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Lot Essay
The scroll opens with a fine Anatolian illuminated headpiece. The rumi scrolls, colours of gold, blue and green, are typical of the style of 14th century Konya, sharing many similarities with a Divan of Jalal al-Din Rumi dated 1368 and attributed to Erzincan in Eastern Anatolia (Konya Müze Müdürlüğü, 68, vol. 1; David J. Roxburgh, Turks; A Journey of a Thousand Years, London, 2005, no.92). However, instead of a cursive header, the kufic on our scroll finds its almost identical comparable in a Persian Mathnavi of Rumi dated 1462-3 (Khalili Collection, MSS 945). Similarities are also found in a 1407 Divan of Sultan Ahmad Jalayir from Baghdad (Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts, Istanbul, 2046; Zeren Tanındı, ‘The Arts of the Book: Patrons and Interactions in Erzincan Between 1365 and 1410,’ Deniz Beyazit and Simon Rettig (eds.), At the Crossroads of Empires : 14th - 15th Century Eastern Anatolia, Istanbul, 2012, figs.9-11).
The text itself can be placed within the Islamic science of genealogy (nassab) which has been given great importance since the earliest days of Islam, its main reference point being the genealogy of the Prophet Muhammad (d. 632). Genealogies of religious and secular figures such as the Shi’i Imams, Sufi masters or even Ottoman sultans are common and numerous examples exist dating from and after the 17th century. However, this Anatolian scroll, one of the earliest known of its kind, comprises a complete genealogy of ‘Ali bin Abi Talib, the nephew and son-in-law of Prophet Muhammad and first Shi’a Imam.
The opening section of the text says that it ‘puts in order’ the earlier work of Muhammad bin Ja‘far (Mehmed bin Ca’fer) al-Nassab (the genealogist). Following accounts and details of the descendants of ‘Ali through lists and diagrams, expressively linked to his and his family’s name, it concludes that Muhammad bin Ja’far’s original work was commissioned by a certain Sayf al-Din Husayn. It was then transmitted first to the former’s son, Sayyid ‘Ali, who copied it in Sha’ban AH 720/September-October 1320 AD, and subsequently transmitted again to Sayyid ‘Ali’s two sons, Muhammad and Mahmud and thereafter to other descendants unknown due to a lacuna. Finally, attention turns towards the patron of our scroll: Sayyid Amra (Seyyid Emre) who had it copied in the middle of Muharram AH 845/June 1441 AD as an updated or corrected version of Muhammad bin Ja’far’s original work.
The lineages, however, don’t stop there. At the bottom, we find a worn Persian inscription stating that Sayyid Muharram – the son of Sayyid Amra – and one Sayyid Khayr al-Din had two witnesses testify to the veracity of this scroll. In the lower-right margin are the signatures of two naqibs and a judge (qadi). The lower of the three states that the document was written with the permission of the signatory, who is the naqib Sultan ‘Ali bin Yahya al-Husayni. This may refer to the original document commissioned by Sayf al-Din Husayn from Muhammad bin Ja’far. The signature above this, accompanied by a seal impression, is of a judge, Mustafa bin Bakhshayish. The third, which is certainly later, says that it was shown to Hamid(?) b. Afdal al-Husayni, a judge in Constantinople, who approved it.
Through this web of lineages in early Islamic and contemporary Anatolian history, entangling histories of faith, production, and ownership, it seems only fitting that the Ottoman Empire that arose from the beylik principalities of Anatolia would lay the final fingerprints on this rich genealogy. The top of the scroll to the right of the headpiece is inscribed with the name and seal impression of Muhammad ‘Ali bin Amin al-Hasani (Mehmed ‘Ali bin Riza Emin Haseni), the Naqib al-Ashraf (Supervisor of the Prophet’s Descendants) in the Ottoman Empire from 1901 to 1910 (for a biography of this person, see Ayhan Işik, ‘Osmanlı Devleti’nde Nakîbü’l-Eşrâflık Müessesesi ve Meşîhat Arşivindeki Nakîbü’l-Eşrâf Defterleri,’ İSAM 4 (8), 2014, pp.227, 249-50).
