Item Summary

Illuminated copy of the Shāhnāmah, containing 119 average-quality miniatures likely of the late 18th century. Preceded by the "older preface" on fol. 1b-5a.

Descriptive Information

Title
[شاهنامه].
Transliterated Title
[Shāhnāmah].
Call Number
Islamic Manuscripts, Garrett no. 58G
Identifier
ark:/88435/dc5d86pc35g
Publisher
[1674]
Language
Persian
Date Created
1674
Format
Manuscript
Extent
ii, 561, ii leaves : paper, col. ill. ; 345 x 220 (265 x 146) mm. bound to 354 x 240 mm.
Provenance
On fol. 1b, owner's note states that the book was purchased 9 Ṣafar 1202 H [20 November 1787] for 1500 rupees, and that it contains 563 folios [based on the erroneous Arabic foliation], 56,200 verses, and 120 miniatures by the artist Vilāyat.
Source Acquisition
Gift; Robert Garrett (Class of 1897), 1942.
References
Moghadam, M. E. et al. Garrett collection, no. 3
Rights Statement
Copyright Not Evaluated
Contents
Miniatures: fol. 4a: [Firdawsi and the Court Poets]
fol. 7b: [In praise of Sultan Mahmud]
fol. 10b: [Jamshid enthroned]
fol. 15b: [Faridun fords river on his way to fight Zahhak]
fol. 17a: [Faridun binds Zahhak]
fol. 23b: [Tur, Sakila slay Iraj]
fol. 27b: [Manuchihr kills Tur]
fol. 30a: [Manuchihr enthroned]
fol. 37a: [Zal meets Rudabah]
fol. 45a: [Mubad questions Zal]
fol. 49a: [Sam visits Zal, Rustam]
fol. 58b: [Rustam catches Rakhsh]
fol. 61a: [Rustam catches Afrasiyab by belt, lifts him]
fol. 66a: [Rustam's first feat: Rakhsh kills lion]
fol. 67a: [Rustam's third feat: Slays dragon]
fol. 68a: [Rustam's fourth feat: Cleaves witch]
fol. 69b: [Rustam's sixth feat: Kills Arzhang].
fol. 70a: [Rustam enters cave where Kai Kaʾus and his men are chained]
fol. 71a: [Rustam's seventh feat: Slays White Div]
fol. 78b: [Kai Kaʾus air-borne]
fol. 82b: [Tahminah visits Rustam]
fol. 89a: [Suhrab, Hajir view Iranian camp]
fol. 92b: [Suhrab overthrows Rustam in their second combat]
fol. 93b: [Rustam mourns Suhrab]
fol. 95b: [Tahminah mourns Suhrab's death]
fol. 102a: [Siyavash undergoes the fire ordeal]
fol. 111a: [Siyavash plays polo before Afrasiyab]
fol. 121a: [Guruy executes Siyavash]
fol. 127b: [Rustam fights Afrasiyab, Human, Turanian]
fol. 131a: [Giv finds Kay Khusraw]
fol. 133a: [Kay Khusraw, Farangis watch Giv defeat Turanian]
fol. 134b: [Giv leads captive Piran before Kay Khusraw, Farangis]
fol. 136a: [Kay Khusraw crosses Oxus with Farangis, Giv]
fol. 139a: [Kay Khusraw's army beseiges Bahman's castle]
fol. 148a: [Jarirah commits suicide over her son's body]
fol. 149a: [Bizhan slays Palashan].
fol. 155b: [Giv slays Tazhav]
fol. 158b: [Tus slays Arzhang]
fol. 167a: [Arrival of Fariburz at Mount Hamazvan]
fol. 169a: [Arrival of Rustam at Mount Hamazvan]
fol. 171b: [Rustam slays Ashkabus, horse]
fol. 173b: [Rustam captures Kamus and kills him]
fol. 175a: [Rustam overturns Chingish by sezing horse tail]
fol. 176b: [Rustam, Piran parley]
fol. 180b: [Rustam unhorses Shangul]
fol. 182b: [Rustam pulls Khaqan of China from elephant by lasso]
fol. 186a: [Rustam slays Kafur]
fol. 189b: [Rustam vanquishes Puladvand].
fol. 190b: [Rustam and the Iranians return to the court of Kai Khusraw]
fol. 192b: [Rustam kills Akvan Div]
fol. 194a: [Bizhan offers to kill the boars]
fol. 195b [Bizhan kills the boars]
fol. 197a: [Bizhan with Manizha, daughter of Afrasiyab]
fol. 201a: [Gurgin returns to Iran without Bizhan]
fol. 203a: [Rustam pays tribute to Kai Khusraw]
fol. 205a: [Rustam before Piran]
fol. 217a: [Bizhan slays Human]
fol. 219a: [Kai Khusraw replies to the letter of Gudarz]
fol. 225b-226a: [Battle of the 11 rukhs]
fol. 229a: [Fariburz slays Kulbad]
fol. 229b: [Giv battles Gurvi and captures him].
fol. 230a: [Guraza binds the slain Siyamak]
fol. 230b: [Furuhil slays Zangula]
fol. 231a: [Ruhham slays Barman]
fol. 231b: [Bizhan slays Ruin]
fol. 232a: [Hajir slays Sipahram]
