History of Nigaristan, Walters Art Museum MS. W.598

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The Walters Art Museum 600 N. Charles Street Baltimore, Maryland 21201 http://www.thewalters.org/

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/legalcode Published 2009


NOTE: The pages in this book are ordered from right to left. This means that to view the pages in order, you should go the last page of the document and read what would be from “back-to-front� for a Western manuscript.

This document is a digital facsimile of a manuscript belonging to the Walters Art Museum, in Baltimore, Maryland, in the United States. It is one of a number of manuscripts that have been digitized as part of a project generously funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities, and by an anonymous donor to the Walters Art Museum. More details about the manuscripts at the Walters can be found by visiting The Walters Art Museum's website www.thewalters.org. For further information about this book, and online resources for Walters manuscripts, please contact us through the Walters Website by email, and ask for your message to be directed to the Department of Manuscripts.


























































































































































































































































































































































































































































fol. 175a: Title: Tīmūr fighting Shah Manṣūr Form: Illustration fol. 182a: Title: Tīmūr and his army during the campaign in Iraq Form: Illustration fol. 189b: Title: Sarāmās singing before Tīmūr Form: Illustration Acquisition

Walters Art Museum, 1931, by Henry Walters bequest

Binding

The binding is original. Dark brown/black leather binding (no flap); large central panel with oval and pendants; border comprised of cartouches alternating with roundels; all gold-brushed and decorated with floral and cloud motifs; doublures of dentellestyle, multi-colored decoration

Bibliography

Richard, Francis. Catalogue des manuscrits persans. (Paris: Bibliothèque nationale, 1989), nos. 65, 108.

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Label: This is the right side of a double-page illuminated frontispiece giving the name of the work, Kitāb-i Nigāristān, and the author's name, Ahmad Ghaffārī. fol. 2a: Title: Double-page illuminated frontispiece Form: Frontispiece Label: This is the left side of a double-page illuminated frontispiece giving the name of the work, Kitāb-i Nigāristān, and the author's name, Ahmad Ghaffārī. fol. 2b: Title: Incipit page with illuminated titlepiece Form: Incipit; titlepiece Label: This incipit page has an illuminated, doubletiered titlepiece inscribed with the title of the work, Kitāb-i Nigāristān. The interlinear illumination has polychrome floral motifs. fol. 29a: Title: Munzir ibn Mughīrah of Damascus being received by the vizier Fazl Barmakī Form: Illustration fol. 53b: Title: The daughter of Seljuk Sultan Malikshāh, mounted on a camel, meeting her bridegroom on her way to Baghdad Form: Illustration fol. 79a: Title: Bahrām Gūr killing a white elephant Form: Illustration fol. 113a: Title: Sultan Jalāl al-Dīn and his men after their defeat by the Mongols Form: Illustration fol. 152a: Title: Gashtāsb playing polo in the presence of the Roman Emperor Form: Illustration

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sabʿīn wa-tisʿimiʾah /3/ al-hijrīyah al-nabawīyah wa-alḥashm bi-al-nabī man lā nabī /4/ Comment: In Arabic, giving the title as Tārīkh Nigāristān and the date of copying Support material

Paper Laid paper

Extent

Foliation: i+216+i

Collation

Catchwords: Written on versos, close to the tail-edge

Dimensions

18.0 cm wide by 31.0 cm high

Written surface

9.5 cm wide by 17.0 cm high

Layout

Columns: 1 Ruled lines: 18

Contents

fols. 1b - 216a: Title: Kitāb-i Nigāristān Incipit: Hand note: Written in black nastaʿlīq script with incidentals in gold, red, and blue Decoration note: Eight illustrations; double-page illuminated frontispiece with the title and author’s name, incipit page with illuminated titlepiece; borders with floral designs and cloud-bands; frame

Decoration

Upper board outside: Title: Binding Form: Binding Label: This dark brown/black leather binding, which is contemporary with the manuscript, has a large central panel with oval and pendants. The border is comprised of cartouches alternating with roundels. All are goldbrushed and decorated with floral and cloud motifs. fol. 1b: Title: Double-page illuminated frontispiece Form: Frontispiece

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Shelf mark

Walters Art Museum Ms. W.598

Descriptive Title

History of Nigaristan

Text title

Kitāb-i Nigāristān Vernacular: Note: Also known as Tārīkh-i Nigāristān (see fol. 216a); composed in 959 AH / 1552 CE (see fol. 216a)

Author

As-written name: Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad Ghaffārī Name, in vernacular:

Abstract

This is an illuminated and illustrated Safavid copy of the History of Nigaristan (Iran), known as Kitāb-i Nigāristān or Tārīkh-i Nigāristān by Ahmad Ghaffārī (d. 975 AH / 1567-8 CE). The colophon indicates that it was completed on 5 Shawwāl 976 AH / 1569 CE. The manuscript opens with a double-page illuminated frontispiece, and there are eight paintings illustrating the text in a style that has been associated with the school of painting at Shīrāz. The dark brown/black leather binding, which is contemporary with the manuscript, has a large central panel with oval and pendants. The border is comprised of cartouches alternating with roundels. All are gold-brushed and decorated with floral and cloud motifs.

Date

5 Shawwāl 976 AH / 1569 CE

Origin

Iran

Form

Book

Genre

Historical

Language

The primary language in this manuscript is Persian.

Colophon

216a: Transliteration: tammat al-kitāb al-mawsūm bi-Tārīkh Nigāristān wa-lubb al-lubāb bi-ʿawn Allāh al-Malik alAʿlam al-Wahhāb /1/ fī ʿaṣr yawm al-khamīs khāmis shahr Shawwāl khatama al-khayr wa- /2/ al-iqbāl ʿām sitt wa-

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This document is a digital facsimile of a manuscript belonging to the Walters Art Museum, in Baltimore, Maryland, in the United States. It is one of a number of manuscripts that have been digitized as part of a project generously funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities, and by an anonymous donor to the Walters Art Museum. More details about the manuscripts at the Walters can be found by visiting The Walters Art Museum's website www.thewalters.org. For further information about this book, and online resources for Walters manuscripts, please contact us through the Walters Website by email, and ask for your message to be directed to the Department of Manuscripts.


A digital facsimile of Walters Ms. W.598, History of Nigaristan Title: Kitāb-i Nigāristān

Published by: The Walters Art Museum 600 N. Charles Street Baltimore, MD 21201 http://www.thewalters.org/

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/legalcode Published 2011


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