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Lot Essay
Seventeenth century Kashmir served as a centre for the exchange of artistic influences from the Mughal and Safavid courts and beyond. Officially under Mughal rule, the Kashmir valley served as an occasional pleasure resort for the early Emperors. The lack of a permanent Mughal imperial base in the valley in the 17th century may account for the fact that there appears not to be a definitive and easily identifiable native Kashmiri school of painting from this period. The itinerant nature of the Imperial court suggests that artists working in or originating from Kashmir were constantly on the move with the court. Our manuscript provides a rare window into a hybrid style of painting associated with the Kashmir valley during the second half of the 17th century.
Striking features found throughout the illustrations include the vibrant rock formations, landscapes painted in lively and rich colours, particularly greens, blues, purple and pink and architectural elements in the backgrounds. The atelier which produced the paintings for this manuscript was clearly influenced by both Mughal and Safavid courts as evident in the range of facial features, garments and headgears of the figures presented in different scenes. This manuscript is a wonderful example of a melting pot of different styles which form a link between itinerant group of artists responsible for the completion of the illustrations.
For a manuscript sold in these Rooms with similar illustrations, produced in North India in the first half of the 16th century see Christie’s, 9 October 2014, lot 140
This manuscript is an Indian compilation of literary works including numerous examples of official, mostly royal correspondence (insha’), extracts from Persian works of poetry including the introductions to the Gulzar-i Ibrahimi of Ibrahim ‘Adil Shah and the Diwan of Zuhuri, various poems in rhyming couplets (mathnavi) such as the Ilahi-namah of Farid al-Din ‘Attar, Qaza wa Qadr of Mirza Muhamamd Quli Salim Tarshati Tihrani “Mayli”, the Farhad wa Shirin and Khuld-i Barin of Vahshi Bafqi, an untitled mathnavi of Muhammad Jan Qudsi Mashhadi, the Saqi-namah of Mirza Ibrahim Adham, collections of quatrains and other types of poems by ‘Umar Khayyam, Mirza Quli Mayli, Mahvi, Mirza Ibrahim Adham, ethical works such as Akhlaq-i Nasiri of Nasir al-Din Tusi and wise sayings (hikmat) attributed to Plato.
Various parts of the manuscript are dated:
(f. 675) Verses of an anonymous poet in the author’s own hand, dated Thursday 25th Sha’ban 1086 (14th November 1675)
(f. 677) The Ikhtiyarat (prognostications) of Nasir al-Din Tusi have a colophon which records that they were written in Lahore for Javad ‘Ali Khan Sahib at the end of Rajab 1145 (January 1733), corresponding to the 15th regnal year of Muhammad Shah, by Muhammad Tahir ibn Ibrahim Khan.
(f. 769) A section from a manuscript (pp. 761-769), called the Risalah-yi Sihhat va Maraz (Treatise on Health and Sickness), completed by Muhammad Baqir, the secretary (Nishan Navis) of Sultan Murad Bakhsh, in Peshawar on the 11th Ramadan 1057 (10th October 1647) in Peshawar. This was just after Murad Bakhsh had been appointed governor of Kashmir.
The manuscript ends with a collection of sayings in Turkish. On the verso of the final folio is a record of various births including of a Fulad Bayg on 28th Rabi’ al-Thani 1055 (23rd June 1645);
The illustrations include:
Two from the Qaza’ va Qadr of Mirza Muhammad Quli Tihrani Tarashti “Mayli”
Two from the Ilahi-namah of Farid al-Din ’Attar
The Hindu bride commits sati (self-immolation) from the Suz va Gudaz of Nav’i Khabushani
Seven from from Vahshi Bafqi’s Farhad va Shirin
A bird carries a snake off in its beak from an unidentified Mathnavi
The snake around the shoulders of a man, from the same as the above
A man, possibly Majnun, praying at a grave, from an unidentified Mathnavi
Poetry (tarkib-band) of the poet Mirza Quli Mayli (d. 1575) - the illustration showing the poet kneeling before a seated aristocratic youth
The poet standing before the same figure as above
The poet kneeling before a well-dressed youth
The poet beneath the balcony of the same well-dressed youth
Striking features found throughout the illustrations include the vibrant rock formations, landscapes painted in lively and rich colours, particularly greens, blues, purple and pink and architectural elements in the backgrounds. The atelier which produced the paintings for this manuscript was clearly influenced by both Mughal and Safavid courts as evident in the range of facial features, garments and headgears of the figures presented in different scenes. This manuscript is a wonderful example of a melting pot of different styles which form a link between itinerant group of artists responsible for the completion of the illustrations.
For a manuscript sold in these Rooms with similar illustrations, produced in North India in the first half of the 16th century see Christie’s, 9 October 2014, lot 140
This manuscript is an Indian compilation of literary works including numerous examples of official, mostly royal correspondence (insha’), extracts from Persian works of poetry including the introductions to the Gulzar-i Ibrahimi of Ibrahim ‘Adil Shah and the Diwan of Zuhuri, various poems in rhyming couplets (mathnavi) such as the Ilahi-namah of Farid al-Din ‘Attar, Qaza wa Qadr of Mirza Muhamamd Quli Salim Tarshati Tihrani “Mayli”, the Farhad wa Shirin and Khuld-i Barin of Vahshi Bafqi, an untitled mathnavi of Muhammad Jan Qudsi Mashhadi, the Saqi-namah of Mirza Ibrahim Adham, collections of quatrains and other types of poems by ‘Umar Khayyam, Mirza Quli Mayli, Mahvi, Mirza Ibrahim Adham, ethical works such as Akhlaq-i Nasiri of Nasir al-Din Tusi and wise sayings (hikmat) attributed to Plato.
Various parts of the manuscript are dated:
(f. 675) Verses of an anonymous poet in the author’s own hand, dated Thursday 25th Sha’ban 1086 (14th November 1675)
(f. 677) The Ikhtiyarat (prognostications) of Nasir al-Din Tusi have a colophon which records that they were written in Lahore for Javad ‘Ali Khan Sahib at the end of Rajab 1145 (January 1733), corresponding to the 15th regnal year of Muhammad Shah, by Muhammad Tahir ibn Ibrahim Khan.
(f. 769) A section from a manuscript (pp. 761-769), called the Risalah-yi Sihhat va Maraz (Treatise on Health and Sickness), completed by Muhammad Baqir, the secretary (Nishan Navis) of Sultan Murad Bakhsh, in Peshawar on the 11th Ramadan 1057 (10th October 1647) in Peshawar. This was just after Murad Bakhsh had been appointed governor of Kashmir.
The manuscript ends with a collection of sayings in Turkish. On the verso of the final folio is a record of various births including of a Fulad Bayg on 28th Rabi’ al-Thani 1055 (23rd June 1645);
The illustrations include:
Two from the Qaza’ va Qadr of Mirza Muhammad Quli Tihrani Tarashti “Mayli”
Two from the Ilahi-namah of Farid al-Din ’Attar
The Hindu bride commits sati (self-immolation) from the Suz va Gudaz of Nav’i Khabushani
Seven from from Vahshi Bafqi’s Farhad va Shirin
A bird carries a snake off in its beak from an unidentified Mathnavi
The snake around the shoulders of a man, from the same as the above
A man, possibly Majnun, praying at a grave, from an unidentified Mathnavi
Poetry (tarkib-band) of the poet Mirza Quli Mayli (d. 1575) - the illustration showing the poet kneeling before a seated aristocratic youth
The poet standing before the same figure as above
The poet kneeling before a well-dressed youth
The poet beneath the balcony of the same well-dressed youth