A LARGE QUR'AN MANUSCRIPT, COPIED BY HAJI HASHIM BIN MUHAMMAD AL-BRUNAWI, DEDICATED TO "OUR LORD THE SULTAN", KOTA BATU, BRUNEI, DATED 1070 AH/1660 AD

Arabic manuscript on paper, 504 folios,13 lines per page written in naskhi script in black ink, gold, green, yellow or red discs between verses, sura headings written in red script within gilt-ruled panels with stylized floral devices extending into margins, further text divisions marked in margins with relevant wording and decorated devices, opening double page of floral and geometric decoration in yellow, red and green, two double pages at end with diagrams and prayers in red, yellow, green and black, colophon recording the scribe, date and place of origin, dedication to the Sultan written in red below colophon, ownership inscription below in black ink dated 1100 (1689), brown morocco covers repaired with modern leather, with flap



 

Fair condition, binding shows wear, pages contain stains, minor nibbles to pages, as viewed.
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This is a rare and highly important Qur'an manuscript whose colophon tells us that it was copied by a scribe called Hashim bin Muhammad al-Brunawi (from Brunei) in the kingdom of Kota Batu, which was the old capital of Brunei. An inscription at the end of the colophon dedicates the manuscript to "our lord the Sultan". According to Bosworth's The New Islamic Dynasties (Edinburgh University Press, 1996, no.186, p.353), the reigning Sultan of Brunei in the year 1660 was Sultan Muhyiddin, who reigned from 1655 to 1670, having first been proclaimed sultan in 1648.

Qur'ans from South East Asia are rare. The present manuscript is remarkable not only for its royal dedication, its named scribe and place of origin and its relatively early date, but also for the important light it sheds on artistic and decorative styles in that region, about which little is known, especially from as early as the 17th century, and about the practice of Islam in the Indonesian archipelago at that period. The manuscript bears an opening double page frontispiece, showing distinctive stylistic characteristics decorated in yellow, orange and green, and, interestingly, four pages at the end that bear diagrams, decorated panels and pious text. As is the case with many Qur'an manuscripts, there are concluding prayers at the end, but the additional text and diagrams are unusual and interesting. The text concerns the four Sunni schools of Islamic law, the Maliki, Shafi'i, Hanafi and Hanbali, and one diagram shows a set of scales surrounded by panels containing the names of the four founding jurists. The text also mentions eschatological aspects including Paradise, Hell and the Afterlife.

Two other Qur'ans copied at Kota Batu have appeared at auction, one dated 1167/1753, and the other dated 1262/1845 (see Christie's, London, 28 April 1998, lot 37 and 16 October 2001, lot 11).