Encyclopedias and dictionaries, Persian

Detail of page from the Compendium of Chronicles by Rashid al-Din. Shows text with central miniature depicting the Sultan Luhrasp, who ruled the Mazandarin Province of Iran during the late 15th century, seated on a throne, surrounded by attendants. — Detail of page from the Compendium of Chro...

Manuscripts of the Islamicate World and South Asia

Fonds

Identifier: Or Ms

Scope and Contents This collection consists of over 700 manuscripts pertaining to the Islamicate world and South Asia, dating from the 10th to 19th centuries C.E. (the majority being post-1500). Chiefly bound paper codices, it includes sacred texts of importance to the Muslim, Hindu, and Sikh faiths, Qur’anic commentaries, Traditions of the Prophet Muhammad and the Shi’i Imams, works treating Islamic law, world history, the history of India, medicine,...

Dates: 10th-19th centuries C.E. (bulk: post-1500 C.E.)

Found in: University of Edinburgh Library Heritage Collections

Or Ms 139: الصراح من الصحاح al-Ṣurah min al-ṣaḥah (volume 1), 1227-1230 A.H., 1812-1815 C.E.

Item

Identifier: Or Ms 139

Scope and Contents

A dictionary of Arabic words explained in Persian, being a translation (completed, 681 A.H., 1282 C.E.) of the famous Arabic dictionary entitled al-Ṣaḥah, of Abū Naṣr Ismā'il b. Ḥammād Jawharī, d. 398 A.H., 1007 C.E.), by Abū al-Faz̤l Muḥammad b. 'Umar b. Khālid, commonly called "Jamāl al-Qurashī." The work is across two volumes, Or Ms 139 and 140.

Dates: 1227-1230 A.H.; 1812-1815 C.E.

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

Or Ms 140: الصراح من الصحاح al-Ṣurah min al-ṣaḥah (volume 2), 1227-1230 A.H., 1812-1815 C.E.

Item

Identifier: Or Ms 140

Scope and Contents

A dictionary of Arabic words explained in Persian, being a translation (completed, 681 A.H., 1282 C.E.) of the famous Arabic dictionary entitled al-Ṣaḥah, of Abū Naṣr Ismā'il b. Ḥammād Jawharī, d. 398 A.H., 1007 C.E.), by Abū al-Faz̤l Muḥammad b. 'Umar b. Khālid, commonly called "Jamāl al-Qurashī." The work is across two volumes, OR MS 139 and 140.

Dates: 1227-1230 A.H.; 1812-1815 C.E.

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

Or Ms 141: منتخب اللغات شاهجهانی Muntakhb al-lughāt-i Shāhjahānī, undated copy (original text composed 17th cent. C.E.)

Item

Identifier: Or Ms 141

Scope and Contents

A well-known dictionary of Arabic words explained in Persian. It was compiled, according to the chronogram muntkhab-i bī dil, 1046 A.H. (1636-1637 C.E.) and dedicated to the Mughal Emperor Shāhjahān, by 'Abd al-Rashīd b. 'Abd al-Ghafūr al-Ḥusaynī al-Madanī al-Tatawī (still alive, 1069 A.H., 1659 C.E.).

Dates: undated copy (original text composed 17th cent. C.E.)

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

Or Ms 142: هفت قلزوم Haft qulzum (volume 1), 1237 A.H., 1822 C.E.

Item

Identifier: Or Ms 142

Scope and Contents

A dictionary and grammar of the Persian language, by His Majesty Ghazī al-Dīn Haydar Khān Bahādūr, the first King of Oudh, (d. 1243 A.H., 1827 C.E.). See OR MS 135 and 136 for his correspondance. The present work is across two volumes OR MS 142-143.

Dates: 1237 A.H.; 1822 C.E.

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

Or Ms 143: هفت قلزوم Haft qulzum (volume 2), 1237 A.H., 1822 C.E.

Item

Identifier: Or Ms 143

Scope and Contents

A dictionary and grammar of the Persian language, by His Majesty Ghazī al-Dīn Haydar Khān Bahādūr, the first King of Oudh, (d. 1243 A.H., 1827 C.E.). See OR MS 135 and 136 for his correspondance. The present work is across two volumes OR MS 142-143.

Dates: 1237 A.H.; 1822 C.E.

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

Or Ms 330: نفائس الفنون فی عرائس العيون Nafāʼis al-funūn fī ‘arāʼis al-‘uyūn, 1011 A.H., 1602 C.E.

Item

Identifier: Or Ms 330

Scope and Contents

An encyclopaedia of one hundred and sixty different sciences known to Muslims, compiled by Shī‘ī scholar Muḥammad b. Maḥmūd al- ‘Āmulī (d. 753 A.H., 1352 C.E.). Illuminated frontispiece.

Dates: 1011 A.H.; 1602 C.E.

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