Summary of Contents: This manuscript contains two parts which feature three epic poems, with one excerpted from the
Shāhnāmah and two others modelled upon it. The first, the
Khāvarnāmah (Book of the East) celebrates the exploits of
‘Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib. The author,
Muḥammad ibn Ḥusām (d. ca. 1470), apparently lived as a peasant and composed his verses in the fields; he boasts proudly of his independence in his epilogue. The following tale of the unacquainted father and son, Rustam and Suhrāb excerpted from the
Shāhnāmah by
Firdawsī concludes with another work, the
Barzūnāmah (Book of Barzū) regarding Barzū, son of Suhrāb, here seemingly written together as one tale. This second portion of the manuscript bears an English translation by former owner
James Ross (1759–1831) written in the margins. A scribe named
Abū Ṭālib ibn Mīr Abū Turāb Sayyid Ḥusayn al-‘Arāshī commenced copying this volume on
26 Ṣafar 1084 (12 Jun. 1673) then finished it on
19 Jumādà II 1085 AH (20 Sept. 1674 CE) on behalf of Bengal nobleman
Isfandiyār Khān son of Ilāh Yār Khān (fl. mid-late 18th c) in the village of Sowaldah near
Purnia.
Scribe: Abū Ṭālib valad-i Mīr Abū Turāb Sayyid Ḥusayn al-‘Arāshī valad-i Mīr Dūst Mīrak ibn Mīr Ni‘mat Allāh ibn Mīr Muṣīb ibn Shāh Abū Turāb ibn Shāh Quṭb al-Dīn;
ابو طالب ولد میر ابو تراب سید حسین العراشی ولد میر دوست میرک ابن میر نعمت الله ابن میر مصیب ابن شاه ابو تراب ابن شاه قطب الدین
The lengthy lineage related by the scribe in the colophon indicates that he descends from a prominent family of Yemeni sayyids and scholars from al-‘Arāsh, and that his ancestor Shāh Quṭb al-Dīn served as a royal tutor.
Patron: Isfandiyār Khān son of Ilāh Yār Khān, fl. mid-late 18th c.
He previously served in
1.
Incipit: (basmala) برگ ۱پ (folio 1b): نخستین بدین نامهٔ دلگشایی * سخن نقش بستم بنام خدائی | خداوند هوش و خداوند جان * خداوند بخشنده مهربان
Explicit: برگ ۱۰۷پ (folio 178b): چو خفتم بنام تو در خاک خوش * بنام تو بر من بود خاک خوش | چو خوابم بنام تو باشد مگر * بنام تو بر دارم از خاک سر
Colophon: برگ ۱۷پ (folio 178b): .تمت هذا الکلام مولای محمد ابن حسام المعروف بخاورنامه الحمد لله رب العالمین و صلة صلی الله علی محمد و اله اجمعین فی شهور ذی قعد سنه ۱۰۸۴ هشتاد و چهار هجری علی یوم آدینه علی ید الاضعف الفقیر الحقیر ابو طالب اقدام الفقرا ولد میر ابو تراب ولد میر دوست میرک ابت میر نعم الله ابن میر مصیب ابن شاه ابو تراب ابن شاه قطب الدین صاحب تربت شاه دهانده و جای بنده و تمامی کتاب در دهیه سوالده قریب بشهر پورنیه و نصل بنگاله بعهد شاه پادشاه اورنگزیب و فوجداری اسفندیار خان ولد نواب اله یار خان مرقوم گردید
Colophon: Completed by Abū Ṭālib valad-i Mīr Abū Turāb valad-i Mīr Dūst Mīrak ibn Mīr Ni‘mat Allāh ibn Mīr Muṣīb ibn Shāh Abū Turāb ibn Shāh Quṭb al-Dīn in the village of Sowaldah near Purnia for Ẕī-al-Qa‘dah 1084 AH (Feb.–Mar. 1674 CE), 8 months and 7 nights after he commenced it.
Language(s): Persian
The text appears complete with the exception of folio 40, now mising.
References
M. Dirāyatī and M. Dirāyatī,
Fihristgān: Nuskhahʹhā-yi Khaṭṭī-i Īrān (Fankhā) (Union catalogue of Iran manuscripts), Vol. 13 (
Tehran:
Sāzmān-i Asnād va Kitābkhānah-i Millī-i Jumhūrī-i Islāmī-i Īrān,
1391 S. H. [2012–2013 CE]),
pp. 587–588 [Dānishgāh Tehrān no. 3009–fā, 4992, &c.].
C. Rieu,
Catalogue of the Persian Manuscripts in the British Museum, Vol. II (
London:
British Museum,
1881),
pp. 642–643 [British Library Add. 19766].
