Persian MS 819 (The John Rylands Research Institute and Library, The University of Manchester)

Persian Manuscripts

Summary of Contents: This isolated volume of the Akbarnāmah (Book of Akbar), by Abū al-Faz̤l ibn Mubārak, (1551–1602) chronicles the history of the reign of Akbar, Emperor of Hindustan (b. 1542, r. 1556–1605). However this only contains the second part of the first volume and the start of the second together with an appended conclusion that describes the emperor's death. A scribe named Ghulām Muḥammad completed this manuscript for an unidentified person named ‘Mister Ruk'hbī’ (possibly 'Rocheby'), probably in the Indian subcontinent in the month of Sha‘bān 1228 (Aug 1813 CE); however, blank spaces throughout the text remain where he neglected to add divisions, chapter headings, and subheaders typically in red.

Author: Abū al-Faz̤l ibn Mubārak, 1551-1602 أبو الفضل بن مبارك

Scribe: Ghulām Muḥammad;
غلام محمد

Title: Akbarnāmah

Title: اكبرنامه

Incipit: (basmalla) برگ ۱پ (folio 1b): انتظام سلسلهٔ کا[ر]گاه آفرینش که مظاهر حقیقت نماء شهود و شواهد قدرت واجب الوجود ايست

Explicit: برگ ۲۸۷پ (folio 287b): و روز دیگر تجهیزو تکفین نموده وجود مطه آن نور پروردهٔ الهی را در باغ سکندره بجوار رحمت ایزدی سپردند ولادت گرامی در نهصد و چهل و نه هجری و جلوس اشرف در نهصد و شست و سه ۳ و سنقار شدن در یکهزار و چهارده اتفاق افتاد و ازین سه ۳ تاریخ سنقاد می‌شود. شب یکشنبه ۹۴۹
نصرت اكبر ۹۶۳ فوت اکبر ۹۱۴

Colophon: برگ ۲۸۷پ (folio 287b): این کتاب مستطاب از برای آن مظهر مروت دسہی صاحب خلاف مستر رکہبی صاحب دام دولت و دام عمره این ضیف المشاک فقیر حقیر نادان بقید تحریر آورده یعنی کاتب الحروف مستطبی غلام محمد که میم
تحریر بتاریخ ماه شعبان سنه ۱۱۲۸

Colophon: Completed in the month of Sha‘bān 1228 (Aug 1813 CE).

Language(s): Persian

Physical Description

Form: codex

Support: Textblock of medium-weight, cream-coloured, cross-grained externally sized and highly polished, paper probably handmade in the Indian subcontinent with ~11 laid lines per cm and no discernible chain lines.

Extent: 287 folios, 8 flyleaves (ff. iii + 287 + v).

Dimensions (leaf): 297 × 202 mm.

Dimensions (written): 196 × 118 mm.

Foliation: Hindu-Arabic numerals added to the upper-left corners of the a sides throughout.

Collation

Undetermined. 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 20 lines per page. Ruled with a misṭarah hand guide.

Hand(s)

Written in clear black nasta‘līq with red subheaders.

Additions:
Inscriptions: the first right flyleaf a side (f. ia) bears a pencilled quotation of the Quaritch catalogue entry in the hand of Alexander Lindsay, 25th Earl of Crawford (1812–1880).
The final flyleaf b side (f. viiib) bears a partial signature of a former owner, ‘W. L. Mor...’ with the remainder of the flyleaf regrettably torn off.
Labels and Bookplates: The final flyleaf b side (f. viiib) bears an earlier Lindesiana label ‘Persian MSS No. 25’, with the number crossed out and ‘819’ written aside.
The left doublure bears the ‘Bibliotheca Lindesiana’ bookplate with pencilled shelfmark ‘1/C’.

Binding

Probably contemporary binding completed soon after the manuscript, then subsequently repaired.

Resewn on five raised bands.

301 × 210 × 41 mm.

History

Origin: Completed by an unidentified scribe for a ‘Mister Rocheby’, probably in the Indian subcontinent; Sha‘bān 1228 (Aug 1813 CE) AH.

Provenance and Acquisition

Subsequently acquired by an unidentified individual who signed his named ‘W. L. Mor...’ with the remainder of the flyleaf regrettably torn off. While the circumstances under which this volume arrived in Britain remain unclear, London bookseller Bernard Quaritch (1819–1899) offered it for sale in his 30 Nov 1870 catalogue, p. 237, no 970, as part of the library of Lieutenant Governor of the Northwest Provinces, John Russell Colvin (1807–1857). However, whether Colvin, in fact owned this manuscript remains unclear, as Quaritch may have added it to that catalogue for expeidiencey. Nevertheless, it seems that Alexander Lindsay, 25th Earl of Crawford (1812–1880) then acquired it, probably for the advertised price of £3 16 shillings, and accessioned it into 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, Manchester.

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 2025 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

Abū al-Faz̤l ibn Mubārak, The History of Akbar. Translated by W. M. Thackston. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 2015–.

Abū al-Faz̤l ibn Mubārak, Akbarnāmah. Edited by Āghā Ahmad ʼAlī. Calcutta: Asiatic Society, 1873.

Abū al-Faz̤l ibn Mubārak, and Henry Beveridge. The Akbar Nāma of Abu-L-Fazl. Calcutta: Asiatic Society of Bengal, 1897.

A. F. L. Beeston, Catalogue of the Persian, Turkish, Hindûstânî, and Pushtû Manuscripts in the Bodleian Library, Part III (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1954), p. 5 no. 2460 [Bodl Ms. Pers. B. 5].

H. Ethé, Catalogue of Persian manuscripts in the library of the India Office Vol. 1, (London: India Office Library, 1903), col. 107, no. 264 [BL IO Islamic 6].

D. N. Marshall, Mughals in India: A Bibliographical Survey. Vol. 1. Manuscripts (Bombay: Asia Publishing House, 1962), p. 33, no. 99(i).

B. Quaritch, Catalogue of voyages and travels, works on America, and oriental literature (Catalogue Nº. 266) (London: , 30 Nov. 1870), p. 237, no. 970.

C. Rieu, Catalogue of the Persian manuscripts in the British Museum, Vol. I (London: British Museum, 1879), p.251 [BL Add. 7652].

E. Sachau and H. Ethé, Catalogue of the Persian, Turkish, Hindûstani, and Pushtû manuscripts in the Bodleian Library Vol I (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1889), col. 115, no. 213 [Bodl. Ouseley Add. 165].

C. A. Storey, Persian Literature: A Bio-bibliographical Survey, Vol. I Pt. 2 (London: Luzac & Co., 1935), p. 549, no. 709(1).

Funding of Cataloguing

Iran Heritage Foundation

The John Rylands Research Institute

The Soudavar Memorial Foundation

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