Persian MS 824 (The John Rylands Research Institute and Library, The University of Manchester)

Persian Manuscripts

Summary of Contents: The Maʼās̲ir al-‘Umārā (Feats of the Princes) features biographies of the eminent men of India from the establishment of the Mughal dynasty down to the author's time. While unsigned and undated, this manuscript expands Bilgrami's edition with 311 entries.

Author: Shāhnavāz Khān Awrangābādī, 1700–1758;
شاه نواز خان اورنگ‌آبادى,

Editor: Bilgrāmī, Sayyid Ghulām ʻAlī Āzād, 1704–1786;
بلگرامی، سید غلام علی آزاد

Title: Maʼās̲ir al-‘Umārā

Title: معاثر العمارا

Incipit: (basmalla) برگ ۱پ (folio 1b): حمد شاهنشاهی که اورنگ نشینان سلطنت را رتبه والای جهانبانی کرامت نمود و مسند طرازان امارت را منصب پیشدستی این کرده والا شکوه مرحمت فرمود و صلوة و سلام بر جهان پناهی که نظم و نسق امت بچه رونق پرداخت و عالم جن و بشر را بمهر خداداد نبوت مسخر ساخت و آل فرخنده خصال که شاهزاد‌های والا نیاراند و اصحاب تقدیر انتساب که وزرا عالیمقدار‌اند اما بعد این کتابیست ممتاز و کار‌نامه ایست بی انباز تصنیف مورد تائیدات یزدانی جامع کمالات انسانی امیر بی نظیر نواب صمصام الدوله شاهنواز خان علیه الرحمه و الرضوان انجامه سحر طراز بتحریر این نسخه پرداخت و مدت پنج سال باحیاً محمعی ابنی جنس خود صرف ساخت ماهران فن اخبارو مخققان وقایع روزگاری شناسند که مصنف علیه الرحمه چه قدر خون از رگ اندیشه چکانیدهو مرابت تحقیق مطالب و تصحیح مقاصد یکجا رسام...

Explicit: برگ ۳۱۱پ (folio 311b):

Colophon: No colophon.

Language(s): Persian

Physical Description

Form: codex

Support: Textblock of cross-grained, externally sized and polished, ivory-coloured paper probably handmade in the Indian subcontinent with ~8 laid lines per cm and no discernible chain lines.

Extent: 311 folios, 6 flyleaves (ff. v + 311 + i).

Dimensions (leaf): 292 × 177 mm.

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

Foliation: Pencilled Arabic numerals added to the upper-left corners of the a sides when catalogued.

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 21 lines per page. Ruled with a misṭarah hand guide.

Hand(s)

Written in clear black nasta‘līq with red subheaders.

Additions:
Bookplates: The left pastedown: ‘Bibliotheca Lindesiana’ bookplate with pencilled shelfmark ‘1/D’, and an earlier Lindesiana label ‘Persian MSS No. 30’, with the number crossed out and ‘824’ written aside.

Binding

Probably rebound in full calf bindings in Britain for an unidentified former owner, who also employed the same binder to rebind Persian MS 798, 799, and 800 as well.

Endpapers of British-made paper watermarked ‘P & I’d added to the begginning and end. Text resewn on four cords, laced into pasteboards. Edges trimmed, and daubed brown.

History

Origin:

Provenance and Acquisition

While the circumstances under which this manuscript arrived in Britain remain unclear, London bookseller Bernard Quaritch (1819–1899) probably acquired from an unidentified source then offered it for sale in his 1865 catalogue, no. 822, for £2 10 shillings, before he sold it to Alexander Lindsay, 25th Earl of Crawford (1812–1880) on 10 Oct. of that year, who then accessioned into the 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

B. Quaritch, Catalogue of Oriental Literature, Manuscripts, Printed Books, Translations, Works of Eastern Travels (London: , 1865), p. 43, no. 822.

Funding of Cataloguing

Iran Heritage Foundation

The John Rylands Research Institute

The Soudavar Memorial Foundation

Subjects

Comments

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