E. Sachau and H. Ethé,
Catalogue of the Persian, Turkish, Hindûstani, and Pushtû manuscripts in the Bodleian Library, Vol. I (
Oxford:
Clarendon Press,
1889),
cols. 456–457, no. 512 [Bodleian MS. Ouseley 306].
2.
Rubric: برگ ۱۰۸پ (folio 108b): هو الفياض. آغاز داستان شاه نامه از رستم و سهراب. لا فتا الى علي لا سيف الى ذو الفقار. تمم بالخير.
Incipit: (beginning) برگ ۱۰۸پ (folio 108b): ز گفتار دهقان یکی داستان * به پیوندم از گفتهٔ باستان
Explicit:
Language(s): Persian
References
F. du Blois,
Persian Literature a Bio-Bibliographical Survey : Poetry of the Pre-Mongol Period, Vol. V, 2nd ed. (
London:
RoutledgeCurzon,
2004),
pp. 94–96 no. 52 [Daqīqī];
pp. 110–138, no. 58 [Firdawsī].
3.
Explicit: برگ ۲۰۹پ (folio 209b): چنین است کار جهان سر سبز * اگر پای جوئی نیابیس سر | اگر صد بمانی و اگر صد هزار * یمین است آغاز و انجام کار | همهٔ مرگ رائیم بر نا و سیر * برفتن خرد باد مان دستگیر | به پایان رسید اینچنین داستان شنو بعد از این قصهٔ باستان
Colophon: برگ ۲۰۹پ (folio 209b): تمت تمام شد جنگ سهراب و برزو از رستم بعهد پادشاه اورنگ شاه در بلده‌‌ٔ پرنیه و فوجداری نواب اسفندیار کاتب فقیر ابو طالب ولد میر ابو تراب سید حسین العراشی فی التاریخ نوزدهم ۱۹ شهر جمید الثانی سنه ۱۰۸۵ هجری رسانید فقط.
Final rubric: هر که حواند بدعا یا الله
Colophon: Completed by Abū Ṭālib valad-i Mīr Abū Turāb Sayyid Ḥusayn al-‘Arāshī on 19 Jumādà II 1085 AH (20 Sept. 1674 CE).
The text neither appears to be that attributed to ʿAmīd ʿAṭāʾī bin Yaʿqūb nor another redaction attributed to Mawlānā Shams al-dīn Muḥammad Kawsaj in King's Pote 56, another redaction found in copies of the Shāhnāmah held in the National Library of Iran, nos. 1091651, 1261357, and 1091854 (See R. Ghaffūrī).
Language(s): Persian
References
G. R. van den Berg, 'Two 17th-Century Prose Renditions of the Barzunāme: The Story of Barzu, Son of Sohrāb, in the Ehyā’ al-Moluk and in the Tārikh-e Shamshirkhāni' in
International Shāhnāme Conference, The Second Millennium: Conference Volume. Edited by Forogh Hashabeiky (
Upsalla:
Acta Universitatis Upsaliensis,
2014),
pp. 135–150. F. du Blois,
Persian Literature: A Bio-Bibliographical Survey, Vol. V: Poetry of the Pre-Mongol Period, Appendix I: Anonymous Narrative Poems (
London:
RoutledgeCurzon,
2004),
pp. 469–472, no. 317.
M. Dirāyatī and M. Dirāyatī,
Fihristgān: Nuskhahʹhā-yi Khaṭṭī-i Īrān (Fankhā) (Union catalogue of Iran manuscripts), Vol. 18 (
Tehran:
Sāzmān-i Asnād va Kitābkhānah-i Millī-i Jumhūrī-i Islāmī-i Īrān,
1390 SH [2011–12 CE]),
p. 741, no. 50 [Millī no. 17509].
R. Ghaffūrī, 'Bar-rasī rivāyatī manzūm az pāyān-i zindigī-i Barzū',
Majallah Shi‘ir Pazhūhishī (Būstān-i Adab) Dānishgāh-i Shīrāz, Vol. 8, No. 4 (
Isfand 1395 SH (Feb. 2017 CE),
105–128.
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. 456, no. 511 [Bodleian MS. Fraser 85].
Form: codex
Support: Textblock of cross-grained, externally sized and polished, straw-coloured paper probably handmade in the Mughal Empire with ~9 laid lines per cm and no discernible chain lines.
Extent: 208 folios, 4 flyleaves (ff. ii + 208 + ii).
Dimensions (leaf): 265 × 160 mm.
Dimensions (written): 207 × 120 mm.
Foliation: Hindu-Arabic numerals added to the upper-left corners of the a sides throughout until 178a. Folio 40 now missing.
