A large illuminated Qur'an leaf in Bihari script on paper, India, Sultanate, 16th century

text: Qur'an, surah al-kahf (XVIII), middle of verse 22 to middle of verse 29

Arabic manuscript on paper, 13 lines to the page written in Bihari script in black ink, the first, middle and final line in larger cursive script, the word Allah picked out in gold, an illuminated marginal medallion

55.4 by 31.9cm.

Few pre-Mughal manuscripts from India have survived, most likely due to the political instability and unfavourable climatic conditions. This leaf is copied in the distinctive Bihari script which is thought to be a relation of naskh. The tradition of copying Qur'ans in this hand appears to have lasted only from the period between the collapse of the Delhi Sultanate at the end of the fourteenth century and the rise of the Mughals in the mid-16th century.