Walters Ms. W.648, Epic of Timur

W.648

Epic of Timur

Vernacular: تيمورنامه هاتفى

Authority name: Hātifī, d. 1520 or 1

As-written name: ʿAbd Allāh Hātifī

Name, in vernacular: عبد الله هاتفي

Note: Author dates preferred by cataloger: d. 927 AH / 1520 CE

This is a Safavid illuminated and illustrated copy of the History of Timur (Tamerlane) (r. 706 AH / 1370 CE -- 807 AH / 1405 CE), known as Tīmūrnāmah or Ẓafarnāmah, composed by ʿAbd Allāh Hātifī (d. 927 AH / 1520 CE) and written in imitation of Niẓāmī’s Iskandarnāmah. It was copied by Pīr ʿAlī al-Jāmī in the tenth century AH / sixteenth CE. The manuscript opens with a double-page illuminated frontispiece (fols. 4b-5a) and is illustrated with two paintings (fols. 37a and 75b). One painting depicts Timur at court and the other portrays Timur defeating the Khan of the Kipchaqs. The green leather binding with inner boards lined with ikat textile is attributable to the thirteenth century AH / nineteenth CE.

10th century AH / 16th CE

Iran

As-written name: Pīr ʿAlī al-Jāmī

Name, in vernacular: پير علي الجامي

Book

Historical

The primary language in this manuscript is Persian.

1. Transliteration: katabahu al-ʿabd Pīr ʿAlī al-Jāmī /1/ tajawāza Allāh ʿanhu /2/
2. Comment: In Arabic, giving the name of the scribe only

Paper

Laid paper

Foliation: ii+166+i

Two sets of earlier foliations in Hindu-Arabic numerals, one in black and one in red

Catchwords: Written obliquely on versos

14.0 cm wide by 23.5 cm high

7.5 cm wide by 16.0 cm high

1. Columns: 2
2. Ruled lines: 15

1. Title: Tīmūrnāmah-i Hātifī
2. Author: Hātifī, d. 1520 or 1
3. Scribe: Pīr ʿAlī al-Jāmī
4. Incipit: بنام خداۓ کہ فكر خرد...
5. Text note: Main text preceded by a table of contents (fihrist) by a later hand (fols. 1b-2b), which gives the title of the chapter, the page number, and part of the first verse
6. Hand note: Written in nastaʿlīq script in black ink with captions in gold and red
7. Decoration note: Two illustrations; double-page illuminated frontispiece (fols. 4b-5a)

Upper board outside:

1. 
2. Title: Binding
3. Form: Binding
4. Label: This green leather binding is attributable to the thirteenth century AH / nineteenth CE.

Upper board inside:

1. 
2. Title: Upper board inside
3. Form: Binding
4. Label: The inner boards of this green leather binding are lined with ikat textile. It is attributable to the thirteenth century AH / nineteenth CE.

fol. 4b:

1. 
2. Title: Double-page illuminated frontispiece
3. Form: Frontispiece; incipit
4. Label: This is the right side of a double-page illuminated frontispiece, introducing the text.

fol. 5a:

1. 
2. Title: Double-page illuminated frontispiece
3. Form: Frontispiece; incipit
4. Label: This is the left side of a double-page illuminated frontispiece, introducing the text.

fol. 37a:

1. 
2. Title: A court scene with Timur and his maiden from Khwarezm
3. Form: Illustration

fol. 75b:

1. 
2. Title: Timur defeating the Khan of the Kipchaqs
3. Form: Illustration

The binding is not original.

Attributable to the thirteenth century AH / nineteenth CE; green leather (no flap); blind-stamped central oval and pendants; inner boards lined with ikat textile

Seal impression: al-ʿabd Yār …[?] ibn Aq Muḥammad, dated 1019 AH / 1610-11 CE (fol. 166a)

Date: Rajab 1269 AH / 1853 CE (fol. 4a)

Walters Art Museum, 1931, by Henry Walters bequest

Simsar, Muhammed Ahmed. Oriental Manuscripts of the John Frederick Lewis Collection in the Free Library of Philadelphia: A Descriptive Catalogue with Forty-eight Illustrations. (Philadelphia: Free Library of Philadelphia, 1937), no. 43.

Richard, Francis. Catalogue des manuscrits persans. (Paris: Bibliothèque nationale, 1989), nos. 232-4.

Principal cataloger: Gacek, Adam

Catalogers: Landau, Amy; Smith, Sita

Editor: Bockrath, Diane

Conservators: Jewell, Stephanie; Quandt, Abigail

Contributors: Barrera, Christina; Emery, Doug; Herbert, Lynley; Noel, William; Simpson, Shreve; Tabritha, Ariel; Toth, Michael B.; Valle, Chiara

The Walters Art Museum

Licensed for use under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported Access Rights, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/legalcode. It is requested that copies of any published articles based on the information in this data set be sent to the curator of manuscripts, The Walters Art Museum, 600 North Charles Street, Baltimore MD 21201.