Persian MS 734 (The John Rylands Research Institute and Library, The University of Manchester)
Persian Manuscripts
Contents
In his handlist, Michael Kerney mistakenly describes this volume as class mark Persian MS 733.
Physical Description
Collation
Condition
Handle with caution. In fair condition, with extensive moderate insect damage and historical paper repairs applied the margins gutters and pages, especially in the gutters of folios 25–31.
Layout
Written in 1 column with 7 lines per page. Ruled with a misṭarah hand guide.
Hand(s)
Written a very clear naskh script in black with subheaders and lines above the beginning of the sentences marked in red in rayhani script.
Inscriptions:
- The second right flyleaf (f. iia) bears the title.
- Folio 1a at top stating ‘Nīyāz-i Nawwāb Shīr Jang’ (Gift of Nawwāb Shīr Jang) to the left of his seal impression, and then underneath a note dated 22 Ṣafar year 1 (1168 AH, 18 Nov. 1754 CE) during the first year of the reign of the Mughal ruler Emperor ‘Ālamgīr II (b. 1699, r. 1754-1759). (See F. Richard catalogue for Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Suppl. Pers. 505, f. 1a).
- Notation underneath in a smaller hand dated 14 Sha‘bān year 1 (1131 AH, 2 July, 1719) in in Lucknow, during the very brief reign of Shāh Jahān II.
- Centre:Inspection notice underneath by Muḥammad Bayg year 1231 AH (1815–16 CE).
- Bottom:diagonal notation ‘Entered on 18 Rabī al-Awwal year 1197 AH (21 Feb. 1783 CE)’
- Notation possibly dated 22(?) Rabī‘ I 1182 AH (6 Aug. 1768 CE).
- Left paste-down, ‘Bibliotheca Lindesiana’ with shelf mark ‘2/K’, and ‘Hamilton MSS No. 651’.
Binding
Evidently rebound for former owner Colonel George William Hamilton (1807-1868), probably in Multan between 1858 to 1863. Unsupported sewing at two stations, with European-style decorative front-bead endbands worked over a single-cord core with white and silver threads. Covered in a hybrid British-Indian style binding in full, tight backed, red goatskin leather over pasteboards, with squares and defined exterior joints. Internal doublures of the same red leather, with the hinge put down on the second and second to last flyleaves, of unpolished, comparatively heaviver paper manufactured in India, with strips of paper with serrated, zig-zag cuts on one side adhered over leather hinges to disguise the joins.
Boards decorated with parallel double ruling lines in yellow, one about 10 mm in from the edges and the other surrounding perimeters of the boards. Titled Bāznāmah in Persian written in yellow nasta‘līq on the spine.
173 × 111 × 8 mm.
Binding in fair condition. Tightly bound, with extensively tipped adhesive repairs that restrict the pages from opening to the gutter margins.
Three rectangular seal impressions, including one of the kings of Awadh (Oude) on folios 1a and 41b when subsequent owner Colonel George William Hamilton (1807-1868) had the volume restored and rebound, along with two others impressed in black on folio 1a.
1: Vermillion rectangular library seal of Nāṣir al-Dīn Ḥaydar Shāh (b. 1803, r. 1827–1837), intaglio-carved in two stacked nasta‘līq lines, double-ruled, dated 1244 AH (1828–29 CE), inscribed with his title Sulaymān Jāh:
‘ 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: Folio 1a, top, a rectanglular seal impression, intaglio-carved in nasta‘līq script in three stacked lines, single-ruled, of former owner Mu‘izz al-Dawlah Bahādur Shīr Jang
11 × 16 mm.
3: Folio 1a, bottom, bears a partial rectanglular seal impression, intaglio-carved in nasta‘līq script in three stacked lines, single-ruled, possibly dated 1152 AH.
9 × 14 mm.
History
Provenance and Acquisition
Subsequently acquired by various owners in Lucknow, as attested by a notation, but then ultimately found its way into the collection of prominent Indian collector and Governor of Kashmir Nawwāb Mu‘izz al-Dawlah Shīr Jang (fl. mid-18th century), a cousin of the Nawwāb of Awadh Shuja‘ al-Dawlah (b. 1732, r. 1754–1775), as attested by his seal impression and notation matching other volumes that French military figure Jean Baptiste-Jospeh Gentil (1726–1799) obtained from his collection, now held in the Bibliothèque Nationale de France
However, this volume evidently either remained in or returned to Lucknow hence held in the Moti Mahal Palace, then likely later transferred to the Qaisarbagh Palace, given the seal impression the King of Awadh (Oude), Nāṣir al-Dīn Ḥaydar Shāh (b. 1803 r. 1827–1837), and notations consistent with other volumes from the royal library (e.g. Persian MS 612. 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.
Hamilton acquired over a thousand Indian and Persian manuscripts which he brought to Britain after he retired. After his death, 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 in 1868 for 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 and his Bibliotheca Lindesiana, Hand-list of Oriental Manuscripts: Arabic, Persian, Turkish, 1898.
Manuscript description by Jake Benson in 2021 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
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