Collation
Undetermined due to tight gutters. Catchwords throughout most of the lower-left corners of the b sides.
Condition
Handle text with caution. In fair but stable condition, with moderate water and insect damage and historical repairs increasing evident from folio 25a onwards. Fore-edge of the final folio 209 replaced and repaired at head and tail.
Layout
Written primarily in 4 columns with 27 lines per page. Ruled with a misṭarah hand guide.
Hand(s)
Written in clear black nasta‘līq with with comparatively hastily written red subheaders.
Decoration
Ruling: Text margins, vertical column dividers, and horizontal section breaks all ruled with double black lines.
Additions: Marginalia: Notes throughout in the hand of former owner
James Ross, including an English translation of the second part.
Inscriptions: - The right pastedown numbered ‘D. F. 109’ at top, and priced ‘£4.14.6’ in pencil at bottom, corresponding to former owner Duncan Forbes' catalogue.
- The second right flyleaf b side (f. iib) bears a note describing the volume in Ross' hand, with a note identifying it as such by Forbes' underneath.
- Folio 1a, top, signed by former owner ‘D. Forbes’ by subsequent owner Duncan Forbes.
- Folio 1a bears a note by the scribe stating that he commenced work on 26 Ṣafar 1084 (12 Jun. 1673) in Suwaldah:
‘بتاریخ ۲۶ شهر صفر شروع کرده شد ۴ الله السلام رساند در مقام سوالده سنه ۱۰۸۴ هجری. کاتب ز ابو طالب’. - Folios 1b, the start of the second part on 108b, and the conclusion on 209b all signed by James Ross dated 1794 at Dinajpur, Bengal.
- Folio 108a bears a note by the scribe describing the contents of the second part:
‘آغاز داستان سهراب و رستم نوشته شد و رزم برزو نیز مندرج است.’ - Folio 102a bears a note by the scribe in the margin explaining how missing pages prompted him to leave a gap:
‘ بیشتر ورق کم شده بود. از این مخارب نه نوشته شد. جنگ طهماسب کم شده است. ’
Bookplates: The
left pastedown: ‘Bibliotheca Lindesiana’ with pencilled class mark ‘1/E’, and class mark ‘Persian MS
47’ with the number crossed out and ‘841’ written aside.
Binding
Probably rebound in London for former owner Duncan Forbes.
Endpapers prepared of British-made thin-weight, cream-coloured wove sitff-leaved with bluish-green flocked paper added to the beginning and end. Resewn on three recessed cords laced into pastebaords. Edges trimmed, spattered pale tan, with red and white striped cloth endbands adhered to head and tail. Covered in half reddish-brown coloured calf leather, hollow-backed and tight-jointed, with 'Spanish' wave-patterned marbled paper sides and squares along the edges.
Spine panels paletted with gold double fillet lines with the titles of three works lettered in gold.
273 × 169 × 29 mm.
Binding in fair but stable condition, with spine faded, corners bumpes, and extensive abrasion to the exterior and board edges.
Origin: Completed by Abū Ṭālib ibn Mīr Abū Turāb Sayyid Ḥusayn al-‘Arāshī, on behalf of Isfandiyār Khān son of Ilāh Yār Khān (fl. mid-late 18th c.) 19 Jumādà II 1085 AH (20 Sept. 1674 CE). The lengthy lineage related by the scribe in the colophon indicates that he descends from a prominent family of sayyids and scholars from al-‘Arāsh in Yemen, and that his ancestor, Shāh Quṭb al-Dīn, was educated with the ruler. The patron of the volume previously served under Mīr Jumla in Kuch Bihar in 1661 to 1663, then Sylhet from 1663 to 1666, then thereafter Purnia, as indicated by this manuscript.
Provenance and Acquisition
Probably acquired in Dinajpur, Bengal in 1794 by former owner James Ross (1759–1831), as per his signature on folios 1a, top, the second work, top, and the final folio 209b, top. Born in Aberdeen, he served in the Bengal Medical Service from 1783 to 1804, when he retired and returned to Britain. 'Literary Intelligence' The Scots Magazine and Edinburgh Literary Miscellany (Monday, July 1, 1816), pp. 533–534, describes how he survived a shipwreck on his return home from which he salvaged some of his manuscripts.
Subsequently obtained from an unidentified source by King's College Professor of Oriental Languages Duncan Forbes (1798–1868), who describes the volume in his published catalogue (p. 19, no. 55), before he sold his manuscript collection to his publisher W. H. Allen & Co. in exchange for an annuity. Subsequently sold by that firm to Alexander Lindsay, 25th Earl of Crawford (1812–1880) in 1866.
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.
Please fill out your details.