DIWAN, A ROYAL COLLECTION OF KAMAL KHUJANDI'S POEMS, DEDICATED TO SULTAN MEHMED II 'THE CONQUEROR' (R.1451-81), TURKEY, ISTANBUL, OTTOMAN, SECOND HALF 15TH CENTURY

Commissioned for the Imperial Treasury of Sultan Mehmed II (r.1451-81), according to royal dedication on f.1a.

Sultan Bayazid II (r.1481-1512), according to seal impressions on ff.1a f.243b.

Qajar Prince Muhammad Qasim Khan, according to a note on the lacquered binding. 

Ex-Qajar Princely collection, London.

INSCRIPTIONS

Royal dedication in the gold medallion on f.1a:

Bi rasm khizanat al-Sultan al-A‘zam Malik-i Riqab al-Umam Abu al-Muzaffar Sultan Muhammad Khan ibn Murad Khan Abbada Sultanatahu 

'On the order of the treasury of the greatest Sultan, the ruler of the Necks of Nations, the Father of the Victorious, Sultan Mehmed Khan son of Murad Khan, may his reign be Eternal'.

Seal impression on ff.1a f.243b:

Bayazid ibn Mehmed al-Muzaffar Daiman

'Bayazid, son of Mehmed, the always victorious'

A note on the lacquer binding of the manuscript states that it was renewed in 1287 AH/1870 AD, by the artist Lutf ‘Ali, on the order of the Qajar Prince Muhammad Qasim Khan, son of Fulana Bagum, descendant of Fath Ali Shah (r.1797-1834) (see Yilmaz Oztuna, Muslim Dynasties, 1996, p.798).

A renowned bibliophile, Mehmed II (r.1451-81) was a great patron of the arts of the book, with one hundred and forty-six manuscripts produced during his reign, a huge number among Muslim rulers. Twenty-four of these manuscripts are on literature and poetry. Only ten of these, all preserved in the Topkapi Palace Library, are dedicated to Mehmed II (see Zeynep Atbas, 'Artistic Aspects of Sultan Bayezid II’s Book Treasury Collection: Extant Volumes Preserved at the Topkapi Palace Museum Library', in Treasures of Knowledge: An inventory of the Ottoman Palace Library (1502/3-1503/4), Gülru Necipoglu (ed.), et al, Vol: I, Brill, 2019, p.164.

In the abovementioned canon of manuscripts dedicated to Mehmed II, the present manuscript represents number eleven. For further discussion on the manuscripts from the library of Mehmed II and his son Bayazid II see ibid, pp.161-213.

The illumination of the medallion and the headpiece is typical of mid-fifteenth century Ottoman palace workshops (naqqashkanah), and appears to draw influence from Timurid/Herati manuscripts of the same period. The illumination, with the use of black and bold colours as well as the open format in the arrangement and execution of the design, and indeed is very similar to the heading of an extraordinary Timurid Qur'an in the Khalili Collection (David James, After Timur, Oxford 1992, no.5, pp.28-33). 

The last page of the manuscript bears the imperial seal of Mehmed II's son Bayazid II (r. 1481-1512), demonstrating that the manuscript was subsequently passed to the library of Bayazid. The palace library was inventoried under Sultan Bayazid II, and a number of the manuscripts that bear his seal also have an inscription in Bayazid’s own hand, giving titles and subjects of the works.

At some point after the reign of Bayazid II, the manuscript left Turkey, finding its way to the Persian court, possibly as a diplomatic gift, as evidenced by the replacement binding. The Qajar lacquer binding is of extraordinary quality and bears the signature of the artist Lutf ‘Ali Shirazi and the date 1287 AH (1870 AD). An additional note on the back cover of the binding, just above the signature, states that the binding of the manuscript was renewed on the order of the Qajar Prince Muhammad Qasim Khan. For information on the artist Lutf ‘Ali Shirazi see Muhammad Ali Karimzadah Tabrizi, The Lives and Art of Old Painters of Iran, London, 1990, pp.561-8; see also Muhammad Ali Karimzadah Tabrizi, Qalamdan, London, 2000, p.323.

Muhammad Qasim Khan was the son of Fulana Bagum, descendant of Fath Ali Shah (r. 1797-1834) (Yilmaz Oztuna, Muslim Dynasties, 1996, p.798). This extremely fine lacquered binding indicates the importance given to the manuscript by its Qajar owner Muhammad Qasim Khan. The exit stamp of Persian border control on f.1a, confirms that the manuscript left Iran in 1315 AH (1897 AD). The inspection seal reads: Taftish shud, 1315 ('Inspected, 1897').