Qur'an

Object type Manuscript / Muniment Record level Item

Details

ID
ms19(o)
Title
Qur'an
Description
Richly illuminated manuscript of the Qur'an says in the colophon that it was created for Sultan Abu Sa'id Shuja 'ad-Din Bahadur Khan in AH 845/AD 1441-2. A dedication note on the cover identifies the scribe as Muhammad Mu'min Abdallah al-Murwand.

More recent scholarship suggests that only one page of the frontispiece belongs to the Timurid era – the rest of the manuscript was created in homage to that one leaf, but around 100 years later. The name of the patron Bahadur Khan and the date of 845 in the colophon are smudged compared to the rest of the work. It seems that the original patron and date have been erased and these added to make the work appear older than it is, associating it with the height of Persian manuscript production. The rest of the illuminations and artwork suggest a Safavid dating. It was most likely created in Herat, and was known to be at the court of Ibrahim ‘Adil Shah of Bijapur (ruled 1580-1627) in the Deccan, India, whose seals adorn the binding.

It was later part of the library of Tipu Sultan of Mysore (1749-1799) - the cover bears a label in his own hand. Tipu was defeated by British forces of the East India Company at Srirangapatna in 1799 and his library was confiscated. A letter of 1806 by Charles Wilkins notes that ‘a beautiful copy of the Qur'an from the library of the late Sultan of Mysore' was donated to the University of St Andrews by the directors of the EIC.
Collection
Oriental manuscripts series 1
Parent record
Oriental manuscripts series 1 Parent record level Collection
Hierarchy
View hierarchy
Created by
Date
1441-1550
Physical description
Paper: 13.5' x 9' (Binding: 350 x 260 x 83mm)
Language
Department
Special Collections - Archive Collections
Record level
Item
Credit line
Courtesy of the University of St Andrews Libraries and Museums, ID: ms19(o)

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