Item Summary

Ms. is a fair copy of Firdawsī's Shānāmah likely from 18th century India. Vol. 1 is on fol. 6b-173b and vol. 2 is on fol. 174b-344a. The text is incomplete and ends with the meeting of Iskandar with the sages. No colophon.

Descriptive Information

Title
کتاب شاهنامه.
Transliterated Title
Kitāb-i Shāhnāmah.
Call Number
Islamic Manuscripts, Garrett no. 406L
Identifier
http://arks.princeton.edu/ark:/88435/dcf4752v98n
Publisher
[India, 17--?]
Language
Persian
Date Created
1700-1799
Format
Manuscript
Extent
344 leaves : paper, colored illustrations ; 323 x 214 (255-269 x 159) mm bound to 325 x 218 mm.
Provenance
Acquired from Brill, Leyden, 1904, from the books of Amīn ibn Ḥasan al-Ḥulwānī al-Madanī al-Ḥanafī (Medina).
Source Acquisition
Gift; Robert Garrett (Class of 1897), 1942.
References
Martinovich, N. N. Catalogue of Turkish and Persian Manuscripts, 7
Rights Statement
Copyright Not Evaluated
Contents
Miniatures: 1. fol. 9b: Ṭahmuras̲ slays the black dīv.
2. fol. 11a: Jamshīd enthroned.
3. fol. 11b: Faraydūn enthroned.
4. fol. 13a: Z̤aḥḥāk receiving men. He is depicted with the heads of two black snakes on either shoulder.
5. fol. 13b: The daughter of Gūrang receives the prophecy that she will marry Jamshīd and give birth to a warrior son.
6. fol. 20b: The daughter of Gūrang gives birth to Garshāsp.
7. fol. 24a: Z̤aḥḥāk and his men ride off to war. The two snakes on Z̤aḥḥāk's shoulders have human heads.
8. fol. 25a: Faraydūn binds Z̤aḥḥāk upside-down in a cave.
9. fol. 25b: Faraydūn feasting after the victory.
10. fol. 26b: Faraydūn and Garshāsp.
11. fol. 29b: Garshāsp fighting.
12. fol. 31b: The battle between the Iranians and the Turanians.
13. fol. 38a: Prisoners of war after battle.
14. fol. 40b: King of Yemen with his three daughters and the three sons of Faraydūn.
15. fol. 44a: Salm slays Īraj.
16. fol. 48a: The battle between Manūchihr and Tūr.
17. fol. 49b: The battle between Manūchihr and Salm.
18. fol. 50a: Manūchihr killing Salm.
19. fol. 52a: The birth of Zāl.
20. fol. 67b: The meeting of Zāl and Rudābah.
21. fol. 68b: Zāl and his father Sām.
22. fol. 88a: Rustām slays the white dīv.
23. fol. 109a: Rustām and Suhrāb duel one another. Rustām is depicted wearing a leopard hat in this miniature and the ones that follow.
24. fol. 109b: The death of Suhrāb.
25. fol. 126b: Afrāsiyāb, king of Tūrān, and his court.
26. fol. 129a: Siyāvash and Farangīs, daughter of Afrāsiyāb.
27. fol. 139a: The death of Siyāvash.
28. fol. 140a: The birth of Kay Khusraw.
29. fol. 142b: Kay Khusraw on his throne.
30. fol. 157b: Rustām sits before Kay Khusraw.
31. fol. 180a: Kay Kāvus on his throne.
32. fol. 187a: Rustām slays Ashkabus with mace.
33. fol. 188b: Rustām's fight with the Turanians.
34. fol. 338a: The camp of Iskandar.
Notes
Ms. codex.
Title from fol. 1b.
Layout: 25-26 lines per page in four columns ; introduction on fol. 1b-6a written in one column ; frame-ruled by inner border of red, silver, gold and blue and outer border of gold ; columns separated by gold lines.
Description: Written in nastaʻliq script in black on beige Arabic glazed, laid paper. Some repairs to leaves with partial loss of header on fol. 1; dampstaining in inner margin on some leaves. In the upper left corner of most leaves a later hand has entered the reigning shāh for that section of the story, though not always correctly.
Decoration: Illuminated headpieces (ʻunwān) on on fol. 1b and 6b in gold, blue, red, purple, white and black. Contains 34 miniatures.
Binding Note
Modern binding in burghundy leather. Blind-tooled frame on covers. Marbled paper pastedowns.

Discovery Information

Subject
illuminated manuscripts
headpieces (layout features)
illuminations (paintings)
Blind tooled bindings

Physical Characteristics

File Count
710

Institutional Information

Collection
Manuscripts of the Islamic World
IIIF Manifest URL

https://figgy.princeton.edu/concern/scanned_resources/2cc9b5cf-8d33-4f1b-b53f-fcc658770458/manifest