا حسین’ - Folio 1a bears several notes and prices:
- Top-left: A hasty oblique naskh hand, written above a Shāh Jahān-era seal impression (no. 1) states that the volume contains two works entitled Inshā'-yi Mutafarriqah and Kitāb Ashraf al-Munsha'āt authored by ‘Mullā Ḥusayn Munshī-i Khāṣ-i Akbar’ along with a price of a thousand and twenty-five rupees, above what may be a sīyāq numeral for the same amount, adjacent to a prominent letter khā.
- Centre: At left, a hasty shikastah hand wrote the title twice along with unusual, perhaps apotropaic or protective markings. At right, a much larger naskh hand, dated with a tughrā-like flourish at top, probably dated 5 Jumādà I 1090 (14 Jul. 1679 CE), above two octagonal seal impressions of Khvājagī (no. 2), along with an unclear price (?5 rupees).
Binding
Probably rebound for former owner Colonel George William Hamilton in Multan before 1862. Resewn all along on a single flat (probably leather thong) support, possibly put down on the boards. Edges trimmed and chevron endbands twined in black and white threads at head and tail over round cores. Covered in full, maroon goatskin leather, tight-backed, over pasteboards, with squares along the edges, defined joints, but without a flap (Type III binding per Déroche). Endpapers of comparatively coarse handmade paper added to the beginning and end when rebound.
Spine and board margins stained black and ruled with double lines, with another interior margin defined with a single line, all in yellow. An octagonal paper spine label bears the title written in black nasta‘līq.
218 × 137 × 22 mm.
Binding in fair but stable condition with exterior abrasion.
1: A single circular impression in 3 stacked lines, single-ruled, of a Shāh Jahān-era nobleman possibly named ‘Allāmah al-Malik Taṣadduq, hence it must date before that ruler's abdication on 31 July 1658:
‘‘Allāmah al-Mulk Taṣadduq bandah-'i Shāh Jahān’
~26 mm. diam.
2: Two impressions, one legible, of an octagonal seal in 3 stacked lines, triple-ruled, of a ‘Ālamgīr-era nobleman named Khvājagī dated regnal year 34 ‘Ālamgīrī (1101–02 AH, 1690–91 CE):
‘Khvājagī murīd-'i Bādshāh Ghazī Muḥammad ‘Ālamgīr, 34’
30 × 30 mm.
History
Provenance and Acquisition
Previously owned by at least two Mughal-era noblemen possibly named ‘Allāmah al-Malik Taṣadduq and Khvājagī, the latter dated regnal year 34 ‘Ālamgīrī (1101–02 AH, 1690–91 CE).
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, 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.
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.
Record and physical description subsequently augmented and enhanced by Jake Benson in 2022.
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
Funding of Cataloguing
Iran Heritage Foundation
The John Rylands Research Institute
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