[IO Islamic 2755] منتخب شاهنامه

<ul> <li><strong>Muntakhab</strong><strong>-i-Sh&acirc;hn&acirc;ma.</strong></li> <li><strong>This manuscript is now IO Islamic 883 in the India Office collections.</strong></li> <li><strong>[metadata:</strong>&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Hermann_Eth%C3%A9"><strong>Hermann Eth&eacute;</strong></a><strong><em>,&nbsp;</em></strong><a href="http://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.1323681"><strong><em>Catalogue of Persian Manuscripts in the Library of the India Office,</em></strong>&nbsp;</a><a href="http://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.1323681"><strong>2 vols. (Oxford: India Office, 1903): volume 1,</strong></a>&nbsp;<strong>number 2755 here with notations and hyperlinks].</strong></li> </ul> <p>883</p> <p>Muntakhab-i-Sh&acirc;hn&acirc;ma ( منتخب شاهنامه).</p> <p>This is the oldest copy in the India Office Collection of the well-known extracts from the Sh&acirc;hn&acirc;ma, compiled with a connecting narrative in prose by Tawakkulbeg bin T&ucirc;lakbeg (according to one copy in the British Museum, Tawakkul Muḥammad bin T&ucirc;lak Muḥammad al-Ḥusain&icirc;), an officer of the prince D&acirc;r&acirc; Shuk&ucirc;h, at the request of the governor of Ghazna, Shamsh&icirc;rkh&acirc;n, comp. Bodleian Cat., No. 504; Rieu ii. p. 539 sq.; W. Pertsch, Berlin Cat., p. 740; A. F. Mehren, p. 540; Mohl, Le livre des rois, vol. i, pr&eacute;face, p. lxxix, etc. Unfortunately this copy is very illegible in many places, as a great number of different hands have been engaged in transcribing the MS.</p> <p>Beginning:حمد بيغايت و ثناى بينهايت مر حضرت كبرياء واجب الوجودى را كه جناب قدسئ هويّت جلالش را از ادراك افهام الخ.</p> <p>The date of composition, viz. A.H. 1063 (26th year of Sh&acirc;hjah&acirc;n&rsquo;s reign=A.D. 1653), appears here on fol. 1^b, l. 3 ab infra; the name of the author on fol. 2^a, l. 2, and that of the governor, Shamsh&icirc;rkh&acirc;n, on fol. 2^a, l. 5.</p> <p>As title is given here, besides the منتخب شاهنامه, both on fol. 2^b, l. 6, and in the colophon, خلاصۀ شاهنامه (see Rieu, loc. cit.). The usual title, تأريخ دلگشاى شمشيرخانى, is not found in this copy. At the end of Ardash&icirc;r&rsquo;s reign, on ff. 168^a-171^b, the usual additions, list of the S&acirc;s&acirc;nian kings, biography of Firdaus&icirc;, and the satire against Sulṭ&acirc;n Maḥm&ucirc;d. Dated the 25th of Ṣafar in the 46th year of &lsquo;&Acirc;lamg&icirc;r&rsquo;s reign (=A.H. 1114, A.D. 1702, July 21). Bibliotheca Leydeniana; a former owner was Robert Watherston.</p> <p>This work was translated into English by J. Atkinson, in &lsquo;The Shahnamah of Firdausi,&rsquo; London, 1832. An abridged translation of the same in rekhta verse, styled شاهنامۀ مولچند, was made by M&ucirc;lćand Munsh&icirc; of Lakhnau, who lived in Dihl&icirc;, and dedicated his work to the Sulṭ&acirc;n of Dihl&icirc;, Sh&acirc;h Ab&ucirc; Naṣr Akbarsh&acirc;h (i. e. Akbar II, who reigned A.H. 1221-1253=A.D. 1806-1837), A.H. 1225 (A.D. 1810), according to the chronogram قصّۀ خسروان عجم ( in a copy of this book in No. 3128 of the India Office Collection, fol. 6^b, ll. 7 and 8, and fol. 351^a, ll. 5 and 6,comp. Garcin de Tassy, Histoire de la litt&eacute;rature Hindouie etc., 2nd ed., ii. p. 586 sq., and A. Sprenger, Catal., p. 627, where the wrong date, 1220, is given; printed Calcutta, 1846; lithographed at Dihl&icirc; and K&acirc;np&ucirc;r, A.H. 1268, also at Lakhnau).</p> <p>No. 2755, ff. 171, ll. 14-21; written by at least half-a-dozen hands in various styles of careless Nasta&rsquo;l&icirc;ḳ and Shikasta; size, 9^1/8 in. by 5^1/8 in.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p>