Asian and African studies blog

One of the manuscripts we have recently digitised is the Dārābnāmah, an illustrated prose romance describing the adventures of the Persian King Darab, son of Bahman, and Alexander the Great, originally composed in the 12th century by Muhammad ibn Hasan Abu Tahir Tarsusi. Our copy unfortunately only contains the first part of the epic, ending with the story of the Macedonian princess Nahid, Darab’s newly-wedded bride and the future mother of Alexander the Great, being returned unwanted (she had bad breath) but pregnant to her father Faylaqus (Philip of Macedon).

Nahid, daughter of Faylaqus (Philip of Macedon), is presented to Darab (Or. 4615, f 129r)

Drawing on Iranian folk literature, this collection of tales reflects a tradition of storytelling which has parallels with Firdawsi’s Shāhnāmah, written at the beginning of the 11th century. At the same time it has developed quite independently, linking pre-Islamic Iranian traditions with those of Islam and the west. The second part of the work, missing from this copy, is devoted to Iskandar/Alexander the Great and forms part of the Alexander romance, well known in both Persian and European literature. The first part of the work, however, has been comparatively understudied, so our digital version will hopefully facilitate some profitable research into this neglected area.

Our copy was probably completed between 1580 and 1585 for the Mughal Emperor Akbar. Classed as ‘Grade Two’ in the Mughal imperial library, it originally contained at least 200 paintings, and presumably there was also a second volume. By 1828, probably looted or sold, it belonged to the Nawabs of Awadh whose seals are stamped on the final leaf. When the British Museum purchased it from Quaritch in 1893, there were only 157 paintings and many leaves, including the colophon, were missing.

Tamrusiyah, temporarily separated from Darab,  and her brother Mihrasb under the Waqwaq Tree (a mythical tree which grew human heads as fruit). Artist: Mukhlis  (Or.4615, f 44r)

The paintings, created at a time when Mughal art was subject to Iranian, Indian and European influences, are what really distinguish this manuscript. Nearly all of them are ascribed altogether to  43 individual artists, several of whom were singled out by Abu’-Fazl in his chapter on the art of painting in the Āʼīn-i Akbarī. They include some of the most famous artists of Akbar’s reign. Details of their work and four separate paintings are described in the catalogue to the British Library’s recent exhibition ‘Mughal India: Art, Culture and Empire (Losty and Roy, 2012).

The plot of the Dārābnāmah is extremely complicated. The basic story tells of a prince, abandoned at birth and his subsequent adventures before he returns to Iran and claims the throne. His travels take him to kingdoms ruled by apes, one-eyed people, and others where he encounters all kinds of magical creatures including watermaidens, human-headed serpents and dragons.  In his article in Encyclopædia Iranica, William Hannaway gives a resumé, but unless some reader rises to the challenge, we’ll have to wait for a full translation! Particulars of the manuscript and a list of all the miniatures with links to the images can be seen here and on our Digital Persian Project page.

Here are a few more paintings to illustrate the story:


Near the beginning of the book, Bahman, son of the hero Isfandiyar, and his horse are swallowed by a dragon, and Humay (who is actually his daughter, but is pregnant with his child) becomes queen  (Or.4615, f 3v)

Abandoned at birth and rescued from the river by a washerman, Darab eventually meets his mother, Humay. Artist: Mithra (Or.4615, f 7v)



Humay playing polo with her slaves. Artist: Sanvalah (Or.4615, f 11v)

Darab continues on his travels. Here he is shown fighting the dīv, Samandun (Or.4615, f 17v)

Darab meets and falls in love with the widowed queen Tamrusiyah who later becomes the mother of his son Darab/Dara. Together they continue travelling. In this scene Darab draws the mighty bow of Isfandiyar before Sangarun. The severed head of the son of the ruler of the Island of Katrun, beheaded because he failed to draw the bow, is fixed to the wall above. Artist: Bhagvan (Or.4615, f 25v)

Darab goes to the rescue of his mother Queen Humay who has been captured by the Caesar of Rum (ie. the king of Macedonia). Here they hurl rocks at the king's army. Artist: Ibrahim Qahhar (Or.4615, f 102r)

Humay watched by Darab as she dictates letters announcing Darab’s accession. Artist: Dharmdas (Or.4615, f 114r)

