Persian MS 679 (The John Rylands Research Institute and Library, The University of Manchester)
Persian Manuscripts
Contents
The volume clearly suffered severe damage before entering into the library of the Kings of Awadh where it was restored, then evidently suffered further damage when looted from Kaisarbagh palace in 1858, after which former owner George William Hamilton had it restored again. As a result, some folios appear replaced at different times, with the end of sharaf (part) 7 to the beginning of 10 laṭīfah (pleasantry), now missing. In his doctoral dissertation, S. W. Ashraf only references eighteenth and nineteenth-century manuscripts, while Raḍavī and Muqtadir describe one completed in 1108 AH. For an descriptive overview of the contents, see Ivanow.
Physical Description
Collation
Condition
Layout
Written in 1 column with 19 lines per page. Ruled with a misṭarah hand guide.
Hand(s)
Written in a hasty but legible black nasta‘līq with subheaders in red.
Decoration
Ruling: Margins ruled with double red lines surrounded by single black lines.
Table of Contents: Folios 4b to 6b, introduces each (Laṭīfah) along with a corresponding folio number.
Inscriptions:
- The second right flyleaf a side (f. iia) bears the title and date of the volume's completion, likely in the hand of assistant to former owner Colonel George William Hamilton, Muhīn Dās.
- Folios 1a bears an unidentified ghazal and an inspection notation dated 17 Rabī‘ I 1226 (11 Apr. 1811), during the reign of Wajid ‘Alī Shāh, underneath seal no. 4.
Binding
Probably rebound in a hybrid British-Indian style in Multan for former owner Colonel George William Hamilton.
Unsupported resewing at two stations. Edges trimmed and twined chevron endbands worked in red and green silk threads over round cores at head and tail. Covered in full maroon goatskin leather, tight-backed, with squares at the edges, defined joints, but without a flap (type III binding per Déroche). Internal doublures lined with the same leather, with the excess width adhered to the first and last flyleaves, with strips of paper serrated along one edge adhered over top to disguise the overlap.
Boards margins ruled with double yellow lines and again about 12 mm in from the edges. Handwritten title on the spine, now abraded.
285 × 206 × 84 mm.
Handle binding with caution. In fair condition, with insect damage and exterior scuffing, with white salts on the interior doublres due to prolonged exposure to moisture..
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: Folio 1a, bottom, a large partial circular black seal impression, intaglio carved in nasta‘līq script, stacked in two lines, single-ruled, of former owner or associate possibly Qābil Khān dated 1097 AH (1685–86 CE):
~28
5: Folio 1a, a black oval seal impression, intaglio carved in nasta‘līq script, stacked in two lines, single-ruled, with the name of former owner, possibly the Mughal prince Murād Bakhsh (d. 1661).
10 × 14 mm.
History
Provenance and Acquisition
Formerly owned by Mughal prince Murād Bakhsh (d. 1661) and Mughal-era author possibly the fourth sonQābil Khān Khān, as per his seal dated 1097 AH (1685–86 CE) cent.) as per their seal impressions on folio 1a.
Subsequently acquired by the royal library of the kings of Awadh (Oude) in Lucknow, as indicated by their seal impressions on folios 1a–1b and 532b. Probably initially held in the Moti Mahal Palace, then later transferred to the Qaisarbagh Palace. Presumably looted from the latter 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 purchased 352 from his widow, Charlotte Logie Hamilton (1817–1893), now held in the British Library.
Alexander Lindsay, 25th Earl of Crawford (1812–1880) purchased the remainder of Hamilton's collection in 1868 for his Bibliotheca Lindesiana at Haigh Hall, Wigan.
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.
Bibliography
Funding of Cataloguing
Iran Heritage Foundation
The John Rylands Research Institute
The Persian Heritage Foundation
The Soudavar Memorial Foundation
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