MIR 'ALISHIR NAVA'I (D. AH 906/1500 AD): DIWAN

The author of this text, Mir 'Alishir Nava'i, was a Turkish poet and scholar. A school companion of the Timurid ruler Sultan Husayn Mirza Bayqara, who ascended the throne in Herat, he held a number of offices in Court. He was also affiliated with the naqshbandi movement, which is one of the main tasawwuf movements (or tariqas) of Islam, which was formed in 1380.

The miniatures are identifiable as:

1. The young prince's hunting party
2. The prince meeting a dervish in the mountains
3. The prince and his party at a meal
4. The prince receiving a hermit in a park
5. The prince riding through the bazaars of a city

This manuscript belonged at one point to the Qajar Royal Library and was last inspected in AH 1307/1889-90 AD. It was already in private hands in Quchan (in Khorassan) in AH 1320/1903 AD, when the death of Muhammad Nasir Khan Shuja' al-Dawla was recorded.

A note in the manuscript mentions that the manuscript was in the collection of Rudolf Melander Holzapfel, who purchased it in Paris circa 1938. It also notes the various locations in which it was exhibited.

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Provenance

From the Collection of Rudolf Melander Holzapfel; purchased in Paris circa 1938.

Exhibited

De Young Museum, San Francisco, 1947-49
Public Library, Santa Barbara, California, 1950
California Palace of the Legion of Honor, San Francisco, 1954