Author
Bahā’ al-Dīn Muḥammad ibn Ḥusayn al-‘Āmilī
Publication Date
Rabīʿ II 1046 (AH, Hijri)
Type
Book
Language
Arabic
Digital
Yes
Manuscript
Yes
Pages Count
1
Physical Dimensions
223 x 131mm
Library
Qatar Digital Library
Library Asset ID
IO Islamic 1748
Record ID
vdc_100106886354.0x000001
Library Location
British Library: Oriental Manuscripts
Date
Rabīʿ II 1046 (AH, Hijri)
Notes
Very popular textbook of arithmetic by Bahā’ al-Dīn Muḥammad ibn Ḥusayn al-‘Āmilī (Baha al-Din Muhammad ibn Husayn al-Amili; d. 1621). The text was originally completed in Ṣafar 1004/October 1595, and the present copy was completed at noon on a Saturday in Rabīʿ II 1046/September-October 1636 by the scribe Ghulām Muḥammad ʿAbd al-Qādir al-Jāʾī (Ghulam Muhammad Abd al-Qadr al-Jāʾī, see authorial
colophon
Section at the end of a manuscript text.
, f. 26v, lines 14-15 and scribal
colophon
Section at the end of a manuscript text.
, f. 26v, lines 17-18, transcribed below).
The preface of the present copy contains a dedication to a sultan called 'Sultan, son of the Sultan, son of the Sultan, Abū al-Ghālib Sulṭān Ḥasan Bahādur Khān' (The Sultan, son of the Sultan, son of Sultan Abi al-Ghalib Sultan Hassan Bahadur Khan, f. 2r, lines 4-5), with an interlinear note correcting 'Ḥasan' to 'Ḥamzah' (Hamza). Loth(
A Catalog of the Arabic Manuscripts in the Library of the
India Office
The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors.
[London: Printed by order of the Secretary of State for India in Council, 1877], item 758, p. 220) identifies the dedicatee with Amīr Hamzah (Amir Hamzah, reg. 1565/66-1586), son of Muḥammad Khudābandah Ṣafavī (Muḥammad Khudābandah Safavi, reg. 1578-1587), son of Shāh Ṭahmāsp I (Shah Tahmasp, reg. 1514-76). This dedication is also found in at least one other copy in which the name is given as Sulṭān Ḥamzah Bahādur Khān (Sultan Hamza Bahadur Khan; see
Catalog of the Arabic and Persian manuscripts in the Khuda Bakhsh Oriental Public Library,
vol. 22: Science [Patna: Khuda Baksh Oriental Public Library, 1970-2007], no. 2421, p. 16). The identity of the individual named in the
colophon
Section at the end of a manuscript text.
It is not clear, however, since Amīr Hamzah had been murdered nine years prior to the completion of the text, and this dedication is not found in other copies.
The treatise consists of an introduction, nine chapters, and a conclusion. Each chapter is subdivided into sections (Chapters), in some cases preceded by one or more introductions (Introduction).
Introduction (Introduction, ff. 2r-2v);
Chapter One: Calculation with Integers (Chapter One on the Calculation of Al-Sihah, ff. 2v-9v);
Chapter Two: Calculation with Fractions (Chapter Two on the Calculation of Fractions, ff. 9v-13r);
Chapter Three: Deriving Unknowns by Means of the Four Proportions (Chapter Three: Deriving Unknowns by Means of the Four Proportions, ff. 13r-13v);
Chapter Four: Deriving Unknowns by Means of Calculating the Two Errors.
Chapter Five: Deriving Unknowns by Means of Operating with the Opposite
Chapter Six: On Mensuration (Chapter Six on Surveying, ff. 14v-17v);
Chapter Seven: What Follows Mensuration, Such as the Levelling of Land for Portions of Waterways and Knowing the Altitude of Heights, the Breadth of Rivers and the Depths of Wells.
Chapter Eight: Deriving Unknowns by Way of Algebra and
Muqābalah
(Chapter Eight on extracting unknown unknowns by means of algebra and comparison, ff. 19r-21v);
Chapter Nine: The Noble Rules and Helpful Notes That are Obligatory and Indispensable for Accountants.
