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Lot Essay
Kalila wa Dimna was originally composed in Sanskrit in around 300 AD in Kashmir but has become one of the most important secular works of Islamic literature and has inspired some of the best illustrated manuscripts.
The text is an Indian mirror for princes to advise on moral and ethical themes by animal fables. It was translated into Pahlavi by the order of the Sassanian King Khusrau Anushirwan (r. 531-579) who sent his physician Burzoe to India for this purpose. It was translated into Arabic by 'Abd Allah ibn al-Muqaffa' in around 750 and the work as it is known is principally his creation. It was subsequently translated into many other languages, including Persian and Turkish, and inspired some marvellous illustrated Persian examples. In the canon of Arabic painting, Kalila wa Dimna was to become in the 13th-14th centuries one of the most popular texts for illustration because of its lively stories involving a variety of animals.
The translator Ibn al-Muqaffa' was born in Fars in 720 AD but became attached to the court of the Abbasid caliph. He was the author of numerous translations and other works. The present copy contains both the introduction of 'Ali ibn al-Shah al-Farisi, the author of a preface of unknown date which desribes how Bidpai came to write Kalila wa Dimna, and the preface of Ibn al-Muqaffa' which has additional fables of local origin. These precede the main text and also contain illustrations.
Kalila wa Dimna became one of the most popular texts for copying and translating in Islamic literature and also the most illustrated. The oldest surviving example is in the Bibliothèque nationale in Paris (3465), copied in Syria which has been dated to between 1200 and 1220. The miniatures are simple in design with a horizontal plane containing the main characters of the tale sometimes divided by a flowering plant or seated beneath a simple arched or flat-roofed building. The paintings in that work appear to have become the prototypes for later versions. There are no other known copies dating from the 13th century, but it experienced a revival in the 14th century, and was copied and illustrated in both Arabic and Persian. The most important Arabic examples are one in the Bodleian Library in Oxford dated 1354 AD (MS Pococke 400) and an undated one in the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris (3467). The remainder date to the second half of the 14th or the early 15th centuries.
The miniatures of the present manuscript are painted in a strikingly archaistic style, directly following the earliest known manuscript in Paris (3465). Either the artist had sight of the early manuscript, or more probably there were other similar copies made in the intervening four hundred years which are now lost. It is worth comparing the miniature illustrating the story of the fox and the drum which appears on f.52b (Paris, no.95, p.132), the lion and the jackal Dimna on f.51a (Ettinghausen, p.63) or the council of the King of the crows on f.103b (Ettinghausen, p.62). Where humans are illustrated, the artist has adopted a more contemporary style of dress. For example, the lady in The pious man and the mouse on f.114a is wearing high Ottoman bath shoes and on f. 143b Irakht's lady-in-waiting is wearing a tall headdress typical of the period. Wherever pious men are ilustrated they are wearing the pointed cowl of a Syriac priest. The name of the scribe of this manuscript Abu-l Mina ibn Nasim al-Naqqash suggests that he was not a Muslim, but probably a Christian or a Jew. He uses the word hilaliya (lunar) to describe the date, rather than hijra, again sugggesting that he was not a Muslim. His laqab al-Naqqash means that he may also have drawn the miniatures.
While the Paris manuscript was acquired in Cairo for France in the 17th century, there seems to be very little doubt that it was of Syrian origin. It is fascinating, therefore, that the tradition of painting in Syria in this historical style should have continued into the 17th century.
Of the nine other recorded copies of this manuscript dating from the 11th/17th century, the closest to the present piece is in Paris BN, Ar.3470, which is undated and also a copy of 3465.
Guesdon, M-G. and Vernay-Nouri, A.: L'art du livre arabe, Paris, 2001, no. 95, p. 113-5, 132-3
Ettinghausen, R.: Arab Painting, Geneva, 1977
Grube, E.J.: Prolegomena for a corpus publication of illustrated Kalilah wa Dimnah manuscripts, in Islamic Art, IV, New York, 1992, pp. 301-2, Fig. 86, p. 357, 360-1, 374-400.
List of miniatures
f.13a
f.14b Bidpai in chains in prison
f.15b Bidpai's chains are cut
f.17b Bidpai and King Dabishlim
f.18b Bidpai and King Dabishlim
f.20b Bidpai and King Dabishlim
f.22a Burzuyah before Nushirwan
f.23b Burzuyah and the Brahmin?
