Epic of Timur, Walters Art Museum MS. W.648

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.

Richard, Francis. Catalogue des manuscrits persans. (Paris: Bibliothèque nationale, 1989), nos. 232-4.

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Form: Binding Label: The inner boards of this green leather binding are lined with ikat textile. It is attributable to the thirteenth century AH / nineteenth CE. fol. 4b: Title: Double-page illuminated frontispiece Form: Frontispiece; incipit Label: This is the right side of a double-page illuminated frontispiece, introducing the text. fol. 5a: Title: Double-page illuminated frontispiece Form: Frontispiece; incipit Label: This is the left side of a double-page illuminated frontispiece, introducing the text. fol. 37a: Title: A court scene with Timur and his maiden from Khwarezm Form: Illustration fol. 75b: Title: Timur defeating the Khan of the Kipchaqs Form: Illustration Provenance

Seal impression: al-ʿabd Yār …[?] ibn Aq Muḥammad, dated 1019 AH / 1610-11 CE (fol. 166a) Date: Rajab 1269 AH / 1853 CE (fol. 4a)

Acquisition

Walters Art Museum, 1931, by Henry Walters bequest

Binding

The binding is not original.

Attributable to the thirteenth century AH / nineteenth CE; green leather (no flap); blind-stamped central oval and pendants; inner boards lined with ikat textile

Bibliography

Simsar, Muhammed Ahmed. Oriental Manuscripts of the John Frederick Lewis Collection in the Free Library of Philadelphia: A Descriptive Catalogue with Forty-eight Illustrations. (Philadelphia: Free Library of Philadelphia, 1937), no. 43.

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Colophon

166a: Transliteration: katabahu al-ʿabd Pīr ʿAlī al-Jāmī /1/ tajawāza Allāh ʿanhu /2/ Comment: In Arabic, giving the name of the scribe only

Support material

Paper Laid paper

Extent

Foliation: ii+166+i Two sets of earlier foliations in Hindu-Arabic numerals, one in black and one in red

Collation

Catchwords: Written obliquely on versos

Dimensions

14.0 cm wide by 23.5 cm high

Written surface

7.5 cm wide by 16.0 cm high

Layout

Columns: 2 Ruled lines: 15

Contents

fols. 1b - 166a: Title: Tīmūrnāmah-i Hātifī Incipit: Text note: Main text preceded by a table of contents (fihrist) by a later hand (fols. 1b-2b), which gives the title of the chapter, the page number, and part of the first verse Hand note: Written in nastaʿlīq script in black ink with captions in gold and red Decoration note: Two illustrations; double-page illuminated frontispiece (fols. 4b-5a)

Decoration

Upper board outside: Title: Binding Form: Binding Label: This green leather binding is attributable to the thirteenth century AH / nineteenth CE. Upper board inside: Title: Upper board inside

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Shelf mark

Walters Art Museum Ms. W.648

Descriptive Title

Epic of Timur

Text title

Tīmūrnāmah-i Hātifī Vernacular: Note: Also known as Ẓafarnāmah-i Hātifī

Author

Authority name: Hātifī, d. 1520 or 1 As-written name: ʿAbd Allāh Hātifī Name, in vernacular: Note: Author dates preferred by cataloger: d. 927 AH / 1520 CE

Abstract

This is a Safavid illuminated and illustrated copy of the History of Timur (Tamerlane) (r. 706 AH / 1370 CE -- 807 AH / 1405 CE), known as Tīmūrnāmah or Ẓafarnāmah, composed by ʿAbd Allāh Hātifī (d. 927 AH / 1520 CE) and written in imitation of Niẓāmī’s Iskandarnāmah. It was copied by Pīr ʿAlī al-Jāmī in the tenth century AH / sixteenth CE. The manuscript opens with a double-page illuminated frontispiece (fols. 4b-5a) and is illustrated with two paintings (fols. 37a and 75b). One painting depicts Timur at court and the other portrays Timur defeating the Khan of the Kipchaqs.

The green leather binding with inner boards lined with ikat textile is attributable to the thirteenth century AH / nineteenth CE.

Date

10th century AH / 16th CE

Origin

Iran

Scribe

As-written name: Pīr ʿAlī al-Jāmī Name, in vernacular:

Form

Book

Genre

Historical

Language

The primary language in this manuscript is Persian.

Generated: 2011-06-06 11:48 -04:00

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.648, Epic of Timur Title: Tīmūrnāmah-i Hātifī

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