Kalam al-Muluk by Mirza Taqi Aliabadi Mazandarani and his Divan
dated 1838
Description
The manuscript contains the Kalam al-Muluk (or Risala-yi Khaqaniyya) composed by Mirza Muhammad Taqi Aliabadi Mazandarani (1198-1256/1783-1840) with the penname Sahib Divan. The content was narrated by Fath ‘Ali Shah concerning history and lineage in the last year of his life (1250). This manuscript is dated Jumada II 1254/ August 1838 (two years before the composer’s death). It comprises a prose part dated Shaʿban 1258/July 1842, and seven other chapters, each decorated with a simply illuminated sarlawh. The text is copied in nastaʿliq script in 21 lines per page and two columns for verses. A separate quire smaller than the present paper size is preserved in the same binding. It has an illuminated sarlawh in Qajar style above which the name of Muhammad ʿAli Shah Qajar is inscribed. This text is also copied in nastaʿliq and bears the seal impression of Malik al-Shu‘ra-yi Astan-i Muqaddas. The medium brown leather binding with gilded and tooled central and corner pieces is decorated with marbled paper on the inside cover.
Dimensions
21.3 x 13.7 cm (8 3/8 x 5 3/8 in.)
Provenance
Ezzat-Malek Soudavar, Geneva, Switzerland (by 2014), by descent; to her son Abolala Soudavar, Houston, Texas (2014), loan; to Harvard Art Museums, 2015. Note: Ezzat-Malek Soudavar (1913-2014) formed this collection over a period of sixty years. She purchased the works of art on the international art market.
Related Artworks
View MoreInk, opaque watercolor and gold on paper
16th-17th centuryPersianCalligraphy; ink, opaque watercolor and gold on paper, with red leather binding
13th centuryIslamicOpaque watercolor on paper
13th centuryArabInk, opaque watercolor and gold on paper
17th centuryPersianInk, colors, and gold on paper
16th centuryInk, opaque watercolor and gold on paper
15th centuryPersianInk, opaque watercolor and gold on paper
18th centuryPersianText, ink, opaque watercolor and gold on paper
16th-18th centuryPersianThread-bound, manuscript volume; ink and bright colors on paper
20th centuryKoreanInk, opaque watercolor and gold on paper
19th centuryOttomanInk, colors, and gold on paper
19th centuryPersianInk, opaque watercolor and gold on paper
13th centuryEgyptian