f.27a Burzuyah relates his experiences to Nushirwan
f.29b The man who fell asleep while a thief was robbing his house
f.32a The dishonest merchant and his partner
f.33a The poor man, his storage jar and the thief
f.33b The foresight of the merchant's youngest son
f.34b The fisherman and the shells
f.37b The metaphor of the statue
f.39a The thief falling through the roof
f.40a The husband beats his wife's lover
f.41a The case of the unearned wages
f.41b The dog and the bone
f.44b The perils of life
f.46b Shanzabah the bull stuck in the mud
f.47a Man trying to escape a wolf
f.48a The monkey and the carpenter
f.49a Kalila and Dimna
f.51a Dimna and the lion
f.52b The fox and the drum
f.53b Dimna and the lion
f.54b Dimna brings Shanzaba to the lion
f.55a The fox killed by the fighting rams
f.56b The pious man, the barber and his wife before the judge
f.57a The crow seeks the jackal's advice
f.58b The crane and the crab
f.60b Dimna and the lion
f.61a Dimna and the lion
f.62a Fishermen fishing in a pond
f.68b The lion and the crow
f.70a Dimna and Shanzaba
f.71a The flying tortoise
f.72a Dimna and Shanzaba
f.81a Kalila visits Dimna in prison
f.83b The ignorant physician
f.85b Kalila visits Dimna in prison
f.89a The falcon blinding the slanderous falconer
f.90b The doves caught in a net
f.91b The rat releases the doves from the net
f.92b The crow and the rat
f.94a The crow carries the rat to the tortoise's pond
f.95a The rat, the pious man and his guest
f.92a The greedy wolf
f.97a The rat beaten by the pious man's guest
f.99b The gazelle freed by the rat
f.100b The gazelle and the rat free the tortoise
f.103b The crows ask their king to free them from the owls
f.105a The assembly of the birds
f.107b Firuz and the King of the elephants at the lake of the moon
f.109a The pious man, his sheep and the thieves
f.110b The old merchant, his wife and the thief
f.111b The plot of the thief and the div against the pious man
f.112b The wife, her lover and her husband under the bed
f.114a The pious man and the mouse
f.115a The crows killing the owls
f.116a The king of the crows thanks the crow for saving them
f.117a The frog riding on the snake's back
f.120a The king of the monkeys drops figs into the lake
f.121a The king of the monkeys rides across the lake on the tortoise
f.122a The fox persuades the donkey to follow him
f.122b The lion kills the donkey
f.124a The pious man and his storage jar
f.125a The pious man killing the faithful weasel
f.126b The rat frees the cat
f.128a The cat hides in the tree
f.130a Fanzah refuses to return to the King
f.134a The lion and the pious jackal
f.135b The lion questions the pious jackal
f.136b The lion's mother stops the execution of the pious jackal
f.137a The vindication of the pious jackal
f.139a Biladh and Iladh
f.140b Irakht and the Vizier
f.142a Biladh consults with the wise Kibayrun
f.143a The king receives precious gifts
f.143b Irakht in jealousy pours a bowl of rice over the king
f.144b The angry king orders his vizier to kill Irakht
f.147a Irakht and Biladh are reconciled
f.148b The lioness complains to the jackal
f.150a The pious man and his guest
f.151b The rescue of the treacherous goldsmith
f.153b The king's son and his companions
f.156a The king's son and his companions
The text is an Indian mirror for princes to advise on moral and ethical themes by animal fables. It was translated into Pahlavi by the order of the Sassanian King Khusrau Anushirwan (r. 531-579) who sent his physician Burzoe to India for this purpose. It was translated into Arabic by 'Abd Allah ibn al-Muqaffa' in around 750 and the work as it is known is principally his creation. It was subsequently translated into many other languages, including Persian and Turkish, and inspired some marvellous illustrated Persian examples. In the canon of Arabic painting, Kalila wa Dimna was to become in the 13th-14th centuries one of the most popular texts for illustration because of its lively stories involving a variety of animals.
The translator Ibn al-Muqaffa' was born in Fars in 720 AD but became attached to the court of the Abbasid caliph. He was the author of numerous translations and other works. The present copy contains both the introduction of 'Ali ibn al-Shah al-Farisi, the author of a preface of unknown date which desribes how Bidpai came to write Kalila wa Dimna, and the preface of Ibn al-Muqaffa' which has additional fables of local origin. These precede the main text and also contain illustrations.
Kalila wa Dimna became one of the most popular texts for copying and translating in Islamic literature and also the most illustrated. The oldest surviving example is in the Bibliothèque nationale in Paris (3465), copied in Syria which has been dated to between 1200 and 1220. The miniatures are simple in design with a horizontal plane containing the main characters of the tale sometimes divided by a flowering plant or seated beneath a simple arched or flat-roofed building. The paintings in that work appear to have become the prototypes for later versions. There are no other known copies dating from the 13th century, but it experienced a revival in the 14th century, and was copied and illustrated in both Arabic and Persian. The most important Arabic examples are one in the Bodleian Library in Oxford dated 1354 AD (MS Pococke 400) and an undated one in the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris (3467). The remainder date to the second half of the 14th or the early 15th centuries.
The miniatures of the present manuscript are painted in a strikingly archaistic style, directly following the earliest known manuscript in Paris (3465). Either the artist had sight of the early manuscript, or more probably there were other similar copies made in the intervening four hundred years which are now lost. It is worth comparing the miniature illustrating the story of the fox and the drum which appears on f.52b (Paris, no.95, p.132), the lion and the jackal Dimna on f.51a (Ettinghausen, p.63) or the council of the King of the crows on f.103b (Ettinghausen, p.62). Where humans are illustrated, the artist has adopted a more contemporary style of dress. For example, the lady in The pious man and the mouse on f.114a is wearing high Ottoman bath shoes and on f. 143b Irakht's lady-in-waiting is wearing a tall headdress typical of the period. Wherever pious men are ilustrated they are wearing the pointed cowl of a Syriac priest. The name of the scribe of this manuscript Abu-l Mina ibn Nasim al-Naqqash suggests that he was not a Muslim, but probably a Christian or a Jew. He uses the word hilaliya (lunar) to describe the date, rather than hijra, again sugggesting that he was not a Muslim. His laqab al-Naqqash means that he may also have drawn the miniatures.