Further reading

Charles Rieu, Supplement to the Catalogue of the Persian Manuscripts in the British Museum (London, 1895), no 385.
Norah M Titley, Miniatures from Persian Manuscripts: a Catalogue and Subject Index of Paintings from Persia, India and Turkey in the British Library and the British Museum (London, 1977), pp 8-11.
William L. Hanaway, “DĀRĀB-NĀMA”, in Encyclopædia Iranica.
J P Losty and Malini Roy, Mughal India: Art, Culture and Empire (London, 2012), pp 32-7.
Zabīḥ Allāh Ṣafā (ed), Dārābʹnāmah-i Ṭarsūsī: rivāyat-i Abū Ṭāhir Muḥammad ibn Ḥasan Ibn ʻAlī ibn Mūsā al-Ṭarsūsī, 2 vols (Tihrān, 1965).
Marina Gaillard, Alexandre le Grand en Iran = le Dârâb Nâmeh (Paris, 2005).

Ursula Sims-Williams, Asian and African Studies

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15,000 images of Persian manuscripts online

One of the most exciting aspects of working with the British Library’s Persian collections is ocasionally stumbling upon some temporarily forgotten treasure. By chance I noticed this entirely unknown illustrated copy of Firdawsi’s Shahnamah a few weeks ago while reviewing draft descriptions by C.A. Storey (Assistant Librarian (1919) and then Librarian (1927) of the India Office before becoming Sir Thomas Adams Professor of Arabic at Cambridge) which he compiled as part of a project to catalogue the uncatalogued manuscripts in the India Office Library. This work was originally begun in the 1930s, but with the intervention of the 2nd World War, the project was never completed. Now thanks to sponsorship by the Barakat Trust (more on this later) Storey’s unrevised description is available on our Digitised Manuscripts site (Mss Eur E207/15, ff.3-6).

The Simurgh returns Zal to his father Sam

The albino Zal, son of the hero Sam, abandoned at birth in the mountains, was rescued and brought up by the magical Simurgh bird. Subsequently regretting his actions, Sam set off to find his son. Mindful of Zal’s future destiny, the Simurgh reluctantly returned him to his father, leaving him with magical feathers by which he could summon the Simurgh’s help at a time of need. The margin of this unsigned miniature dating from ca. 1640 contains the signature of a previous owner Framjee Shapoorjee Dhunjeibhoy dated 1874.
IO Islamic 3682, f.38r 

According to Storey’s description, a one-time inserted memorandum (now unfortunately missing), signed by Sir George Birdwood explains that the manuscript was taken in by the Bombay Fort Post Office in a parcel addressed to him, but without any postage being paid, nor any clue as to the sender. Sir George Birdwood, who retired in 1868 from a successful career as an administrator in India, was at the time working as a special assistant in the revenue and statistical department of the India Office to whom he presented the copy on 30 April 1904. The anonymous donor may have been a Parsi whose signature ‘Framjee Shapoorjee Dhunjeibhoy’ is dated 1874 (f.443v) and [18]87 (f.38r). Unfortunately nothing more is known about him!

The colophon, f.534v, which gives the scribe’s name as Dust Muhammad ibn Darvish Muhammad Karbalaʼi and the apparent date Rabiʻ al-Akhir 850.


The manuscript itself is as puzzling as its history! Though the first part of the scribe’s name is quite clear the word following Karbala’i remains a mystery. The year in the colophon at first glance appears to be 850 (1446) which is impossibly early, however traces of a zero before the five are clearly visible. Black and white images acquired with the help of RetroReveal (this amazing program, worth a blog of its own, helps to reveal lost content and is available freely at retroreveal.org) support this interpretation. The images also show that the second stroke of the number eight is possibly written in a different ink, suggesting that the original date might have been 1050 (1640).


The manuscript contains 48 images, six¹ of which (ff.63v, 69v, 92r, 301v, 305v and 368r) are signed by Muhammad Yusuf, a prolific artist during the reigns of the Safavid rulers Shah Safi (r. 1629-42) and Shah ʻAbbas II (r. 1642-66). Muhammad Yusuf also contributed to the famous Windsor Castle Shahnamah, Holmes 51, together with the artists Malik Husayn Isfahani and Muhammad Qasim (see Robinson below). A list of Muhammad Yusuf's known signed paintings is given under lot 69 of Sotheby's sale 'Arts of the Islamic World', London, 24 Apr 2013. A complete list of the 48 miniatures in our manuscript can be downloaded from the following link IO3682_ills.

