Lot Essay
The scribe, Mir Husain al-Katib al-Khaqani al-Husaini, seems to have active from the end of the first half of to the late sixteenth century. He is described by Arberry as 'the famous scribe employed at Bukhara in the sixteenth century in the service of the Shaibanid princes and who, like many calligraphers, was of 'Alid descent'. He is also thought to have worked in Akbar's library alongside Ashraf Khan, Khawaja Muhammad Ishaq, Mir Dauri and Hafiz Muhammad Amin, where, according to Qa'ti, (the seventeenth century author of Majma' al-Shu'ara-i Jahangirshahi) he was one of the scribes of the great Hamzanameh (see lot 6). This Bukhara-Akbar connection is supported by a Bukhara manuscript in the British Library (Or. 5302) copied by Mir Husain al-Husaini in AH 947/1567-8 AD, which contains a mixture of Mughal and Bukhara miniatures (the latter of which interestingly show Indian rather than Persian costumes).
Other published examples of the scribe's work include: panels of nasta'liq calligraphy on the reverse of late sixteenth century miniatures, both in the India Office Library; two copies of Sa'di's Bustan dated AH 963/1556-7 AD and second half sixteenth century, both in the Biblioteque Nationale, Paris (Sup. pers.1187 and Pers.257); copies of Jami's Mathnawi and his Tuhfat al-Ahrar dated AH 952/1543-4 AD and AH 980/1572-3 AD in the Chester Beatty Library
The opening flyleaf contains an autograph of the young Prince Khurram, later the Emperor Shah Jehan (1628-58 AD), stating that the manuscript entered the imperial library of Jahangir in the year AH 1014/1605-6 AD
There are at least eight seals of the librarians (tahwildars) of the imperial library of Shah Jehan and three from the reign of Aurangzeb (1658-1707 AD)
The final flyleaf contains an inscription giving a detailed description of the manuscript, it's condition and repairs undertaken. A price of 15 muhr or gold coins (altered in places to 55) is also mentioned which may refer to the price of the manuscript or to the cost of repairs. Nine miniatures are also mentioned.
The style and composition of the miniatures is typical of Bukhara in the 1560s. For other examples offered in these Rooms see lot 99 in this sale, and lot 62, 26 April 1993. See also; Soudavar,A.: The Art of the Persian Courts, New York 1992, nos 80 and 81, pp.212-6.
Other published examples of the scribe's work include: panels of nasta'liq calligraphy on the reverse of late sixteenth century miniatures, both in the India Office Library; two copies of Sa'di's Bustan dated AH 963/1556-7 AD and second half sixteenth century, both in the Biblioteque Nationale, Paris (Sup. pers.1187 and Pers.257); copies of Jami's Mathnawi and his Tuhfat al-Ahrar dated AH 952/1543-4 AD and AH 980/1572-3 AD in the Chester Beatty Library
The opening flyleaf contains an autograph of the young Prince Khurram, later the Emperor Shah Jehan (1628-58 AD), stating that the manuscript entered the imperial library of Jahangir in the year AH 1014/1605-6 AD
There are at least eight seals of the librarians (tahwildars) of the imperial library of Shah Jehan and three from the reign of Aurangzeb (1658-1707 AD)
The final flyleaf contains an inscription giving a detailed description of the manuscript, it's condition and repairs undertaken. A price of 15 muhr or gold coins (altered in places to 55) is also mentioned which may refer to the price of the manuscript or to the cost of repairs. Nine miniatures are also mentioned.
The style and composition of the miniatures is typical of Bukhara in the 1560s. For other examples offered in these Rooms see lot 99 in this sale, and lot 62, 26 April 1993. See also; Soudavar,A.: The Art of the Persian Courts, New York 1992, nos 80 and 81, pp.212-6.