Walters Ms. W.613, Five poems (quintet) Khamsah-i Niẓāmī خمسه نظامي Niẓāmī Ganjavī, 1140 or 41-1202 or 3 Ilyās ibn Yūsuf Niẓāmī Ganjavī الياس بن يوسف نظامي گنجوي Author dates preferred by cataloger: d. 605 AH / 1209 CE scribe ʿAbd al-Raḥīm ʿAmbarīn Qalam عبد الرحيم عمبرين قلم Name of scribe given in two colophons in the British Library fragment Or. MS 12208 (see bibliography) artist Sānvlah سانوله artist Nānhā نانها artist Shīvdās شيوداس artist Dharm Dās دهرم داس artist Bīm Gujarātī بيم كجراتى Principal cataloger Gacek, Adam Cataloger Landau, Amy Cataloger Smith, Sita Copy editor Bockrath, Diane Contributor Barrera, Christina Contributor Emery, Doug Contributor Herbert, Lynley Contributor Noel, William Contributor Simpson, Shreve Contributor Tabritha, Ariel Contributor Toth, Michael B. Contributor Valle, Chiara Conservator Jewell, Stephanie Conservator Quandt, Abigail 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.

 This is a fragment of one of the most important illustrated manuscripts produced for the Mughal emperor Akbar: a copy of the Khamsah (quintet) of Niẓāmī Ganjavī (d. 605 AH / 1209 CE) copied by the royal scribe ʿAbd al-Raḥīm ʿAmbarīn Qalam in the fortieth year of Akbar's reign (1004 AH / 1595 CE). It was most likely executed in Lahore. The larger portion of the manuscript, preserved with the colophon, date, and scribe’s name, is housed in the British Library (Or. MS 12208). The Walters fragment contains parts of Khusraw va Shīrīn and Iskandarnāmah, with five illustrations. The illustrations bear ascriptions to court artists as well as running numbers from 1 to 44. The Walters folios are inscribed with the following names: Sānvlah, Nānhā, Shīvdās, Dharm Dās, and Bīm Gujarātī. Baltimore The Walters Art Museum W.613 The primary language in this manuscript is Persian. 1a - 39b Khamsah-i Niẓāmī خمسه نظامي كه عشق ومملكت... Fragment containing portions of Khusraw va Shīrīn and Iskandarnāmah only scribe artist artist artist artist artist

Light brown paper; later outer margins in various colors

 Foliation: vii+39+vii34.0 21.5 19.5 10.5 Hindu-Arabic numerals inscribed in the middle of the upper margins just above the frame

Written on versos in the illuminated border

Written in black nastaʿlīq script with chapter headings in red Five illustrations (four narrative subjects) by Sānvlah, Nānhā, Shīvdās, Dhārm Dās, and Bīm Gujarātī; borders decorated with flora and fauna Binding Binding The upper board of this lacquer binding has a design of flowers on a red ground. It dates to the thirteenth century AH / nineteenth CE. Text page Text page This text page was copied by the royal scribe ʿAbd al-Raḥīm ʿAmbarīn Qalam in 1003 AH / 1595 CE. Farhād before Khusraw Khusraw va Shīrīn Illustration This is an illustration by Sānvlah. Invention of the mirror in the presence of Alexander the Great Iskandarnāmah Illustration This is the right side of a double-page illustration by Nānhā. Invention of the mirror in the presence of Alexander the Great Iskandarnāmah Illustration This is the left side of a double-page illustration by Shīvdās. The death of Darius Iskandarnāmah Illustration This illustration is by Dharm Dās. Alexander the Great enthroned at Persepolis Iskandarnāmah Illustration This illustration is by Bīm Gujarātī.

Lacquer boards with floral motifs in the main panel

 [24 Aẕar 40th year of Akbar’s reign / 1595 CE] as given in BL Or. MS 12208 Probably Lahore (present-day Pakistan) Walters Art Museum, 1931, by Henry Walters bequest" Relevant Works Original description: Welch, S.C. “The Emperor Akbar’s Khamsa of Niẓāmī.” Journal of the Walters Art Gallery 23 (1960): 87-96. See also, Storey, C. A. Persian Literature: A Bio-Bibliographical Survey, Vol. 1/2. (London: Luzac; Leiden: E.J. Brill; London: Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, 1994), 438-495. For the description of British Library Or. MS 12208, see Brend, Barbara. The Emperor Akbar's Khamsa of Nizami. London: British Library, 1995. Art Medicine Museum Poetry Script Muhammad, the Prophet Kashmiri Horses Walters Art Museum Document Astrology Devotion History Legal Literature -- Poetry Literature -- Prose Liturgy Philosophy Science Science -- Medicine Scripture Sufism Theology Mineralogy Logic Geography Geomancy Cosmology Cartography Fortune-telling Koran Qur`an Firman Palimpsest Prayer Bible Gospels Psalter Missal Lectionary Book of Hours Antiphonary Homilary Processional Horologion Breviary Hymnal Chronicle Maghreb Sub-Saharan (West) Africa Turkey Afghanistan Central Asia Egypt England India Iran Iraq Pakistan Germany France Austria Netherlands Ethiopia Armenia Flanders Greece Mamluk Mughal Ottoman Ottonian Armenian Byzantine Abbasid Qajar Rajput Christian Arabic Austrian Dutch Egyptian Fatimid German Indian Islamic Persian Safavid Timurid Turkish Umayyad English French Flemish Ethiopian Carolingian Calligraphy Colophon Headpiece Illumination Illustration Medallion Miniature Ornament Painting Early Abbasid script Ragini Romanesque Gothic Watermark Grotesques Historiated initial Inhabited initial White-vine lettering Textura Batarda Humanistic Uncial Accordion book Album Book Codex Manuscript Heraldry Saint's Life Drawing Grisaille Binding New Abbasid style Musical notation Russia Romania Charter Russian Genealogy Mass book Prayer book Gospel Lectionary Psalter-Hours Treatise Grammar Gloss Pontifical Private devotional text Gradual Protective scroll Scroll 10th century 11th century 12th century 13th century 14th century 15th century 16th century 17th century 18th century 19th century 20th century 8th century 9th century Block book Caroline minuscule Central Arab lands (Near East) Chart English secretary hand Kufic Gothic book hand Original binding Treasure binding Gospel Book Spanish Spain Italian Italy Coptic Scrapbook American United States Maryland Historical Society Friendship book Friendship Liturgical Devotional Scriptural Theological Legal Historical Scientific Scientific -- Medical Literary -- Prose Literary -- Poetry Philosophical Astrological Sufi English Codex Manuscript Persian Walters Art Museum Illustration Mughal Pakistan Islamic Book Iran Literature -- Poetry