fol. 232b: [Zanga slays Akhvasht]
fol. 233a: [Gurgin slays Andariman]
fol. 233b: [Barta slays Kuhram]
fol. 234a: [Gudarz battles Piran]
fol. 246b: [Kai Khusraw slays Shida, son of Afrasiyab]
fol. 254a: [Afrasiyab's daughters come before Kai Khusraw]
fol. 264a: [Kai Khusraw slays Afrasiyab]
fol. 269a: [Kai Khusraw in the field with his champions]
fol. 271b: [Kai Khusraw gives the kingship to Luhrasp].
fol. 279b: [Gushtasp slays a dragon]
fol. 282a: [Gushtasp returns to Iran]
fol. 298b: [Isfandiyar's first expoit: Slays two wolves]
fol. 299a: [Isfandiyar's second exploit: Slays two lions]
fol. 300a: [Isfandiyar's third exploit: Slays a dragon]
fol. 301a: [Isfandiyar's fourth exploit: Slays a witch]
fol. 301b: [Isfandiyar's fifth exploit: Slays the Simurgh]
fol. 303a: [Isfandiyar's sixth exploit: Passes through snow]
fol. 306b: [Isfandiyar slays Arjasp]
fol. 312b: [Bahman loosens a boulder to kill Rustam, but Rustam kicks it aside]
fol. 315b: [Meeting of Rustam and Isfandiyar]
fol. 324a: [Rustam shoots double-pointed arrow in Isfandiyar's eyes]
fol. 329b: [Rustam slays Shaghad then dies].
fol. 336a: [Darab enthroned]
fol. 341b: [Sikandar attends dying Dara]
fol. 350b: [Sikandar goes on pilgrimage to the Kaʻbah]
fol. 358b: [Sikandar encounters Israfil]
fol. 363b: [Sikandar mourned]
fol. 384b: [Shapur escapes from Rum]
fol 387a: [Caesar's mother urges his brother Yanus to fight Shapur]
fol. 392b: [Bahram Gur skewers doe, buck while hunting]
fol. 397b: [Bahram Gur kills two lions in order to attain the crown]
fol. 403a: [Bahram Gur marries the daughters of a miller]
fol. 410a: [Bahram Gur hunts lions]
fol. 412b: [Bahram Gur slays dragon which killed a youth]
fol 420b: [Bahram Gur slays a rhinoceros in India]
fol. 421b: [Bahram Gur slays a dragon in India]
fol. 437b: [Nushirvan receives the Iranians].
fol. 440b: [Nushirvan goes to war with Caesar]
fol. 445b: [Nushirvan finds male youth in harem]
fol. 450b: [War between the Khaqan and the Haitalians]
fol. 458a: [The story of how chess came to Iran from India]
fol. 472b, 473b: [Nushirvan questioned by the archmages]
fol. 489b: [Bahram Chubinah kills Savah Shah]
fol. 495a: [Bahram Chubinah sends a letter]
fol. 509b: [Bahram Chubinah sits on the throne of Khusraw Parviz]
fol 519a: [Battle between Khusraw Parviz and Bahram Chubinah]
fol. 528a: [Qolun mortally wounds Bahram Chubinah]
fol. 532b: [Gurdyah parades in her battle gear before Khusraw and Shirin]
fol. 534b: [Shiruyah stabbing Khusraw Parviz]
fol. 541a: [Barbad the minstrel sings for Khusraw in a tree in the garden]
fol. 552b: [Yazdigird, the last Shah].
Notes
Ms. codex.
Title supplied by cataloger.
Physical description: 25 lines per page, in four columns; written in small nastaʻliq in black on tan glazed, laid Arabic paper. Text occasionally written on a diagonal. Text framed in gold and blue; columns separated by double gold lines. Headings in red. Catchwords and a few marginal notes. Inserts between fol. 9-10, 26-27. Some damp staining and smudging; a few paper repairs, particularly on last two leaves. Otherwise in excellent condition.
Decoration: ʻUnwāns for the preface and book 1 illuminated in gold and color. With 119 miniatures, of which fifteen are full-size; likely late 18th century.
Origin: Copy completed on 1 Shaʻbān 1085 H [31 October 1674] (fol. 561a).
Binding Note
Rebound in leather with title and date tooled in gold on spine.

Discovery Information

Subject
Headpieces (layout features)—Islamic countries—17th century
Illuminated manuscripts—Islamic countries—17th century
Poetry

Physical Characteristics

File Count
1136

Institutional Information

Collection
Princeton’s Holdings of the al-Madani Library
Manuscripts of the Islamic World
IIIF Manifest URL

https://figgy.princeton.edu/concern/scanned_resources/1a8c14ca-060c-434f-b999-6191db4c336c/manifest