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Lot Essay
The text of this Qur'an is preceded by a short introductory text in Arabic and seven circles (da’irah) showing aspects of the variant readings (qira’at) of the Qur’an according to the Seven Readers (Nafi’ al-Madani; Ibn Kathir; Ibn ‘Amir al-Yahsibi; Abu ‘Amir ibn al-‘Ala; Abu Bakr ‘Asim ibn Abi al-Najud; Hamzah ibn Habib al-Zayyat; Abu’l-Hasan ibn Hamzah al-Kisa’i). Each circle is divided into four sections beginning with an introduction (al-muqaddimah), followed by aspects of pronunciation; idgham (assimilation of letters); the pronunciation of hamzas; imalah (vowel shift).
This impressive Qur’an, which has thirty finely illuminated double pages, is one of a small group to have survived from the Sultanate period in India. India’s tumultuous history during the 13th-15th century resulted in few Sultanate Qur’ans surviving the period. Many are in poor condition or incomplete and only a handful are signed or dated (Eloise Brac de la Perriere, L’art du livre dans l’Inde des sultanats, Paris, 2008, p.28).
The two exceptions are an example copied in Gwalior and dated 1398 (now in the Aga Khan collection, The Arts of Islam, exhibition catalogue, London, 1976, no.635, p.370) and another which is dated 1483 (now in the Bijapur Archaeological Museum, MS.912; Stuart Cary Welch, India: Art and Culture, 1300-1900, exhibition catalogue, New York, 1988, no.71, pp.124-25). Although the illumination on those two manuscripts differs considerably, they both draw inspiration from contemporaneous Timurid manuscripts.
In our manuscript, various features in the illumination demonstrate the cultural ties between Iran and India, mostly as a result of the Timurid military incursions. The large lotus flower, for instance, that springs out in the margin is a popular motif of Ilkhanid and Timurid manuscripts, as is the extensive use of lapis blue in the illuminated text borders. The inner borders here, with the scrolling flowerhead on blue ground, alternatively painted black and red, are also Persian feature. Related borders are found on a Timurid Qur’an copied in Herat around 1440 (1400. Yilinda Kur'an-i Kerim, exhibition catalogue, Istanbul, 2010, kat.70, pp.288-89). The boldness of the script, the use of oversized bismallahs, the vivid yet mat colours of the illumination are yet typically Indian.
The diversity of the decorative devices in our Qur’an is to be paralleled with that found on other fine Qur’ans such as Qur’an published by Sam Fogg (Brac de la Perriere, op.cit., pl.40), a Qur’an, dated circa 1450, sold at Christie’s, 1 May 2001, lot 19 and Qur’an 237 in the Nasser D. Khalili Collection, attributed to the 15th century (David James, After Timur, Oxford, 1992, cat.28, p.104-107). Manuscripts that are not Qur’ans also provide comparable examples; see for instance two manuscripts of Taj al-Ma’asir and Tamhidat in the Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris (Suppl.Persan 1332; Persan 1332, Brac de la Perriere, op.cit., pls.50-51).
The bihari script, which became standard for Sultanate Qur’ans is thought to be a development of the naskh script. Its origins are obscure and it seemed virtually to disappear with the advent of the Mughals. The emphasis in the script is in the sublinear elements of the letters which are greatly thickened and end in sharp points. It is generally assumed that the name is derived from the province of Bihar in eastern India, but because it was not a particularly important centre of Islam this seems unlikely (David James, After Timur, London, 1992, p.102).
This impressive Qur’an, which has thirty finely illuminated double pages, is one of a small group to have survived from the Sultanate period in India. India’s tumultuous history during the 13th-15th century resulted in few Sultanate Qur’ans surviving the period. Many are in poor condition or incomplete and only a handful are signed or dated (Eloise Brac de la Perriere, L’art du livre dans l’Inde des sultanats, Paris, 2008, p.28).
The two exceptions are an example copied in Gwalior and dated 1398 (now in the Aga Khan collection, The Arts of Islam, exhibition catalogue, London, 1976, no.635, p.370) and another which is dated 1483 (now in the Bijapur Archaeological Museum, MS.912; Stuart Cary Welch, India: Art and Culture, 1300-1900, exhibition catalogue, New York, 1988, no.71, pp.124-25). Although the illumination on those two manuscripts differs considerably, they both draw inspiration from contemporaneous Timurid manuscripts.
In our manuscript, various features in the illumination demonstrate the cultural ties between Iran and India, mostly as a result of the Timurid military incursions. The large lotus flower, for instance, that springs out in the margin is a popular motif of Ilkhanid and Timurid manuscripts, as is the extensive use of lapis blue in the illuminated text borders. The inner borders here, with the scrolling flowerhead on blue ground, alternatively painted black and red, are also Persian feature. Related borders are found on a Timurid Qur’an copied in Herat around 1440 (1400. Yilinda Kur'an-i Kerim, exhibition catalogue, Istanbul, 2010, kat.70, pp.288-89). The boldness of the script, the use of oversized bismallahs, the vivid yet mat colours of the illumination are yet typically Indian.
The diversity of the decorative devices in our Qur’an is to be paralleled with that found on other fine Qur’ans such as Qur’an published by Sam Fogg (Brac de la Perriere, op.cit., pl.40), a Qur’an, dated circa 1450, sold at Christie’s, 1 May 2001, lot 19 and Qur’an 237 in the Nasser D. Khalili Collection, attributed to the 15th century (David James, After Timur, Oxford, 1992, cat.28, p.104-107). Manuscripts that are not Qur’ans also provide comparable examples; see for instance two manuscripts of Taj al-Ma’asir and Tamhidat in the Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris (Suppl.Persan 1332; Persan 1332, Brac de la Perriere, op.cit., pls.50-51).
The bihari script, which became standard for Sultanate Qur’ans is thought to be a development of the naskh script. Its origins are obscure and it seemed virtually to disappear with the advent of the Mughals. The emphasis in the script is in the sublinear elements of the letters which are greatly thickened and end in sharp points. It is generally assumed that the name is derived from the province of Bihar in eastern India, but because it was not a particularly important centre of Islam this seems unlikely (David James, After Timur, London, 1992, p.102).