Persian MS 500 (The John Rylands Research Institute and Library, The University of Manchester)
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Persian Manuscripts
Contents
Summary of Contents: An incomplete, undated, but probably 17th-century miscellany of Arabic and Persian devotional prayers and rituals combined with Persian prose treatises and examples of eloquent epistolography (inshā') featuring 'sage advice', apparently with a second compilation devoted particularly to the latter, named for one 'Mullā Ḥusayn', which a later inscription on an initial flyleaf alleges once served as the private secretary of the Mughal ruler Akbar. However, since it contains correspondence from the Safavid ruler Shāh ‘Abbās addressed to Akbar's son and successor Jahāngir, as well as extracts from the Khizānat al-Favā’id al-Jalālīyah authored by Abū ʻAbd Allāh Jalāl al-Dīn Ḥusayn ibn Aḥmad ibn Ḥusayn al-Bukhārī al-Ḥusaynī (d. 1383), better known as Jalāl al-dīn Bukhārī Makhdūm-i Jahāniyān, he might be here identified as 'Mullā Ḥusayn'.Folios 1b to 93bAuthor and Compiler: AnonymousTitle: Collection of InshāTitle: Majmū‘-i Inshā'Title: مجموع نشاءTitle: Inshā'-i MutafarriqahTitle: انشاء متفرقهIncipit: (basmala) برگ ۱پ (folio 1b): باسمه سبحانه. عن انیس ابن مالک رضی الله عنه ما من عبد من عباد الله یقول «بسم الله الرحمن الرحیم» الا غفر الله ذنوب خمسین سنة. من فواید الجلالیه...Explicit: برگ ۹۳پ (folio 93b): بمشیت الملک الذی احسانه سیاتی المراد الی ذوی الحاجاتColophon: No colophonLanguage(s): Persian and ArabicWhile 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.
1. Folio 1bAuthor and Contributor: Abū ʻAbd Allāh Jalāl al-Dīn Ḥusayn ibn Aḥmad ibn Ḥusayn al-Bukhārī al-Ḥusaynī, 1308–1383Title: Min Favā'id al-Jalalīyah2. Folio 3bAuthor and Contributor: Abū ʻAbd Allāh Jalāl al-Dīn Ḥusayn ibn Aḥmad ibn Ḥusayn al-Bukhārī al-Ḥusaynī, 1308–1383Title: Min Favā'id al-Jalalīyah3. Folio 6aAuthor and Contributor: Abū ʻAbd Allāh Jalāl al-Dīn Ḥusayn ibn Aḥmad ibn Ḥusayn al-Bukhārī al-Ḥusaynī, 1308–1383Title: Namāz-i Ḥajāt4. Folio 9bAuthor and Contributor: Abū ʻAbd Allāh Jalāl al-Dīn Ḥusayn ibn Aḥmad ibn Ḥusayn al-Bukhārī al-Ḥusaynī, 1308–1383Title: Namāz va Du‘ā Rūz-i ‘Āshūrā5. Folio 10aAuthor and Contributor: ʻIyāḍ ibn Mūsá, 1083–1149Title: Excerpt from the Mashāriq al-Anvār6. Folio 11bAuthor and Contributor: Abū ʻAbd Allāh Jalāl al-Dīn Ḥusayn ibn Aḥmad ibn Ḥusayn al-Bukhārī al-Ḥusaynī, 1308–1383Title: Excerpt from the Khizānat al-Jalālī7. Folio 12bTitle: Arabic Hadīth with intralinear Persian translation8. Folio 13bAuthor and Contributor: Mīr Khvand, Muḥammad ibn Khāvandshāh, 1433-14989. Folio 15aAuthor, Contributor and Correspondent: Niẓām al-Mulk, Abū ʻAlī al-Ḥasan ibn ʻAlī ibn Isḥāq al-Ṭūsī, 1018-1092Title: Favā'id al-ḤukamāTitle: Naṣāʼiḥ-i Niẓām al-MulkTitle: Letter from Niẓām al-Mulk to his son Fakhr al-Mulk10. Folio 16bAuthor, Contributor and Correspondent: Ḥakīm Sanāʼī al-Ghaznavī, Abū al-Majd Majdūd ibn Ādam, d. ca. 1150Addressee: Bahrām Shāh of Ghazna, b. 1084, r. 1117–1152Title: