Author
Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan ibn al-Karīm
Publication Date
1451-81 (CE, Gregorian)
Type
Book
Language
Arabic
Digital
Yes
Manuscript
Yes
Pages Count
1
Physical Dimensions
202 x 132mm
Library
Qatar Digital Library
Library Asset ID
Or 5099
Record ID
vdc_100110634919.0x000001
Library Location
British Library: Oriental Manuscripts
Date
1451-81 (CE, Gregorian)
Notes
A manual on cookery in ten chapters (Chapters), composed by Muhammad ibn al-Ḥasan ibn al-Karīm, known as al-Kātib al-Baghdādī (Muhammad ibn al-Hassan ibn al-Karim al-Katib al-Baghdādi, d. 1239/40) in 623/1
The present copy lacks a
colophon
Section at the end of a manuscript text.
, however an inscription in gold ink outlined in black records that the volume was commissioned for the Ottoman Sultan Muḥammad Khān ibn Murād Khān (Brsm read Sultan [...] Muhammad Khan ibn Murād Khan, f. 2r), identifiable as Muḥammad II Fātiḥ (The Conqueror, r. 1444-46; 1451-81), son of Murād II (r. 1421-44).
The
Kitāb al-ṭabīkh
was popular at the Ottoman court in the mid- to late-15th century, as testified by the translation (with additions) into Turkish made by Muhammad ibn Maḥmūd al-Shirwānī [Şirvani] under Murād II,
Kitabü't-Tabih: Abbasi Bağdat'ından sculptors, carvers, painters
(İstanbul: Yayınevi Books, 2009)].
The page containing the sultanic dedication (f. 2r) also bears a marginal inscription referring to the text; one of two occurrences of the
ṭughrā
seal of Bayezid II (r. 1481-1512), successor of Muhammad II (it is found again on f. 98v), and an inscription mentioning an Inspector [of Endowments of Mecca and Medina] (المفتش) and oval seal at the bottom of the page.
These features are now obscured by another (re-used) leaf bearing which
waqf
inscription, pasted on top. Its text records the volume's endowment by Sultan Uthman Khan ibn al-Sultan Mustafa Khan (r. 1754-57), son of Muṣṭafá Khan II (r. 1695-1703), and also accompanied by ʿUthmān III's seal containing his
ṭughrā
and An Excerpt from the Qur'an at 7:4 Numerals decorated with gold dust, apparently inventory numbers, are found in the margin.
The text contains 160 recipes organized into ten chapters, each concerned with different gastronomic and culinary categories such as sour, plain, fried and dry dishes, oven-cooked dishes, fish, pickles, puddings (Akhbsa), sweets (confectionery), and dough-based sweet dishes (Qata'if).
Begins (f. 2v, lines 2-6):
Praise be to Allah, the originator of the days and the maker of the times and the publisher
الأنام ومسبّب الأقوات خالق الحيوان ومنبت
النبات الذي عمّ البرية بعمه المتظاهرات وأنزل لهم
From the sky water comes forth from all the fruits and their creatures
الطيبات وأباح أنواع المأكل والمشارب غير المحرّمات
Ends (f. 97v, line 8- f. 98r, line 3):
... Then he mixes
Sugar and love made you sweat until graduation
Its characteristic is that it is mixed with fine water
And the musk is cleansed and the kittens are ready, then all the cows are finished
The rest of the water is fine and musk and stirred in a little water
There is a medical book
And praise be to Allah always
Erişim Koşulları
Unrestricted
Bulma Yardımcıları
Ellis, A.G. and Edward Edwards,
A Descriptive List of the Arabic Manuscripts Acquired by the Trustees of the British Museum since 1894
(London: British Museum, 1912), p. 56
Edinme Kaynağı
Purchased from Dikran Khan Kelekian (1868-1951), 11 May 1897
Köken
Unidentified oval stamp in black ink, overlaid with replacement paper (f. 2r, tail margin);
al-Ḥājj Ibrāhīm Ḥanīf (الحاج إبراهيم حنيف), Inspector of Endowments of Mecca and Medina (المفتش بأوقاف الحرمين المحرمين): his seal, without date, and inscription without date, stating that this manuscript was endowed (وقف) by Sulṭān ʿUthmān [Osman] III (عثمان خان ابن السلطان مصطفى خان, r. 1754-57) (f. 2r);
Sulṭān ʿUthmān [Osman] III (عثمان خان ابن السلطان مصطفى خان, r. 1754-57): his
ṭughrā
seal (f. 2r);
Sulṭān Bāyezīd II (r. 1481-1512): his pointed oval seal, without date (ff. 2r and 98v; see Chester Beatty Library Islamic Seals Database no. 2);
Sulṭān Muḥammad Khān ibn Murād Khān (محمد خان بن مراد خان) known as Muḥammad II Fātiḥ (r. 1444-46; 1451-81): dedicatory inscription naming him (f. 2r).
Seçilmiş kaynakça
Editions:
Al-Kātib al-Baghdādī,
Kitāb al-Ṭabīkh
, edited by Dāwūd al-Jalabī (al-Mawṣil: Maṭbaʿat Umm al-Rabīʿīn, 1934); reprint, edited by Fakhrī al-Bārūdī (Bayrūt: Dār al-Kitāb al-Jadīd, 1964)
Translations:
al-Kātib al-Baghdādī,
Kitāb al-ṭabīkh
, translated by A. J. Arberry, 'A Baghdad Cookery-Book', in
Islamic Culture
, 13, 1 and 2 (1939), pp. 21–47, 189–214
al-Kātib al-Baghdādī,
Kitāb al-ṭabīkh
, translated by Charles Perry,
A Baghdad Cookery Book
(Blackawton: Prospect Books, 2005)
al-Kātib al-Baghdādī,
Kitāb al-ṭabīkh
, translated (with additions) by Muḥammad ibn Maḥmūd al-Shirwānī [Şirvani],
Kitabü't-Tabih: Abbasi Bağdat'ından yemekler, tatlılar, çeşniler
(İstanbul: Kitap Yayınevi, 2009)
Studies:
Arberry, A. J. et al.,
Medieval Arab Cookery: Essays and Translations
(Totnes: Prospect Books, 2001)
Zubaida, Sami, 'Review: A Baghdad Cookery Book by Charles Perry', in
Gastronomica
, 7 (2007), pp. 131-32