Conclusion (Conclusion, f. 26r).
Begins (f. 1v, lines 1-3):
We praise You, O One whose collection of blessings cannot be encompassed in number and whose multiplication does not end in time
We pray for our master Muhammad, the Prophet Al-Mujtaba, and his family, especially the four
Proportionate game owners and after...
Ends (f. 26v, lines 8-13):
...So know her worth and do not make her dowry cheap and prevent her
From someone who is not her family, and she should only marry him to someone who is keen to be her husband
Do not give it to a student with a thick temperament, lest you become suspended
For the pearls in the necks of dogs, many of their demands are free
Through maintenance and concealment, it is true that it is concealed from most of the people of this time
And keep my commandment to you, and God will protect you...
Authorial
colophon
Section at the end of a manuscript text.
(f. 26v, lines 13-15):
... [done]
The message, with the help of God, the Most High King, in the month of Safar, may God seal it with goodness
Year 1004
Scribal
colophon
Section at the end of a manuscript text.
(f. 26v, lines 16-18):
Done
The copy called the summary of accounts is in the hands of the most despicable people, Ghulam Muhammad Abd al-Qadir al-Ja’i
On Saturday, the month of Rabi’ al-Thani in the year 1046, at noon time, he was forgiven and pardoned
Erişim Koşulları
Unrestricted
Edinme Kaynağı
From the library at Seringapatam (Srirangapatna) of Tīpū Sulṭān (ٹیپو سلطان),
Nawwāb
An honorific title; an official acting as a provincial deputy ruler in South Asia; or a significant Muslim landowner in nineteenth century India.
Fatḥ ‘Alī Khān (نواب فتح علي خان) of Mysore (reg. 1782-99), transferred to Fort William College, Calcutta (Kolkata) in 1799, then deposited at the
India Office
The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors.
in 1806 and 1937
Köken
India Office
The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors.
Library: its stamp (ff. iii-r, 1r and 26v)
ʿIṣmat al-Din (عصمة الدين): his partially-illegible seal (ff. 1r and 26v)
Seçilmiş kaynakça
Editions:
‘Āmilī, Bahā’ al-Dīn Muḥammad ibn Ḥusayn,
Khulāṣat al-ḥisāb
(Tabriz?: Maṭba‘ Muḥammad Zuyūr, 1262)
‘Āmilī, Bahā’ al-Dīn Muḥammad ibn Ḥusayn,
Khulāṣat al-ḥisāb: al-khulāṣat fī ‘ilm al-ḥisāb wa al-jabr wa al-muqābilah; nuskhah-i taṣḥīh shudah hamrāh bā matn-i chāp-i sangī
(Qum: Majma‘-i Z̲akhā’ir-i Islāmī, 2011)
‘Āmilī, Bahā’ al-Dīn Muḥammad ibn Ḥusayn,
Khulāsat al-ḥisāb, ma‘a taḥshīyah jadīdah kāfīyah li-ḥall al-ṣi‘āb wa-ḍamīmah lā’iqah bi-taḥ‘ṣīl al-nāzil wa-min al-judhūr wa-al-ki‘āb
(Diyūband: Kutubʹkhānah-i Raḥīmīyah, 1974)
‘Āmilī, Bahā’ al-Dī̄n Muḥammad ibn Ḥusayn,
Rīyāḍīyāt (Mathematical Works)
, ed. by G. Shawky (Aleppo: Institute for the History of Arabic Science, University of Aleppo, 1976), pp. 31-163
Edition and German translation:
‘Āmilī, Bahā’ al-Dīn Muḥammad ibn Ḥusayn,
Essenz der rechenkunst von Mohammed Beha-eddin ben Alhossain aus Amul, arabisch und deutsch
, ed. and trans. by G. H. F. Nesselmann (Berlin, 1843)
Study:
Hashemipour, Behnaz, '‘Āmilī: Bahāʾ al-Dīn Muḥammad ibn Ḥusayn al-‘Āmilī', in
The Biographical Encyclopedia of Astronomers
, ed. by Thomas Hockey et al. (New York: Springer, 2007), pp. 42-43
