Union Catalogue of Manuscripts from the Islamicate World

Persian MS 674 (The John Rylands Research Institute and Library, The University of Manchester)

Persian Manuscripts

Contents

Summary of Contents: Persian work on ethics Guldastah-'i Akhlāq (Bouquets of Ethics) written by a Hindu author Kirpa Rām (1832-1876) (also known as Kripa Rām), who initially worked as the personal secretary to Mahārajah Ranbir Singh (b. 1830, r. 1856–1885), the ruler of Jammu and Kashmir in 1856 at the age of 24, and ultimately Prime Minister in 1862 and Governor of Kashmir in 1865, after the death of this father. No other copy of this work apparently survives, and the date of completion indicated, 1854, would be well before the author's death. He delineates various chapters and parts as 'bouquets' and 'branches' in keeping with his other known works, which in this case ends with panegyric poetry lines.
Incipit: (basmala) برگ ۱پ (folio 1b): سجده‌‌‌‌ٔ حمد ایزد صمد بفرق قلم کجا بتقدیم رسد...
Explicit: برگ ۲۳۳ر (folio 233a): کو هیج ذکر مناثین(؟) چون مست غمت * چون هست غمت ذکر چه غم دارم من.
Colophon: برگ ۲۳۳ر (folio 233a): تم بالخیر کتبه العبد الفقیر محمد کاتب اللاری سنة ثمان وثلاثين وتسعماية
Colophon: A metrical colophon cleverly provides three dates in the Hindu 1911 VS, Islamic 1270 AH, Gregorian 1854 CE, together with phrases containing chronograms, the numeral equivalents of which indicate the same.
Language(s): Persian

Whether this volume may be a holograph in the author's own hand, and its intended recipient may possibly be former owner Colonel George William Hamilton awaits investigation. For more on his life and other works, see the English translation of his Gulābnāmah, an account of his patron's father and predecessor, by S. D. S. Charak.

Physical Description

Form: codex
Support: Textblock of straight-grained, flocked, eggshell-coloured paper probably handmade in the Indian subcontinent with 11 laid lines per cm and no discernible chain lines.
Extent: 65 folios, 2 flyleaves (ff. i + 65 + i).
Dimensions (leaf): 242 × 145 mm.
Dimensions (written): 167 × 81 mm.
Foliation: Unfoliated.

Collation

Undetermined. Probably quaternions throughout. Catchwords throughout most of the lower-left corners of the b sides.

Condition

In fair condition, with moderate water and insect damage and historical repairs throughout.

Layout

Written in 1 column with 11 lines per page. Ruled with a misṭarah hand guide.

Hand(s)

Written in clear, bold black nasta‘līq with subheaders in purple.

Additions:
Inscriptions:
  • The right flyleaf a side (f. ia) bears the title and date of completion, with the name of former owner Colonel George William Hamilton in bold black nasta‘līq, likely by his assistant Muhīn Dās.
  • Folios 1a bears the title written in minute black nasta‘līq on the upper-left corner.
Bookplates: Left pastedown: ‘Bibliotheca Lindesiana’ with pencilled shelfmark ‘1/F’, and ‘Bland MSS No. 591’.

Binding

Probably rebound in a hybrid British-Indian style in the Delhi for former owner George William Hamilton.

Resewn at two unsupported stations. Endpapers of comparatively thin, bright ivory-coloured wove paper, likely machine-made in the Britainadded at front and back, then the edges , and twined chevron endbands worked over round cores at head and tail Covered in full brownish-red goatskin leather over pasteboards, with squares at the edges and defined joints, but without a flap (Type III binding per Déroche).

Boards margins and spine dyed brown ~ 13 mm in from the edges, with strips of bright green paper strips applied to the interior edges, then repeatedly tooled with insular dots. Margins ruled in yellow single lines, with double lines along the perimeters. The same features appear on Persian MS 572 and 631. A handritten octagonal label bears the title on the spine, with another horizontal rectangle bearing the same applied to the exterior left cover.

254 × 156 × 26 mm.

Handle binding with caution. In fair condition with exteriors and board edges abraded bowing.

History

Origin: Completed in the Indian subcontinent; 1911 VS, 1270 AH, and 1854 CE.

Provenance and Acquisition

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.

Manuscript description by Jake Benson in 2022 with reference to the volume in hand.

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

Subjects


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