While the Paris manuscript was acquired in Cairo for France in the 17th century, there seems to be very little doubt that it was of Syrian origin. It is fascinating, therefore, that the tradition of painting in Syria in this historical style should have continued into the 17th century.
Of the nine other recorded copies of this manuscript dating from the 11th/17th century, the closest to the present piece is in Paris BN, Ar.3470, which is undated and also a copy of 3465.
Guesdon, M-G. and Vernay-Nouri, A.: L'art du livre arabe, Paris, 2001, no. 95, p. 113-5, 132-3
Ettinghausen, R.: Arab Painting, Geneva, 1977
Grube, E.J.: Prolegomena for a corpus publication of illustrated Kalilah wa Dimnah manuscripts, in Islamic Art, IV, New York, 1992, pp. 301-2, Fig. 86, p. 357, 360-1, 374-400.
List of miniatures
f.13a
f.14b Bidpai in chains in prison
f.15b Bidpai's chains are cut
f.17b Bidpai and King Dabishlim
f.18b Bidpai and King Dabishlim
f.20b Bidpai and King Dabishlim
f.22a Burzuyah before Nushirwan
f.23b Burzuyah and the Brahmin?
f.27a Burzuyah relates his experiences to Nushirwan
f.29b The man who fell asleep while a thief was robbing his house
f.32a The dishonest merchant and his partner
f.33a The poor man, his storage jar and the thief
f.33b The foresight of the merchant's youngest son
f.34b The fisherman and the shells
f.37b The metaphor of the statue
f.39a The thief falling through the roof
f.40a The husband beats his wife's lover
f.41a The case of the unearned wages
f.41b The dog and the bone
f.44b The perils of life
f.46b Shanzabah the bull stuck in the mud
f.47a Man trying to escape a wolf
f.48a The monkey and the carpenter
f.49a Kalila and Dimna
f.51a Dimna and the lion
f.52b The fox and the drum
f.53b Dimna and the lion
f.54b Dimna brings Shanzaba to the lion
f.55a The fox killed by the fighting rams
f.56b The pious man, the barber and his wife before the judge
f.57a The crow seeks the jackal's advice
f.58b The crane and the crab
f.60b Dimna and the lion
f.61a Dimna and the lion
f.62a Fishermen fishing in a pond
f.68b The lion and the crow
f.70a Dimna and Shanzaba
f.71a The flying tortoise
f.72a Dimna and Shanzaba
f.81a Kalila visits Dimna in prison
f.83b The ignorant physician
f.85b Kalila visits Dimna in prison
f.89a The falcon blinding the slanderous falconer
f.90b The doves caught in a net
f.91b The rat releases the doves from the net
f.92b The crow and the rat
f.94a The crow carries the rat to the tortoise's pond
f.95a The rat, the pious man and his guest
f.92a The greedy wolf
f.97a The rat beaten by the pious man's guest
f.99b The gazelle freed by the rat
f.100b The gazelle and the rat free the tortoise
f.103b The crows ask their king to free them from the owls
f.105a The assembly of the birds
f.107b Firuz and the King of the elephants at the lake of the moon
f.109a The pious man, his sheep and the thieves
f.110b The old merchant, his wife and the thief
f.111b The plot of the thief and the div against the pious man
f.112b The wife, her lover and her husband under the bed
f.114a The pious man and the mouse
f.115a The crows killing the owls
f.116a The king of the crows thanks the crow for saving them
f.117a The frog riding on the snake's back
f.120a The king of the monkeys drops figs into the lake
f.121a The king of the monkeys rides across the lake on the tortoise
f.122a The fox persuades the donkey to follow him
f.122b The lion kills the donkey
f.124a The pious man and his storage jar
f.125a The pious man killing the faithful weasel
f.126b The rat frees the cat
f.128a The cat hides in the tree
f.130a Fanzah refuses to return to the King
f.134a The lion and the pious jackal
f.135b The lion questions the pious jackal
f.136b The lion's mother stops the execution of the pious jackal
f.137a The vindication of the pious jackal
f.139a Biladh and Iladh
f.140b Irakht and the Vizier
f.142a Biladh consults with the wise Kibayrun
f.143a The king receives precious gifts
f.143b Irakht in jealousy pours a bowl of rice over the king
f.144b The angry king orders his vizier to kill Irakht
f.147a Irakht and Biladh are reconciled
f.148b The lioness complains to the jackal
f.150a The pious man and his guest
f.151b The rescue of the treacherous goldsmith
f.153b The king's son and his companions
f.156a The king's son and his companions