Persian MS 644 (The John Rylands Research Institute and Library, The University of Manchester)
Persian Manuscripts
Contents
More than half of the text appears to be missing.
Physical Description
Collation
Condition
Layout
The text dimensions and formats significantly vary througout, including oblique columns, the same interspersed with vertical columns containing horizontal passages, and at other times additional passages frame the margins of the page. Unruled.
Hand(s)
Primarily copied in black nastaʿlīq and shikastah with occasional headers in red.
Arabic passages copied in black naskh.
Marginalia: Extensive notations throughout.
Inscription: Folio 5a bears an inspection notice dated 8 Rabīʿ I 1263 AH (24 February 1847 CE).
Bookplates: Left paste-down: ‘Bibliotheca Lindesiana’ with shelfmark ‘1/G’, ‘Hamilton MSS No. 561’.
Binding
Probably rebound in a hydrid British-Indian style in Multan for former owner George William Hamilton between 1858 and 1862.
Resewn at three stations over cords, frayed out and put down upon the second to first and last flyleaves, then covered by the internal leather hinge, with a zig-zag cut gutter flyleaf pasted over top. Twined chvron endbands at head and tail red and bright green silk threads. Covered in full smooth polished red goatksin leather over pasteboards without a flap, and with squares at the edges, headcaps, and defined joints (type III binding per Déroche).
295 × 201 × 33 mm.
Binding in good condition with slight skinning and scuffing on the exterior.
1: A library seal impression of Nāṣir al-Dīn Ḥaydar Shāh (b. 1803, r. 1827–1837) dated 1244 AH (1828–29 CE), inscribed with his title Sulaymān Jāh within two stacked, single-ruled cartouches:
‘ 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: A library seal impression surmounted by the royal emblem of Awadh of Amjad ‘Alī Shāh (b. 1801, r. 1842–1847), with beaded ruling and 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: A library seal impression, surmounted by the royal emblem Awadh of Wājid ‘Alī Shāh (b. 1822, r. 1847–1856), single-ruled and 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.
4: A small talisman bearing the name of God, the Prophet Muḥammad, and his family, in reversed script:
‘ الله محمد علی
فاطمة حسن حسین’
‘Allāh, Muḥammad, ‘Ali
Fāṭimah, Ḥasan, Ḥusayn.’
7 × 10 mm.
History
Provenance and Acquisition
Accessioned by the royal library of royal library of Awadh (Oude) in Lucknow, held in the Moti Mahal Palace, then later transferred to the Qaisarbagh Palace, as indicated by a dated library notation on folio 5a, and seal impressions of the Kings of Awadh Nāṣir al-Dīn Ḥaydar Shāh (b. 1803, r. 1827–1837), Muḥammad ‘Alī Shāh (b. 1777, r. 1837–1842), 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 (see Wolseley's memoir).
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 completed by James White in 2017.
Subsequently amended and enhanced by Jake Benson in 2022 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, and the Soudavar Foundation
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