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Manuscript/Mixed Material Risālah-i Firdawsīyah رسالة فردوسية

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About this Item

Title

  • Risālah-i Firdawsīyah

Other Title

  • رسالة فردوسية

Summary

  • Anonymous miscellany in prose and poetry dealing with spring, education, medical matters, trades, military matters and finally a lengthy section in praise of an unnamed individual.
  • This manuscript is an anthology of works in prose by the Persian poet Tughra-yi Mashhadi (died before 1667-68). Risālah-ʼi Firdawsīya (The paradisal epistle) is the name of the first item in the anthology. It is both an evocation of the beauties of Kashmir and a panegyric to the Mughal ruler Shah Jahan (1592-1666). Nothing is known of Tughra's childhood and youth, other than that he probably was born in Mashad (although Tabriz also has been proposed as his native town). Tughra moved to India and the court of Jahangir (reigned 1605-27) towards the end of the latter's reign. During the reign of Jahangir's successor, Shah Jahan, Tughra joined the court of one of Shah Jahan's sons, Murad Bakhsh, and accompanied him on the Mughal campaign in Balkh (1646). Although unsuccessful, this campaign is nonetheless commemorated by the poet as a victory in his panegyric to Murad Bakhsh, Mir'āt al-futūḥ (Mirror of victories), which appears near the end of the present collection. Tughra subsequently settled in Kashmir, where he died. He is buried in Srinagar in a plot adjacent to that of Kalim Hamadani, one of the foremost Persian poets of the 17th century. Tughra composed verse in all the popular forms of Persian poetry, but he is most famous for his prose works known as risālahs (epistles) which include Risālah-ʼi Firdawsīya and Mir'āt al-futūḥ. More than 30 of these risālahs have survived in numerous anthologies, serving as a testament to the high esteem in which Tughra was held by succeeding generations as a prose stylist. World Digital Library.

Created / Published

  • [17--?]

Headings

  • -  Manuscripts, Persian--Washington (D.C.)
  • -  India

Notes

  • -  "1285C3, 11 Mr 44"--Flyleaf.
  • -  Binding is dark red leather Persian-style binding with gold medallions with floral motifs at center and at each of the four corners.
  • -  Caption title.
  • -  Folio 192b mentions a military expedition by an unidentified leader from the Sultanate of Lahore in the direction of Tūrān.
  • -  Folio 1b-202a.
  • -  Library of Congress Persian manuscript, 285/21.
  • -  Manuscript.
  • -  Nastaʻlīq script; 15 lines in written area 21 x 10.5 cm.
  • -  Paper: light cream-color, slightly glossy, laid paper; black ink with rubrication. Catchwords on rectos.
  • -  Written in India?
  • -  Also available in digital form on the Library of Congress website.
  • -  Persian.

Medium

  • 8, 202, 3 leaves (15 lines) bound : paper ; 28 x 16.5 cm

Call Number/Physical Location

  • PK6529 .I73 1700z

Digital Id

Library of Congress Control Number

  • 2012498624

Online Format

  • pdf
  • image

Additional Metadata Formats

IIIF Presentation Manifest

Rights & Access

The contents of the Library of Congress Persian Language Manuscript Project are in the public domain or have no known copyright restrictions and are free to use and reuse.

Credit Line: Library of Congress, African and Middle East Division, Near East Section Persian Manuscript Collection

Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

Risālah-i Firdawsīyah. [17--?] Manuscript/Mixed Material. https://www.loc.gov/item/2012498624/.

APA citation style:

Risālah-i Firdawsīyah. [17--?] [Manuscript/Mixed Material] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/2012498624/.

MLA citation style:

Risālah-i Firdawsīyah. [17--?] Manuscript/Mixed Material. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/2012498624/>.