Persian MS 635 (The John Rylands Research Institute and Library, The University of Manchester)
Persian Manuscripts
Contents
Selections of lyric poetry based on Taz̲kira of Taqī Awḥadī,ʿArafāt al-ʿāshiqīn.
Physical Description
Condition
Good condition.
Layout
Written primarily in written 2 oblique columns (chalīpā) with additional lines written vertically between them, with variant numbers of lines throughout.
Hand(s)
Written in a dense Shikasta hand in black ink. Red ink used to mark the names of some poets.
- Marginalia fiiia Readers' notes consisting of poems
- Ownership marks Stamps dated 1244. Inscriptions dated Ramadan 1237 and Rabīʿ al-awwal 1262.
History
Provenance and Acquisition
Previously held in the royal library of Awadh in Awadh (Oude), as indicated by library seal impressions on folio 155b of the Kings of Awadh Nāṣir al-Dīn Ḥaydar Shāh (b. 1803, r. 1827–1837), Amjad ‘Alī Shāh (b. 1801, r. 1842–1847), and Wājid ‘Alī Shāh (b. 1822, 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, 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 and his Bibliotheca Lindesiana, Hand-list of Oriental Manuscripts: Arabic, Persian, Turkish, 1898.
Revised and expanded by James White in 2018 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.
Funding of Cataloguing
Iran Heritage Foundation
The John Rylands Research Institute
The Soudavar Memorial Foundation
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