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Lot Essay
The illuminated headpiece on the first page is decorated with large-scale flowerheads on a gold strapwork design around a broad blue palmette with a maroon outer border. A similar design appears on a copy of the Dala'il al-Khayrat in the collection of Cengiz Çetindoğlu, which was copied by Mehmed Şehri in AH 1149 / 1736-6 AD in Istanbul (acc.no.3091, Nabil F. Safwat, Understanding Calligraphy: the Ottoman Contribution, London, 2014, no.125, p.502). Also of similar design is the frontispiece of a Dala'il al-Khayrat in the Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia, which was copied just over a decade later by Darwish Ahmad ibn al-Hajj Ali (acc.no.2004.12.42, Nurul Iman Rusuli, Dala'il al-Khayrat: prayer manuscripts from the 16th-19th centuries, Kuala Lumpur, 2016, no.8, p.46). That manuscript also has marginalia within gold outer rules, similar to those on this manuscript.
The paintings in Dala'il al-Khayrat manuscripts followed established norms, seeking to give readers a sense of the arrangement of spiritually important places in the Haramayn. This manuscript is unusual because in addition to the normal pair of paintings depicting Mecca and Medina, there are an additional two illustrations. The full list of illustrations is as follows:
f.12r: A schematic depiction of al-masjid al-haram, centred on the Ka'aba and including surrounding architectural elements including the maqam Ibrahim, bab al-salam, qubbat al-farrashin, qubbat al-Abbas, and a minbar.
f.13v. A front view of the rawda al-jinna, similar in iconography to one in a copy of the dala'il in the Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia (Nurul Iman Rusuli, op.cit., no.6, p.43)
f.13r. A highly unusual depiction of four different possible arrangements of the graves of the Prophet, Abu Bakr, and 'Umar inside the rawda al-jinna
f.14r. A schematic depiction of rawda al-jinna, with the tomb of the Prophet in the upper left corner and including the well of Fatima, the orchard of the Prophet, and a minbar.
In their level of detail and rich colouring, in addition to the unusual additional diagrams of the rawda, this is an illustrative ensemble of exceptional quality. Very similar illustrations of the Haram in Mecca are found in a manuscript in the Sadberk Hanim Museum, dated to approximately 1730 and signed by Mehmed ibn Hussein (Z. Tanındı, Harmony of Line and Colour, Illuminated Manuscripts Documents and Calligraphy in the Sadberk Hanım Museum Collection, Istanbul 2019, pp.232 - 237). Slightly later in date, but also very similar in its layout and iconography, is the depiction of the Haram in an early 19th century manuscript in the Tareq Rajab Museum, Kuwait (Nabil F. Safwat, The Harmony of Letters, Singapore, 1997, p.12). A further small-format Dala’il al-Khayrat manuscript which also has unusual extra illustrations sold in these Rooms, 23 April 2015, lot 224.
Additional notes in the manuscript give information about its later history. On the verso of the final folio is a note in Kipchak Turkish. It records the birth of Devlet Giray Sultan ibn Shahin Giray Khan on Thursday 9 Rabi' I AH 1197 / 12 February 1783. The second note adds that the boy began his education just over seven years later, at the start of Rabi' II AH 1205 / 8 December 1790. The boy's father, Shahin Giray Khan, was a descendant of Genghis Khan and the last Khan of Crimea (1777-83). Shortly after the boy was born, on 19 April 1783 his territory was formally annexed by Catherine the Great of Russia on 19 April 1783. After his deposition, both the Russians and Ottomans continued to see him as a threat. In 1784 he was taken to St Petersburg, and thence to Voronezh, where he requested asylum from the Porte. Though he was allowed to cross into the Ottoman realm, going to the city of his birth, Edirne, before being exiled to Rhodes. There, he was executed at the orders of the Porte. His property was then returned to his family who continued to reside in Burgaz, one of the largest of the 'Princes' Islands' (Feridun Emecen, ŞAHİN GİRAY, İslam ansiklopedısı). It was probably here that this note was added. For the reforms he undertook during his reign in order to confront the threats faced from Russia and Turkey, Shahin Giray is remembered as one of the great modernising rulers of Islamic history.
The paintings in Dala'il al-Khayrat manuscripts followed established norms, seeking to give readers a sense of the arrangement of spiritually important places in the Haramayn. This manuscript is unusual because in addition to the normal pair of paintings depicting Mecca and Medina, there are an additional two illustrations. The full list of illustrations is as follows:
f.12r: A schematic depiction of al-masjid al-haram, centred on the Ka'aba and including surrounding architectural elements including the maqam Ibrahim, bab al-salam, qubbat al-farrashin, qubbat al-Abbas, and a minbar.
f.13v. A front view of the rawda al-jinna, similar in iconography to one in a copy of the dala'il in the Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia (Nurul Iman Rusuli, op.cit., no.6, p.43)
f.13r. A highly unusual depiction of four different possible arrangements of the graves of the Prophet, Abu Bakr, and 'Umar inside the rawda al-jinna
f.14r. A schematic depiction of rawda al-jinna, with the tomb of the Prophet in the upper left corner and including the well of Fatima, the orchard of the Prophet, and a minbar.
In their level of detail and rich colouring, in addition to the unusual additional diagrams of the rawda, this is an illustrative ensemble of exceptional quality. Very similar illustrations of the Haram in Mecca are found in a manuscript in the Sadberk Hanim Museum, dated to approximately 1730 and signed by Mehmed ibn Hussein (Z. Tanındı, Harmony of Line and Colour, Illuminated Manuscripts Documents and Calligraphy in the Sadberk Hanım Museum Collection, Istanbul 2019, pp.232 - 237). Slightly later in date, but also very similar in its layout and iconography, is the depiction of the Haram in an early 19th century manuscript in the Tareq Rajab Museum, Kuwait (Nabil F. Safwat, The Harmony of Letters, Singapore, 1997, p.12). A further small-format Dala’il al-Khayrat manuscript which also has unusual extra illustrations sold in these Rooms, 23 April 2015, lot 224.
Additional notes in the manuscript give information about its later history. On the verso of the final folio is a note in Kipchak Turkish. It records the birth of Devlet Giray Sultan ibn Shahin Giray Khan on Thursday 9 Rabi' I AH 1197 / 12 February 1783. The second note adds that the boy began his education just over seven years later, at the start of Rabi' II AH 1205 / 8 December 1790. The boy's father, Shahin Giray Khan, was a descendant of Genghis Khan and the last Khan of Crimea (1777-83). Shortly after the boy was born, on 19 April 1783 his territory was formally annexed by Catherine the Great of Russia on 19 April 1783. After his deposition, both the Russians and Ottomans continued to see him as a threat. In 1784 he was taken to St Petersburg, and thence to Voronezh, where he requested asylum from the Porte. Though he was allowed to cross into the Ottoman realm, going to the city of his birth, Edirne, before being exiled to Rhodes. There, he was executed at the orders of the Porte. His property was then returned to his family who continued to reside in Burgaz, one of the largest of the 'Princes' Islands' (Feridun Emecen, ŞAHİN GİRAY, İslam ansiklopedısı). It was probably here that this note was added. For the reforms he undertook during his reign in order to confront the threats faced from Russia and Turkey, Shahin Giray is remembered as one of the great modernising rulers of Islamic history.