COLLECTION NAME:
Rylands Collection
Record
Image Number:
Bookreader PersianMS_978
Reference Number:
Persian MS 978
Link to Catalogue:
Parent Work Title:
Shāhnāmah
Translated Parent Work Title:
Book of Kings
Creator:
Firdawsī
Creator Role:
Author
Creator:
Daqīqī, Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad, -980 or 981
Creator Role:
Author
Creator:
Shahab-i Katib
Creator Role:
Scribe
Date Created:
1597 [1006 AH]
Volume:
2
Description:
An early Mughal illustrated Shāhnāmah in two volumes comprising an incomplete and unfinished illustrated Shāhnāmah (Book of Kings), by Abū al-Qāsim Manṣūr Firdawsī (fl. ca. 940–1020). It opens with a shortened redaction of the Baysunghur preface, followed by the poem proper, of which Abū Manṣūr Daqīqī (d. ca. 980) commenced a thousand lines, but after his death, Firdawsī completed the work shortly before the year 1000 CE. He drew upon a number of pre-Islamic Pahlavi middle Persian sources, principally the now-lost Khwadāynāmag (Book of Lords) that recounted the ancient rulers of Persian until the Sassanian period, as well as Iranian mythology and folklore. Originally constructed as a large single manuscript a subsequent owner later divided into two, both volumes feature fourteen paintings in an early commercial Mughal style by three different painters, with many blank spaces intended for illustrations left incomplete. In the colophon at the end of the second volume, Shihāb Kātib states that he completed this manuscript after Friday prayers on 15 Muḥarram 1006 AH (28 Aug. 1597 CE).
Language Code:
per
Language:
Persian
Subject:
Persian literature
Subject:
Epic poetry
Subject:
Persian poetry--747-1500
Category of Material:
Manuscripts
Sub-Category:
Codex
Sub-Category:
Illustrated works
Technique Used:
Handwriting
Technique Used:
Illumination (image-making process)
Medium:
Ink
Support:
Paper
Creation Site:
Iran
Item Height:
284 mm
Item Width:
180 mm
Current Repository:
The University of Manchester Library, U.K.
Provenance:
Robinson, Samuel, 1794-1884, former owner
Provenance:
Owens College, former owner
Rights Holder - Image:
The University of Manchester Library
Access Rights:
Date Captured (yyyy-mm-dd):
2023-07-10
Image Creation Technique:
Digital capture by The University of Manchester Library
Date Image Added (yyyy-mm):
2023-08
Metadata Language:
eng-GB
Collection Code:
Rylands