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Illuminated manuscripts

 Subject

Staff Only
Subject Source: Art & Architecture Thesaurus

Found in 197 Collections and/or Records:

تأريخ شمشير خانی Tā'rīkh-i shamshīr-khānī, 1090 A.H., 1679 C.E.

 Item
Identifier: Or Ms 270
Scope and Contents

This is a copy of an abridgement of the Shāh-nāmah of Firdawsī, compiled with a connecting narrative in prose by Tawakkul Beg, son of Tūlāk Beg al-Ḥasanī. The history begins with the reign of Gayūmars̱, and is brought down to the Sāsānians, descendants of Ardashīr-Bābagān.


Illuminated frontispieces.

Dates: 1090 A.H.; 1679 C.E.
Found in: University of Edinburgh Library Heritage Collections / Manuscripts of the Islamicate World and South Asia

تاريخ گزيده Ta'rīkh-i Guzīdah, 993 A.H., 1584 C.E.

 Item
Identifier: Or Ms 185
Scope and Contents

A general history from the earliest times to 730 A.H. (1329 C.E.), the year, as it is stated in the preface, when it was compiled by Ḥamd-allāh b. 'Abī Bakr b. Aḥmad b. Naṣr Mustaufī Qazwīnī (d. 750 A.H., 1349 C.E.), and the present name, meaning "the select history" was given to it.


The first two pages and the frontispiece are richly illuminated; gold-lined throughout.

Dates: 993 A.H.; 1584 C.E.
Found in: University of Edinburgh Library Heritage Collections / Manuscripts of the Islamicate World and South Asia

تاریخ احمدشاهی Tārīkh-i Aḥmadshāhī, undated (c. 1200 A.H. / 1800 C.E.)

 Item
Identifier: Or Ms 470
Scope and Contents This chronicle was compiled by Maḥmūd b. Ibrāhīm al-Ḥusaynī al-Jāmī for Aḥmad Shāh Durrānī (also known as Abdālī, r. 1747-73), a commander under Nādir Shāh Afshār (1688 - 1747 C.E) and his successor as ruler, and who is often considered to be the founder of Afghanistan.The work is styled to be reminiscent of Mīrzā Mahdī Astarābādī’s Durrah-yi Nādirah while referring to the Shāhnāmah. The work combines both verse...
Dates: undated (c. 1200 A.H. / 1800 C.E.)
Found in: University of Edinburgh Library Heritage Collections / Manuscripts of the Islamicate World and South Asia

تاریخ عالم آرای عباسی Tarīkh-i ʻālam ārā-yi ʻAbbāsī, 1064 A.H., 1653 C.E.

 Item
Identifier: Or Ms 240
Scope and Contents A complete copy in two parts of the life and reign of Shāh-‘Abbās the Great, the seventh King of the Safavid dynasty who reigned over Persia for 44 years and died at the age of 60, a.h. 1038 (a.d. 1629). The work was originally completed and dedicated to ‘Abbās in 1025 A.H., 1616 C.E., but was afterwards continued until 1038 A.H., 1629 C.E. This part includes a history of the Shāh's predecessors, and inscribed to Shāh-Ṣāfī by Iskandar Beg, better known as "Munshī", who was one of the record...
Dates: 1064 A.H.; 1653 C.E.
Found in: University of Edinburgh Library Heritage Collections / Manuscripts of the Islamicate World and South Asia

تحفة الملوک Tuḥfat al-Mulūk, undated copy (original text composed 11th cent. C.E.)

 Item
Identifier: Or Ms 94
Scope and Contents

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.

Dates: undated copy (original text composed 11th cent. C.E.)
Found in: University of Edinburgh Library Heritage Collections / Manuscripts of the Islamicate World and South Asia

تصاوير Taṣāwīr, undated

 Item
Identifier: Or Ms 374
Scope and Contents The contents of this volume are: Nineteen (16 3/4 in. by 11 1/4 in.) and ten (13 1/4 in. by 9 1/4 in.) portraits carefully drawn, with seven (13 1/4 in. by 9 1/4 in.) good specimens of caligraphy (one by Fāʼiqq). The paintings are by Indian artists, two are in the Persian style, and have been pasted on gold sprinkled paper. The subjects of the pictures include Mughal Emperors and Princes (including Bābar and ‘Ālamgīr and Mirzā Jawān-Bakht, who died at Rangun in exile with his father...
Dates: undated
Found in: University of Edinburgh Library Heritage Collections / Manuscripts of the Islamicate World and South Asia

تصویرات راگ مالا Taṣvīrāt-i Rāg-mālā, undated

 Item
Identifier: Or Ms 114
Scope and Contents

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).

Dates: undated
Found in: University of Edinburgh Library Heritage Collections / Manuscripts of the Islamicate World and South Asia

تکملهٔ يافعی Takmilah-yi Yāfi‘ī, undated (original text compiled 14th cent. C.E.)

 Item
Identifier: Or Ms 242
Scope and Contents

A Persian translation of the original Arabic titled Khulāṣat al-Mafākhir fī Manāqib al-Shaykh ‘Abd al-Qādir by Shaykh ‘Abd-Allāh Yāfi‘ī (d. 768 A.H., 1366 C.E.). It contains two hundred and sixteen stories which are primarily about the celebrated Sufi saint and eponymous founder of the Qādirī Ṭarīqah, Shaykh ‘Abd al-Qādir al-Jīlānī (d. 561 A.H., 1166 C.E.).


Frontispiece illuminated with gold.

Dates: undated (original text compiled 14th cent. C.E.)
Found in: University of Edinburgh Library Heritage Collections / Manuscripts of the Islamicate World and South Asia
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]
Detail of page from the Compendium of Chro...

جامع التواریخ Jāmiʿ al-tawārīkh (Compendium of Chronicles), 714 A.H. (1314 C.E.)

 Item
Identifier: Or Ms 20
Scope and Contents This manuscript, among the most iconic items held by Edinburgh University Library, is one of the supreme masterpieces of Persian book painting and one of the most important medieval manuscripts from either West or East. Jāmiʿ al-tawārīkh was written by the historian and vizier to the Ilkhanid court, Rashīd al-Dīn Faḍl-allāh Ṭabīb Hamadānī (ca. 1247-1318 C.E.), and copied in Tabriz by the author's own scribes and illustrators. This fragment of the manuscript...
Dates: 714 A.H. (1314 C.E.)
Found in: University of Edinburgh Library Heritage Collections / Manuscripts of the Islamicate World and South Asia

جوامع الحکایات و لوامع الروایات Jawāmi' al-ḥikāyāt va lavāmi' al-rivāyāt, 842-843 A.H., 1439-1440 C.E.

 Item
Identifier: Or Ms 119
Scope and Contents

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.).

Dates: 842-843 A.H.; 1439-1440 C.E.
Found in: University of Edinburgh Library Heritage Collections / Manuscripts of the Islamicate World and South Asia