Twenty-seven illuminated Qur'an Ajza', China, 16th/17th century

The spread of Islam into China began during the Song period in the tenth century. Almost a century later, in the year 1070 AD, a Muslim community mainly composed of soldiers and mercenaries had been officially established by the Emperor in the harsh northern territories to act as a buffer zone between China and her enemies.

With the ascent of the Mongols (1260-1368) Muslim China began a new phase, with Muslims rising to positions of power and importance under the Yuan. Later, the Ming period (1368-1644) saw a decrease of Muslim power, and the community became increasingly Sinified as their rights were withdrawn. Their isolated communities were increasingly integrated by the indigenous Chinese, and their social, economic and religious freedom was gradually inhibited. The Muslims took Chinese names, wore Chinese clothing and often married into indigenous families until eventually the Muslims thought of themselves as Chinese. However, their cultural heritage became more important to them as it slipped away, thus the community's Sinicisation went hand in hand with the preservation of the language, particularly in religious life. By the end of the sixteenth century, Arabic and Persian books had been translated into Chinese and were circulating throughout the Muslim community (Stanley 1999, p.12).

Between the fifteenth and seventeenth centuries, there was a relative standardisation of the format of Qur’ans. The palette of the illumination of the present sections and their arrangement is closely comparable to another early seventeenth century Qur’an in the Khalili collection (inv. no.QUR992, see Stanley 1999, pp.19-21, no.3). This example, as with the present lot, shows a comparable arrangement to an early fifteenth century Qur'an also in the Khalili Collection (inv. no.QUR974). They share arrangement of fives lines of a similar distinctive muhaqqaq style script as in the present manuscript (see Stanley 1999, pp.16-17, no.1). The arrangement of the illuminations is also comparable in the frames of the frontispieces, comprising an upper register of interlocked arches and a lower register of a repeated geometric motifs.

A Qur'an in thirty volumes, also produced in China at the end of the seventeenth century, sold in these rooms, 27 October 2021, lot 119. For a further discussion on Chinese Qur’ans see Fraser, 2022, pp.180-199.