TIMURID HERAT, DATED 28 RAMADAN AH 899/2 JULY 1494 AD

Al-Kashifi's Tuhfat al-Salawat, which is on the subject of prayers calling for blessings on and asking for the intercession of the Prophet was composed in AH 899/1494-65 AD, the same year as the date of this manuscript. An inscription dated AH 904 on the colophon page in the hand of the author states that he has checked this copy against his original. In all probability this is the earliest surviving copy of the text.

At the beginning and the end is the seal impression of ‘Iskandar bin Sultan Bayqara’ bearing the date AH 904/1498-99 AD. This is probably Iskandar, the son of Bayqara Mirza II, the son of Ghiyath al-Din Mansur and brother of the Timurid ruler Husayn Bayqara. Iskandar married his uncle Husayn Bayqara’s daughter, Sultan Nizhad Begum. A note on f.1a states that if a king carries these prayers with him at all times, he will be successful, appropriate for a manuscript in the possession of a royal court member and in a royal library.