Publication Date
1470 (874H)
Type
Document
Language
Persian
Digital
Yes
Manuscript
Yes
Physical Dimensions
351 mm x 240 mm (height x width)
Library
Chester Beatty
Record ID
Per 144.2
Library Location
Persian collection
Date
1470 (874H)
Notes
Medallion (shamsa) and text with illuminated borders, from the History by Bal`ami (Tarikh-i Bal`ami). This illuminated medallion marks the first page-opening of this magnificent book, and the text itself begins overleaf, framed within an illuminated border. The medallion on the right has been salvaged from a slightly earlier manuscript, and has been pasted very subtly onto this page. The medallion on the left (shown here) is therefore a careful copy, made in 1470, along with the rest of this manuscript. Writing in late tenth century Bukhara at the Samanid court of Mansur ibn Nuh (r. 961-976), the minister and historian Muhammad al-Bal`ami composed a new work in Persian, translating and supplementing The History of the Prophets and Kings (Ta'rikh al-Rusul wa'l-Muluk, in Arabic) by the `Abbasid scholar Abu Ja`far Muhammad al-Tabari (d. 923). This illustrated copy of Bal`ami's history (Tarikh-i Bal`ami) was produced in Timurid Herat, in the year 1470. Folio, colours and gold on paper, single radiating medallion (on recto), and incipit Persian text in nasta`liq script with illuminated borders, right side of a double-page composition (on verso), from History of Bal`ami (Tarikh-i Bal`ami), Herat, Afghanistan, dated Sha`ban 874H, February 1470. This is one of seven folios detached from its codex, which is also in the Chester Beatty Persian collection (Per 144).
Materyal
Paper (material), Pigment (material), Ink (material), Gold
Nesne Adı
Folio / Bi-Folio (Codex)
