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Lot Essay
The inscription reads
Al-sultan al-'alim al-'adil al-a'zam malik al-riqab al-umam , shams al-muluk al-'arab wa al-'ajam sadd al-salatin al-riqab al-umam , taj al-dawla al-qa'ima siraj al-milla al-na'ima diya al-umma al-ra'ima , Abu al-muluk Khusraw Malik khallada Allah mulkahu wa sultanahu
The Enlightened, the Just, the Greatest Sultan, the Sovereign of the Necks of the Peoples, Sun of the Kings of Arabs and Persians, Defender of the Rulers in the World, Crown of Perpetual Prosperity, Lamp to those asleep, Light to the Community of the Loyal, Progenitor of Kings, Khusraw Malik, may God preserve his Possessions and Sovereignty
This bracelet was made for Khusraw Malik bin Khusraw Shah, the last ruler of the Ghaznavid dynasty (963-1187 AD). The long succession of honorific titles given by the inscription around the bracelet illustrates the might of the Ghaznavid sultan. Khusraw Malik's coinage only allows us to know his name as Sultan al-A'zam Taj al-Dawla Khusraw Malik and this bracelet is a precious example informing us of his titles in full. The Ghaznavid empire, once spreading from the Caspian Sea to North-Western India during its apogee was reduced to Punjab after the Ghurid sack of Ghazna in 1150-51. In 1160 Khusraw Malik succeeded his father, Khusraw Shah, who had installed his capital in Lahore in an attempt to escape from the Ghurid threat. Lahore was besieged however by the Ghurid Sultan Mu'izz al-Din Muhammad in 1183-4 AD to whom it fell three years later in 1186 AD. Khusraw Malik was deposed and imprisoned with his sons in Ghur, hence terminating the Ghaznavid dynasty (J. A. Boyle (ed.), The Cambridge History of Iran, Vol.5, Cambridge, 1968, p.161). They were put to death probably around 1190.
It seems that very few bracelets of this period made of solid gold have survived. However, it is possible to parallel it with a particular group of 11th and 12th century gold rings that have been identified by Marian Wenzel as the 'severe style' which appears to originate in Fatimid Egypt. In her discussion of the group, she describes a number of gold rings with little or no decoration as follows: '[they] bore no stone and [were] highly prized when made of gold. The rings appear to be typically of solid gold with high shoulder and rectangular bezel'(Marian Wenzel, Ornament and Amulet, Oxford, 1993, pp.45-6). She indicates that this 'severe style' reached Iran under the Seljuks. The rings of this style are in one plain piece, whether made from sheet or cast. Interestingly, Marian Wenzel notes that the bezel tables were sometimes left blank, as it is the case on this bracelet. Three 12th or 13th century Iranian rings from a private collection sold at Spink in 1996 have polygonal tables left undecorated save the borders with thin nielloed scroll (Islamic Jewellery, Spink, London, 14 October to 1 November 1996). Although made of silver, these rings relate to our gold bracelet which corresponds very well to the description of the 'severe style'.
A Seljuk repoussé bracelet of closed form in a private collection has two lions' heads flanking the central hinge and is decorated with a nielloed benedictory inscription in naskh. The aspect of the decoration - the inscription and the small panels with scrolls and interlocking motifs - is very similar to that of our bracelet. Another Seljuk bracelet in the Israel Museum and formerly in the possession of A. Rabenou is closer to ours in its shape than the example mentioned from the private collection. Although silver-gilt, it has a central bezel and rams' heads (?) at each extremity. Of relative simplicity and identical form, its arms are decorated with a nielloed inscription in kufic script (Na'ama Brosh, Islamic Jewelry, exhibition catalogue, Jerusalem, 1987).
Al-sultan al-'alim al-'adil al-a'zam malik al-riqab al-umam , shams al-muluk al-'arab wa al-'ajam sadd al-salatin al-riqab al-umam , taj al-dawla al-qa'ima siraj al-milla al-na'ima diya al-umma al-ra'ima , Abu al-muluk Khusraw Malik khallada Allah mulkahu wa sultanahu
The Enlightened, the Just, the Greatest Sultan, the Sovereign of the Necks of the Peoples, Sun of the Kings of Arabs and Persians, Defender of the Rulers in the World, Crown of Perpetual Prosperity, Lamp to those asleep, Light to the Community of the Loyal, Progenitor of Kings, Khusraw Malik, may God preserve his Possessions and Sovereignty
This bracelet was made for Khusraw Malik bin Khusraw Shah, the last ruler of the Ghaznavid dynasty (963-1187 AD). The long succession of honorific titles given by the inscription around the bracelet illustrates the might of the Ghaznavid sultan. Khusraw Malik's coinage only allows us to know his name as Sultan al-A'zam Taj al-Dawla Khusraw Malik and this bracelet is a precious example informing us of his titles in full. The Ghaznavid empire, once spreading from the Caspian Sea to North-Western India during its apogee was reduced to Punjab after the Ghurid sack of Ghazna in 1150-51. In 1160 Khusraw Malik succeeded his father, Khusraw Shah, who had installed his capital in Lahore in an attempt to escape from the Ghurid threat. Lahore was besieged however by the Ghurid Sultan Mu'izz al-Din Muhammad in 1183-4 AD to whom it fell three years later in 1186 AD. Khusraw Malik was deposed and imprisoned with his sons in Ghur, hence terminating the Ghaznavid dynasty (J. A. Boyle (ed.), The Cambridge History of Iran, Vol.5, Cambridge, 1968, p.161). They were put to death probably around 1190.
It seems that very few bracelets of this period made of solid gold have survived. However, it is possible to parallel it with a particular group of 11th and 12th century gold rings that have been identified by Marian Wenzel as the 'severe style' which appears to originate in Fatimid Egypt. In her discussion of the group, she describes a number of gold rings with little or no decoration as follows: '[they] bore no stone and [were] highly prized when made of gold. The rings appear to be typically of solid gold with high shoulder and rectangular bezel'(Marian Wenzel, Ornament and Amulet, Oxford, 1993, pp.45-6). She indicates that this 'severe style' reached Iran under the Seljuks. The rings of this style are in one plain piece, whether made from sheet or cast. Interestingly, Marian Wenzel notes that the bezel tables were sometimes left blank, as it is the case on this bracelet. Three 12th or 13th century Iranian rings from a private collection sold at Spink in 1996 have polygonal tables left undecorated save the borders with thin nielloed scroll (Islamic Jewellery, Spink, London, 14 October to 1 November 1996). Although made of silver, these rings relate to our gold bracelet which corresponds very well to the description of the 'severe style'.
A Seljuk repoussé bracelet of closed form in a private collection has two lions' heads flanking the central hinge and is decorated with a nielloed benedictory inscription in naskh. The aspect of the decoration - the inscription and the small panels with scrolls and interlocking motifs - is very similar to that of our bracelet. Another Seljuk bracelet in the Israel Museum and formerly in the possession of A. Rabenou is closer to ours in its shape than the example mentioned from the private collection. Although silver-gilt, it has a central bezel and rams' heads (?) at each extremity. Of relative simplicity and identical form, its arms are decorated with a nielloed inscription in kufic script (Na'ama Brosh, Islamic Jewelry, exhibition catalogue, Jerusalem, 1987).