Zakariya ibn Muhammad ibn Mahmud al-Qazwini (d.1283 AD), Aja'ib al-Makhluqat ('On the Wonders of Creation'), North India, probably Kashmir, 17th/18th century

Abu Yahya Zakariya ibn Muhammad ibn Mahmud al-Qazwini (1203-82) was a physician, astronomer and geographer who was born in Qazwin and travelled extensively in Mesopotamia and the Levant. He dedicated his cosmography entitled 'Aja'ib al-Makhluqat wa Ghara'ib al-Maujudat to 'Ata-Malik Juwayni (d.1283), a Persian historian who was appointed governor of Baghdad by the Mongol ruler Hulagu after its sacking in 1258. The text is divided into two sections, one on cosmology and the other on geography, describing firstly how the world was created and then listing the elements and creatures who dwell therein. The book combined different sources, and often described fantastical creatures and beasts, mixing reality with myth. This book, originally written in Arabic, became enormously popular and was translated into Persian and Turkish. Manuscripts of the text were produced in India from the sixteenth century onwards illustrated with copious small scale drawings as shown in the present manuscript. For more information, please see the online entry for this lot.