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Illuminated manuscripts

 Subject

Staff Only
Subject Source: Art & Architecture Thesaurus

Found in 211 Collections and/or Records:

بهجته العالم Bahjat al-‘ālam, undated (original text compiled 18th cent. C.E.)

 Item
Identifier: Or Ms 247
Scope and Contents

A copy of a work on general geography by Ḥakīm Mahārat-Khān Iṣfahānī, who completed it some time after 1124 A.H. (1712 C.E). The work is principally based upon the geographical and biographical encyclopaedia Haft-Iqlīm by Amīn Aḥmad Rāzī (compiled 16th cent. C.E.).


Frontispieces illuminated with gold.

Dates: undated (original text compiled 18th cent. C.E.)
Found in: University of Edinburgh Library Heritage Collections / Manuscripts of the Islamicate World and South Asia

بهوپال شاستر Bhūpāl shāstra, undated

 Item
Identifier: Or Ms 326
Scope and Contents A collection of Hindu codes intended for the use of kings, translated from the Sanskrit by an unnamed Muslim. The author of the original text is Paras-Rām b. Kishtan-Dīw. Contains a single illustration on fol. 244b. The decoration is unfinished, with many blank space left for illustrations and diagrams. The margins contain numerous corrections and additions that appear to be in the same hand as the main text, raising the possibility that this is the holograph...
Dates: undated
Found in: University of Edinburgh Library Heritage Collections / Manuscripts of the Islamicate World and South Asia

بوستان و گلستان با تصویر Būstān va Gulistān (bā taṣvīr), undated copy (original text composed 13th cent. C.E.)

 Item
Identifier: Or Ms 287
Scope and Contents This fine manuscript contains: the complete Būstān of the famous Persian poet Sa‘dī (d. circa 690 A.H., 1291 C.E.), written on the margins and beginning in the usual manner. And, in the centre of the pages, his complete Gulistān, which begins with the preface. It features illuminated frontispieces, gold frames, and is illustrated with seven portraits in the Persian style of the 9th century A.H. (15th cent. C.E.). The binding...
Dates: undated copy (original text composed 13th cent. C.E.)
Found in: University of Edinburgh Library Heritage Collections / Manuscripts of the Islamicate World and South Asia

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