A rare royal Anatolian Qur’an scroll dated 1353-54 AD was sold in these Rooms, 27 October 2022, lot 28. For two important Ottoman genealogical scrolls, the latter of Anatolian rulers, see examples sold in these Rooms, 24 October 2019, lot 167, and 7 April 2011, lot 349.
The text itself can be placed within the Islamic science of genealogy (nassab) which has been given great importance since the earliest days of Islam, its main reference point being the genealogy of the Prophet Muhammad (d. 632). Genealogies of religious and secular figures such as the Shi’i Imams, Sufi masters or even Ottoman sultans are common and numerous examples exist dating from and after the 17th century. However, this Anatolian scroll, one of the earliest known of its kind, comprises a complete genealogy of ‘Ali bin Abi Talib, the nephew and son-in-law of Prophet Muhammad and first Shi’a Imam.
The opening section of the text says that it ‘puts in order’ the earlier work of Muhammad bin Ja‘far (Mehmed bin Ca’fer) al-Nassab (the genealogist). Following accounts and details of the descendants of ‘Ali through lists and diagrams, expressively linked to his and his family’s name, it concludes that Muhammad bin Ja’far’s original work was commissioned by a certain Sayf al-Din Husayn. It was then transmitted first to the former’s son, Sayyid ‘Ali, who copied it in Sha’ban AH 720/September-October 1320 AD, and subsequently transmitted again to Sayyid ‘Ali’s two sons, Muhammad and Mahmud and thereafter to other descendants unknown due to a lacuna. Finally, attention turns towards the patron of our scroll: Sayyid Amra (Seyyid Emre) who had it copied in the middle of Muharram AH 845/June 1441 AD as an updated or corrected version of Muhammad bin Ja’far’s original work.
The lineages, however, don’t stop there. At the bottom, we find a worn Persian inscription stating that Sayyid Muharram – the son of Sayyid Amra – and one Sayyid Khayr al-Din had two witnesses testify to the veracity of this scroll. In the lower-right margin are the signatures of two naqibs and a judge (qadi). The lower of the three states that the document was written with the permission of the signatory, who is the naqib Sultan ‘Ali bin Yahya al-Husayni. This may refer to the original document commissioned by Sayf al-Din Husayn from Muhammad bin Ja’far. The signature above this, accompanied by a seal impression, is of a judge, Mustafa bin Bakhshayish. The third, which is certainly later, says that it was shown to Hamid(?) b. Afdal al-Husayni, a judge in Constantinople, who approved it.
Through this web of lineages in early Islamic and contemporary Anatolian history, entangling histories of faith, production, and ownership, it seems only fitting that the Ottoman Empire that arose from the beylik principalities of Anatolia would lay the final fingerprints on this rich genealogy. The top of the scroll to the right of the headpiece is inscribed with the name and seal impression of Muhammad ‘Ali bin Amin al-Hasani (Mehmed ‘Ali bin Riza Emin Haseni), the Naqib al-Ashraf (Supervisor of the Prophet’s Descendants) in the Ottoman Empire from 1901 to 1910 (for a biography of this person, see Ayhan Işik, ‘Osmanlı Devleti’nde Nakîbü’l-Eşrâflık Müessesesi ve Meşîhat Arşivindeki Nakîbü’l-Eşrâf Defterleri,’ İSAM 4 (8), 2014, pp.227, 249-50).
A rare royal Anatolian Qur’an scroll dated 1353-54 AD was sold in these Rooms, 27 October 2022, lot 28. For two important Ottoman genealogical scrolls, the latter of Anatolian rulers, see examples sold in these Rooms, 24 October 2019, lot 167, and 7 April 2011, lot 349.