Anonymous miscellany in prose and poetry dealing with spring, education, medical matters, trades, military matters and finally a lengthy section in praise of an unnamed individual. This manuscript is an anthology of works in prose by the Persian poet Tughra-yi Mashhadi (died before 1667-68). Risālah-ʼi Firdawsīya (The paradisal epistle) is the name of the first item in the anthology. It is both an evocation of the beauties of Kashmir and a panegyric to the Mughal ruler Shah Jahan (1592-1666). Nothing is known of Tughra's childhood and youth, other than that he probably was born in Mashad (although Tabriz also has been proposed as his native town). Tughra moved to India and the court of Jahangir (reigned 1605-27) towards the end of the latter's reign. During the reign of Jahangir's successor, Shah Jahan, Tughra joined the court of one of Shah Jahan's sons, Murad Bakhsh, and accompanied him on the Mughal campaign in Balkh (1646). Although unsuccessful, this campaign is nonetheless commemorated by the poet as a victory in his panegyric to Murad Bakhsh, Mir'āt al-futūḥ (Mirror of victories), which appears near the end of the present collection. Tughra subsequently settled in Kashmir, where he died. He is buried in Srinagar in a plot adjacent to that of Kalim Hamadani, one of the foremost Persian poets of the 17th century. Tughra composed verse in all the popular forms of Persian poetry, but he is most famous for his prose works known as risālahs (epistles) which include Risālah-ʼi Firdawsīya and Mir'āt al-futūḥ. More than 30 of these risālahs have survived in numerous anthologies, serving as a testament to the high esteem in which Tughra was held by succeeding generations as a prose stylist. World Digital Library.
Poems written in praise of ʻAbdurraḥmān K̲h̲ān̲, the Amir of Afghanistan. Risālah-ʼi Khiradʹnāmah-ʼi Amīrī (Epistle of princely wisdom) is a short work written in the form of a commentary on what apparently are the musings of the Afghan ruler 'Abd al-Rahman Khan (reigned 1880-1901) on the topic of 'aql (intellect). 'Abd al-Rahman's observations concern both the variability in the allocation of reason and intellect in humanity, as well as the divine reasons for this unequal distribution. 'Abd al-Rahman ends his short treatise with the declaration that regardless of any particular individual's intellectual gifts, there exist in each period true sages whose authority should be recognized by all. The author of the commentary, ʻAbd al-Ra'uf (died 1915), includes the hadiths and other Arabic sources, as well as poems in Persian in his somewhat ingratiating and lengthy commentary. 'Abd al-Rahman's original text, which amounts to no more than two pages, is highlighted in red ink, while ʻAbd al-Ra'uf's commentary is presented in black. The book was completed in Muharram 1304 AH (October-November 1886) and is in manuscript form. The text is written on a light-cream paper in a nasta'liq script with black ink. Some of the poems are in red ink. World Digital Library.
Full catalogue record in Fihrist: Union Catalogue of Manuscripts from the Islamicate WorldDecoration: Illumination on ff. 2r, 2v, 41v, 42rHand: nasta‘līq
Shahnameh (Book of kings) was composed by the revered Iranian poet Abū al-Qāsim Firdawsī (940-1020). The book recounts in verse the mythological history of ancient Persia and tales of the famous heroes and personalities of Iranian history, from legendary times to the 7th-century reign of Yazdegerd III, the last king of the Sassanid dynasty. Considered the national epic of Iran, the book was widely read throughout the Persian-speaking world. This manuscript copy was made in India in the 17th or 18th century. The text is written in nastaʻliq script in four columns of 25 lines. The text begins on folio 1b with rubrication and gold interlinear decoration up to folio 3a; folios 1b and 2a have an elaborate border of grape decoration in various shades of green and gold. Catchwords are on the recto pages. The paper is a cream-colored Eastern laid paper. Black ink is used, with highly decorated major ʻunwāns (title pages); minor ʻunwāns are in gold ink, now very faded. Full-page paintings illustrating scenes from the text appear on folios 1a, 144a, 193b, 412b; half-page paintings are on folios 10a, 10b, 127a, 157b, 193a, 230a, and 409a; two small paintings are in the lower corners on folios 133a and 402a. World Digital Library.