A Safavid Qibla-indicator with Compass, Unsigned, Attributable to 'Abd al-A'imma, One of the Leading Instrument-makers of Late 17th Century Isfahan

Catch missing, overall excellent condition, very finely engraved, as viewed
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inscriptions
Around the rim: the nada 'ali quatrain.

In the middle on the top: a prayer.

In Safavid Iran there was considerable interest in all aspects of the sacred direction or qibla. This had the practical outcome in the popularity of pocket-size qibla-boxes, with a magnetic compass and a gazetteer giving the qiblas of a selection of localities, mostly in Greater Iran. Such gazetteers were also engraved on the maters of Safavid astrolabes. The geographical data comes originally from a table compiled in Kish in the mid-fifteenth century featuring the longitudes, latitudes, qibla-values and distances to Mecca of some 250 localities from the former al-Andalus to China. Whilst the computation of the qiblas and distances was achieved with remarkable accuracy, this cannot be said of the copying of this data over the centuries.

This qibla-box is undoubtedly of seventeenth century Iranian provenance. The engraving may be that of 'Abd al-A'imma, one of the leading members of the Isfahan school; we know that some of his works were unsigned. In the middle of the top is an unusual supplication, not attested on any known Islamic instrument: "By God, who is to be praised for all of his works" (bi-llahi al-mahmud fi kulli fi'alihi); the orthography of the first word is also unusual. On the top and the bottom there are altogether 62 place-names with the appropriate qibla-values and general directions (al-bilad, inhiraf and jiha). The last are all south-west (gh-j for gharbi-janubi) except for Mecca, which is south-east (j-q for janubi-gharbi). Some samples are: Yazd - 48°29' SW; Baghdad - 12° 45' SW; Qandahar - 75°5' SW. In the base of the box there is a magnetic compass with the needle shaped like a bird, as was common on Iranian compasses. Two pointers serve to indicate south and the qibla that one has found in the gazetteer. A four-leafed frame points with its corners to the cardinal directions and protects the needle. The outer scale is divided for each degree 90° each side of south. The other half is divided and labelled for a sundial with a string gnomon aligned towards the celestial pole. Usually a triangular vane would achieve this purpose, but there is no trace of such a device.

We are grateful to Professor King for his assistance in cataloguing this and the following seven lots.

Bibliography: On Iranian gazetteers and qibla-indicators see King, World-Maps Centred on Mecca, pp. 128-193. On the sundials often found on such instruments see ibid., pp. 294-297.