Letter from Ḥakīm Sanāʼī to his patron Bahram Shah of Ghazna11. Folio 17bAuthor and Contributor: Dashtakī, ʻAṭāʼ Allāh ibn Faḍl Allāh, d. ca. 140012. Folio 20aAuthor and Contributor: Mīr Ḥusaynī Haravī, Ḥusayn ibn ʻĀlim, ca. 1272–131713. Folio 20bAuthor and Contributor: al-Ghazzālī, Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad Abū Ḥāmid, 1058-111114. Folio 21bAuthor and Contributor: Muʻīn Juvaynī, fl. 14th century17. Folio 23aAuthor and Contributor: Abū ʻAbd Allāh Jalāl al-Dīn Ḥusayn ibn Aḥmad ibn Ḥusayn al-Bukhārī al-Ḥusaynī, 1308–1383Title: Select Poems19. Folio 23bTitle: Namāz-i Istikhārah20. Folio 24aAuthor and Contributor: Zulālī Khvānsārī, d. 161521. Folio 24bAuthor and Contributor: Majnūn Rafīqī Haravī, d. 1544Title: Select PoemsThe author's name appears as simply 'Majnūn', but whether in fact Majnūn Rafīqī Haravī, d. 1544 awaits confirmation. The first poem concerns bloodletting
24. Folio 28bAuthor and Contributor: Abū ʻAbd Allāh Jalāl al-Dīn Ḥusayn ibn Aḥmad ibn Ḥusayn al-Bukhārī al-Ḥusaynī, 1308–1383Title: [Favā'id al-Jalalīyah]25. Folio 29bAuthor and Contributor: Z̤iyāʼ al-Dīn Baranī, fl. 1284-135626. Folio 33bAuthor and Contributor: Juvaynī, ʻAlāʾ al-Dīn ʻAṭā Malik, 1226–128327. Folio 37bAuthor and Contributor: Abū ʻAbd Allāh Jalāl al-Dīn Ḥusayn ibn Aḥmad ibn Ḥusayn al-Bukhārī al-Ḥusaynī, 1308–1383Title: Excerpt from the Favā'id al-Jalalīyah28. Folio 38bAuthor and Contributor: Suhrawardī, ʻUmar ibn Muḥammad, 1145–123429. Folio 40aAuthor and Contributor: Samarqandī, ʻUmar ibn al-Ḥasan, fl. 15th century30. Folio 43bThe exact source for this text remains unclear, but it may be that of al-Muaqaddisi.
31. Folio 44aAuthor and Contributor: ʻIyāḍ ibn Mūsá, 1083-114932. Folio 53bAuthor and Contributor: Mīr Khvand, Muḥammad ibn Khāvandshāh, 1433-149834. Folio 57aAuthor and Contributor: Aristotle, 384–322 BCEAddressee: Alexander the Great, 356–323 BCETitle: Letter from Aristotle to Alexander35. Folio 59aAuthor, Contributor and Attributed name: Ptolemy II Philadelphus, King of Egypt, 308–246 BCETitle: Sayings37. Folio 62aAuthor, Contributor and Attributed name: Thales of Miletus, ca. 634–546 BCETitle: Sayings38. Folio 62bAuthor, Contributor and Attributed name: Anksāghūrs IITitle: SayingsThe exact author remains unidentified, but possibly a reference to the Greek philosopher Anaxagoras (d. ca. 428 BCE).
39. Folio 64aAuthor and Contributor: Isḥāq Sajasī, fl. 13th c.40. Folio 65bAuthor, Contributor and Correspondent: Ḥakīm Abū al-FatḥAddressee: ‘Abd al-Raḥīm Khān, Khān-i Khānān, 1556-162741. Folio 72bAuthor, Contributor and Correspondent: Shāh ‘Abbās, b. 1571, r. 1588–1629Addressee: Jahāngīr, b. 1569, r. 1605–162742. Folio 72bAuthor, Contributor and Correspondent: Akbar, b. 1556, r. 1550–1605Addressee: ‘Abd Allāh Khān Uzbek, r. 1583–159843. Folio 80aAuthor, Contributor and Correspondent: ‘Abd Allāh Khān Uzbek, r. 1583–1598Addressee: Akbar, b. 1556, r. 1550–160544. Folio 83aTitle: Majmū‘-i AlfāẓThe precise source for this text remains unclear.
