An illuminated Qur'an, commissioned by Muhammad Qasim Jan Khuqandi, copied by Mulla 'Abdullah Shah known as Ibn Haqayiq, North India, Kashmir, dated 11 Shawwal 1296 AH/27 September 1879 AD
Auction Closed
October 25, 04:59 PM GMT
Estimate
10,000 - 15,000 GBP
Lot Details
Description
Arabic manuscript on paper, 391 leaves, plus 8 fly-leaves, 15 lines to the page written is naskh in black ink in clouds reserved against a gold ground, ruled in gold, blue and black, inner margins with Persian translation in nasta'liq in black ink, verses separated by gold roundels, surah headings in blue on gold illuminated panels, further text divisions marked by inscriptions in red and illuminated marginal devices, the two opening bifolia fully illuminated in gold and polychrome, the following folio with illuminated headpiece, a further illuminated bifolio within the text, five bifolia with floral illuminated margins, two fully illuminated finispieces, in contemporaneous floral lacquer binding with flap, floral lacquer doublures
text panel: 17.7 by 9.9cm.
leaf: 19.9 by 13.4cm.
After Emperor Akbar’s annexation of Kashmir in 1586, many of the most talented Kashmiri scribes emigrated to the Mughal court. However, by the eighteenth century, after the conquest of Kashmir by the Durrani Afghans, Kashmir re-emerged as the centre of book production. In 1831, French traveller Victor Jacquemont records that there were between seven and eight hundred copyists in the region (Bayani, Contadini and Stanley 1999, p.228).
Despite the large number of scribes, signed and dated manuscripts from Kashmir are rare. A manuscript of abwab al-jinan copied by the same scribe as this Qur’an is in the Majlis Library, Tehran (inv. no.11-10006). The present lot was commissioned by Haji Muhammad Qasim Jan Khuqandi. A manuscript comprising a commentary of hikmat al-'ayn whose borders are signed by Muhammad Qasim Khuqandi is in the Majlis Library, Tehran (inv. no.18912). That manuscript was copied in 1249 AH (1833-34 AD) and it is possible the same figure commissioned this Qur’an in his later years.
Another Kashmir Qur’an, also bearing the name of the scribe, patron, and date, was sold in these rooms, 26 October 2022, lot 33.
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