Illuminated manuscripts
Found in 194 Collections and/or Records:
القرآن al-Qur’ān, undated (extant by 18th cent. C.E.)
A complete copy of a 30-leafed, or sī-varaqī, Qur'an. The sī-varaqī was a popular Qur'an manuscript format in South Asia from the seventeenth-century onwards.
The first two pages are richly illuminated with gold, and pages are gold-lined round the margins throughout. The periods are also gold-filled, and the binding includes gold-lined stamps.
القرآن al-Qur’ān, 1135 A.H., 1722 C.E.
تحفة الملوک Tuḥfat al-Mulūk, undated copy (original text composed 11th cent. C.E.)
The work is a short treatise intended for the instruction of princes and rulers, and consists of forty chapters, each containing four different pieces of advice. The author, whose name in this instance is not mentioned, was 'Abd-allāh Muḥammad al-Anṣarī of Herat (d. 481 A.H., 1088 C.E.). From the preface it would appear that the work is a compilation of the wise sayings of old philosophers and statesmen.
![[Please click twice to see more pictures]](https://images.is.ed.ac.uk/MediaManager/srvr?mediafile=/Size3/UoEsha-4-NA/1009/0011319c.jpg)
تصویرات راگ مالا Taṣvīrāt-i Rāg-mālā, undated
Music: An album illuminated by thirty-four groups of figures in gouache painting in a variety of colours, attitudes, and surroundings, representing conventional symbols of Rāgs and Rāginīs (the well-known personifications of Indian pitches).
![Detail of page from the Compendium of Chronicles by Rashid al-Din. Shows text with central miniature depicting the Sultan Luhrasp seated on a throne, surrounded by attendants. [Please click twice to see the full manuscript]](https://images.is.ed.ac.uk/MediaManager/srvr?mediafile=/Size3/UoEsha-4-NA/1009/0003552c.jpg)
جامع التواریخ Jāmiʿ al-tawārīkh (Compendium of Chronicles), 714 A.H. (1314 C.E.)
جوامع الحکایات و لوامع الروایات Jawāmi' al-ḥikāyāt va lavāmi' al-rivāyāt, 842-843 A.H., 1439-1440 C.E.
A celebrated collection of historical tales and anecdotes, by Mawlānā Nūr al-Dīn Muḥammad 'Aufī, also known as Sadr al-Dīn, or Jamāl al-Dīn 'Aufī, who also compiled one of the earliest biographies of poets, called Lubāb al-Albāb. The present work was composed in 625 A.H. (1227 C.E.).
حیاة الحیوان Ḥayāt al-Ḥayawān, 805 A.H., 1402 C.E.
A famous zoological dictionary, but it is something more. The work contains chapters on the history of the Arab rulers, on religion and law, annotations on the Qur'ān and dissertations on science, poetry, diction, etc. The author was Kamāl al-Dīn Muḥammad b. Mūsá b. 'Īsá b. 'Alī al-Damīrī (d. 808 A.H., 1406 C.E.), who compiled it in 773 A.H. (1371 C.E.).
دبستان مذاهب Dabistān-i maẕāhib, 1215 A.H., 1800 C.E.
An exposition of the religious creeds and philosophical systems of the East. The author's name does not appear, but the work is probably attributable to Mubād-Shāh, who completed it shortly after 1063 A.H. (1653 C.E.). Comprising fifteen sections with numerous subsections, it gives a fair insight into the beliefs of the Parsis, Hindus, Buddhists, Jews, Christians, Muslims, Muwaḥḥids (unitarians), Philosophers, Sufis (theosophists), and several others.
![f. 21v [Please click twice to see more pictures]](https://images.is.ed.ac.uk/MediaManager/srvr?mediafile=/Size3/UoEsha~4~4/330/0148130c.jpg)
دیوان حافظ Dīvān-i Ḥāfiẓ, undated copy (original text composed 14th cent. C.E.)
A collection of poems by the celebrated Persian lyric poet Shams-al-Dīn Muḥammad "Ḥāfiẓ" of Shiraz (ca. 715-792 A.H. /1315-1390 C.E.). This volume, probably copied in the 11th century A.H. (broadly, 17th cent. CE), is richly illuminated and includes twelve highly finished miniatures in Indian style.
روضة الصفاء Rawz̤at al-ṣafāʼ, 1057 A.H., 1647 C.E.
An excellent copy (seven volumes bound in one) in good preservation of the famous work on general history, composed around the turn of the 16th century C.E., by Muḥammad b. Khāvandshāh b. Maḥmūd, “Mīrkhānd”.