45. Folio 84bAuthor, Contributor and Attributed name: Amīr Khusraw Dihlavī, ca. 1253–1325Title: Munajāt-i Amīr Khusraw46. Folio 85aAuthor, Contributor and Attributed name: Amīr Khusraw Dihlavī, ca. 1253–1325Title: Anecdote concerning Khi̱z̤r Khān47. Folio 85aAuthor, Contributor and Attributed name: Amīr Khusraw Dihlavī, ca. 1253–1325Honoree and Dedicatee: ʻAlāʼ al-Dīn, Sultan of Delhi, d. ca. 1315Title: Fatḥnāmah-'i julūs-i Sulṭān ‘Alà'īFolios 93b to 120bAuthor and Compiler: AnonymousTitle: Kitāb Ashraf al-Munsha'ātTitle: کتاب اشرف المنشئآتIncipit: (basmala) برگ ۹۳پ (folio 93b): فاتحهٔ صحیفهٔ نامداری مسخون بحمد و سپاس معرا از ملابس حد و قیاس قادر ذو الجلالیست که فروغ طلعت سلاطین عالم از طلوع افتاب عنایت او اواند بود و عنوان نامهٔ کامکادی مقرون بشکر و ستایش مرا ازالایش تسبهیه و اتباس مالک الملک لایزالی است...Explicit: برگ ۲۳۳ر (folio 120b): ...و این امریست بس عظیم دریست نشگرف دانست آنکه دانست و ندانست هرکه ندانست سعید سعید ازلی و نتقی نتقیلم یزلی است هیچکس را طاقت نه که پرسد چرا گردو نه مجال که گوید چه میکند «لا یسال عما یفعل و هم یسالون»...Colophon: No colophon. ends abruptly, incomplete.Language(s): Persian2. Folio 95aTitle: Dar Ta‘rīf-i Kitāb3. Folio 95bAuthor and Contributor: AnonymousTitle: Concerning exchanges between Akbar and Shah ‘Abbās4. Folio 102bAuthor, Contributor and Correspondent: Shah Ṭahmāsp, b. 1514, r. 1524–1576Title: Letter from Shāh Ṭahmāsb to the Governor of Rūm5. Folio 102bAuthor, Contributor and Correspondent: Shah Ṭahmāsp, b. 1514, r. 1524–1576Title: Letter from Shāh Ṭahmāsb to the Governor of Rūm6. Folio 112aAuthor, Contributor and Correspondent: Tīmūr, 1336-1405Title: Min Munsha‘āt-i Mīr Tīmūr Munshī9. Folio 119aAuthor, Attributed name, Contributor and Correspondent: Abū Saʻīd ibn Abī al-Khayr, 967-1049Addressee: Avicenna, 980-1037Title: Letter from Abū Saʻīd ibn Abī al-Khayr to Avicenna10. Folio 120aAuthor, Attributed name, Contributor and Correspondent: Avicenna, 980-1037Addressee: Abū Saʻīd ibn Abī al-Khayr, 967-1049Title: Avicenna's reply to Abū Saʻīd's letter abovePhysical Description
Form: codexSupport: Medium-weight, cross-grained, externally sized and polished, bone-coloured paper, probably handmade in the Indian subcontinent, with ~6 laid lines per cm and no discernible chain lines.Extent: 120 folios, 6 flyleaves (ff. iii + 120 + iii).Dimensions (leaf): 214 × 127 mm.Dimensions (written): 164 × 78 mm.Foliation: Pencilled Arabic numerals added to the upper-left corners of the a sides when catalogued.Collation
Quaternions throughout. 15IV(120). Catchwords throughout the lower-left corners of the b sides.Condition
Fair, water damage, discoloration, soiling, insects, and ink stains. Beware of fold-outs at the fore-edge on folios 45a–47b, and 69. Initial flyleaves to folio 3a (ff. ib–3a) all heavily tipped together, hence opening restricted in the gutter margins.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.
Additions:
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).
Seal(s):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.
Folio 1a bears two types of black, intaglio-carved, nasta‘līq script Mughal-era seal impressions.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
Origin: Probably completed in the Mughal Empire; undated, but likely early-mid 17th c.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
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Bibliography
C. A. Storey, Persian Literature: A Bio-bibliographical Survey, Vol. III, Pt. 2 (London: Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, 1990), p. 394, no. 652 [Appendix] (73).Funding of Cataloguing
Iran Heritage Foundation
The John Rylands Research Institute
Subjects
- 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:
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