SIGNED QASIM KHAN IBN AHMAD KHAN BIN HASSAN KHAN MAHMAND AL-NEKNAMABADI, CENTRAL INDIA, LATE 18TH/EARLY 19TH CENTURY

This is a Persian translation of the celebrated Salihotra or Salhutra, 'The coloured book of horses'. According to the preface, it is the work of Durga Rasi, the son of Surga Rasi and was translated from Sanskrit into Persian by 'Abdullah bin Safi during the reign of the Bahmanid ruler Ahmad Shah Wali (r. 1422-36). According to the preface, the text was translated in AH 810/1407-08 AD. It may originally have been composed by Durga Rasi for Mahmud of Ghazni (d.1030). The contains 125 drawings of thoroughbred horses, with observations on traits, illness and prescriptions for treatment.. Another copy of this manuscript is in the Khalili Collection where the note indicates that it was translated from Sanskrit into Persian during the reign of Shah Jahan (Rogers, 2007, no.344, p.290). Another copy of the manuscript, dated 1879, sold at Christie's, London, 26 April 2012, lot 351.

In the colophon, the scribe praises the qualities of the patron as an excellent master of riding and horsemanship. The scribe signs with his nisba al-Neknamabadi suggests that he came from Neknamabad in south central India, a town which is today known as Kadapa (former Cuddapah).