Author
Christopher Clavius of Bamberg
Publication Date
1109 (AH, Hijri)
Publication Place
India -
Subject
1
Type
Book
Language
Arabic
Digital
Yes
Manuscript
Yes
Pages Count
1
Physical Dimensions
260 x 170 mm
Library
Qatar Digital Library
Library Asset ID
IO Islamic 1308
Record ID
vdc_100030767499.0x000001
Library Location
British Library: Oriental Manuscripts
Date
1109 (AH, Hijri)
Notes
Holograph rough draft (draft, see note f. 1v) of the Arabic translation of Gnomonices libri octo (Rome: Apud F. Zanettum, 1581) by Christophorus Clavius Bambergensis (Christoph Klau of Bamberg, d. 1537 or 38; see f. 82r, line 16). This treatise on gnomonics, the study of sundials,was translated into Arabic by Mu‘tamad Khan (Mu'tamad Khan) Rustam Beg al-Ḥārithī al-Badakhshī ibn Qubād Beg, titled Dīyānat Khān (Rustam Bek al-Harithi al-Badakhshi ibn Qubad Beg Addressee Badyant Khan, d. 1705), a courtier to the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb (reg. 1658-1707). A note by the translator's son,
Mīrzā
A title of honor originally applied to princes, later to military leaders, and later still to secretaries, chieftains, and other ‘gentlemen’.
Muḥammad (Mirza Muhammad, f. 1v), confirms the name and genealogy of the translator and the title and author of the text translated. A note offering benedictions for the beginning of Book Seven (f. 372v), partially mutilated by page trimming and perhaps not written by Mu‘tamad Khān's hand, bears the date 41 (?) Shawwāl. If this reading of the numeral is correct and is understood as the regnal year of Aurangzeb, it corresponds to 1109/April-May 1698, which may be taken as the terminus ad quem for the translation and fits well with the date of the translator's death in
The translation omits the author's preface (pp. 1-10 of the Latin text). Book 1, Proposition 8 has also been omitted from this translation, but was prepared separately by the same translator and is preserved in Add. MS 14332, ff 2v-22r.
Latin words can be seen in the margins of ff. 89v and 303r, but have been mutilated by page trimming.
A note on the flyleaf, perhaps by Richard Johnson (1753-1807), reads 'Upon Dialling. A work of Clavius in Latin translated into Arabic by Maatemed Khan who went to Portugal in the time of Aurungzebe. This is the original foul copy of the translation in the hand of the translator'
The text is divided into eight books (articles) containing numerous diagrams and tables:
Book One (first article, ff. 2r-82r);
Boo Two (Second Article, ff. 82r-186v);
Book Three (Translation III, ff. 187r-269v);
Book Four (Al-Maqala al-Raba'a, ff. 270r-292r);
Book Five (The Fifth Treatise, ff. 292r-339v);
Book Six (al-Maqala al-Sadsa, ff. 339v-372r);
Book Seven (Seventh Treatise, ff. 372v-412r);
Book Eight (Second Article, ff. 412v-427r).
Begins (f. 2r, lines 2-4):
The first shape requires the drafting of the constitution for which country can fly ABJ in the daylight department
At the center of the world and the common satellite between the horizon line B D and calculated from the point B D by the value of the offer
The forbidden country in the United States A I H Z Waisl Qatar R H
Ends (f. 427r, lines 9-15):
... Request from the latest authors to explore it
Last time a lot of the appearance if there is no mistake in the image of the device
Picture of the seal ring from Auronius
In the picture of other devices and years
May Allah bless the Sha'i student
فيه أن يفهمه بجه
Hassan.
Colophon
Section at the end of a manuscript text.
(f. 427r, lines 16-19):
The second article ended and the book ended with the king
Al-Wahab and praise be to Allah for that and prayer
On the Messenger and his family and companions
أجمعين
Erişim Koşulları
Unrestricted
Bulma Yardımcıları
Loth, Otto,
A Catalogue 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 764, p. 222
Edinme Kaynağı
From the library of Richard Johnson (1753-1807), incorporated into the collection of the East India House in 1807.
Köken
Inscription, perhaps by Richard Johnson (1753-1807, front flyleaf iii-r);
Mīrzā
A title of honour originally applied to princes, later to military leaders, and later still to secretaries, chieftains, and other ‘gentlemen’.
Muḥammad (ميرزا محمد), son of the translator Mu‘tamad Khān (معتمد خان), his inscription and illegible seal (f. 1v);
East India Company Library, its seal (f. 1r and back flyleaf v-v).
Seçilmiş kaynakça
Original Latin text:
Clavius, Christophorus,
Gnomonices libri octo, in quibus non solum horologiorum solariū, sed aliarum quae rerum, quae ex gnomonis umbra cognosci possunt, descriptiones geometricè demonstrantur
(Rome: Apud F. Zanettum, 1581)
Studies:
Ali, M. Athar,
The Mughal Nobility Under Aurangzeb
(Delhi-Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997)
Sobers-Khan, Nur, 'East-West knowledge transfer in Mughal India: Christoph Clavius’ Gnomonices Libri Octo (Rome, 1581) and the Kitāb al-Maqāyīs [li-Kalāwīyūs], translated by Mu‘tamad Khān Rustam b. Qubād al-Badakhshī (d. 1705)' (British Library: Asian and African Studies Blog, 13/02/2013) <http://britishlibrary.typepad.co.uk/asian-and-african/2013/02/east-west-knowledge-transfer-in-mughal-india.html#sthash.I7VSaI6D.dpuf> [accessed 26/04/2016]