The third trial: Rustam slays the dragon

Rustam son of the hero Zal, engaged in a quest to liberate king Kavus from the demons of Mazandaran, undertook seven trials. In the third, Rustam, asleep, was approached by a monstrous dragon. Twice woken by his horse Rakhsh, in the darkness of the night he failed to see any danger and went back to sleep. Woken a third time, however, Rustam finally saw the dragon and with Rakhsh’s help succeeded in killing him. The painting is signed by Muhammad Yusuf.
IO Islamic 3682, f.69v  

The battle of Suhrab and Rustam
 
Unknown to Rustam, princess Tahminah of Samangan gave birth to his son Sohrab. Years later Suhrab and Rostam met on opposite sides in the battlefield, both unaware of their relationship. Rustam mortally wounded Suhrab with a dagger only to recognise, too late, the clasp that he had given Tahminah after their night of passion. Signed by Muhammad Yusuf.
IO Islamic 3682, f.92r  

Rustam rescues Bizhan from the pit

The hero Bizhan, on a hunting trip, ended up joining in an outdoor feast with Manizhah, daughter of Afrasiyab, the arch enemy of Iran. When the festivities finished, Manizhah drugged Bizhan, took him home with her and hid him in the women's quarters. On discovery, he was spared death, but was instead imprisoned in a pit with only the disgraced Manizhah to minister to him. She enlisted Rustam’s help to move the giant rock and free Bizhan with his lassoo.
IO Islamic 3682, f.194r

The death of Rustam

In old age Rustam’s half brother Shaghad plotted his death. He had pits dug and filled them with spears and sharp swords before covering them over. Spurred on by Rustam, Rakhsh and his rider fell into the trap. Rustam’s dying wish to the treacherous Shaghad was to be handed his bow with two arrows. Granted, he strung it one final time, killing Shaghad who had taken refuge behind a tree.
IO Islamic 3682, f.310v

Bahram Chubinah kills Bahram, son of Siyavash, while playing polo

Bahram, son of Siyavash, plotted to kill Bahram Chubinah while playing polo. However, his wicked wife, herself in love with Bahram Chubinah, betrayed her husband, warning Bahram Chubinah that he would be wearing mail under his clothes. Alerted, Bahram Chubinah tapped all the players as he approached them and when he discovered Bahram, he cut him in half with his scimitar.
IO Islamic 3682, f.483

The romance of Khusraw Parviz and Shirin

Khuraw Parviz had loved Shirin in his youth but gave her up when he became king. Meeting years later, he fell in love with her again and took her home and married her.
IO Islamic 3682, f.510v

As yet this copy of the Shahnamah is completely unrecorded. Hopefully art historians will now be able to get to work on it and assign it to its rightful place in the history of Persian miniature painting.

For comparison with other illustrations, readers should consult the database of the Cambridge Shahnama Project. 

Further reading

Dick Davis, tr., Shahnameh: the Persian book of kings / Abolqasem Ferdowsi. London: Penguin, 2007.
B.W. Robinson, “Two manuscripts of the Shahnama in the Royal Library, Windsor Castle - II: MS Holmes 151 (A/6)”, Burlington Magazine 110, no. 780 (Mar., 1968), pp. 133-40.
B.W. Robinson, Eleanor Sims, and Manijeh Bayani, The Windsor Shahnama of 1648. London: Azimuth, 2007.
Marianna Shreve Simpson, ‘ŠĀH-NĀMA iv. Illustrations’  in Encyclopædia Iranica, revised 2013.

Ursula Sims-Williams, Asian and African Studies

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[1] Postscript: with thanks to Eleanor Sims for recently pointing out the sixth identification (f. 368r) which I had originally overlooked!

Perhaps the best known of all the British Library’s Persian manuscripts is Or. 2265, a copy of the Khamsah (‘Five Poems’) by the 12th century poet Nizami, copied and illustrated for the Safavid ruler Shah Tahmasp (ruled 1524-76). In a recent codicological study of this manuscript Priscilla Soucek and Muhammad Isa Waley (see Soucek and Waley below) have convincingly argued that the copy is in fact a composite volume: initially copied by the royal scribe Shah Mahmud al-Nishapuri in 1539-43, and subsequently augmented by the addition of 14 full page illustrations by some of the most famous court artists of the mid-16th century. Further pages were inserted probably during the 17th century, and again at a later stage, perhaps when the manuscript was rebound in the early 19th century at the court of Fath ʻAli Shah Qajar.

It was possibly during this last refurbishment that three paintings by the artist Muhammad Zaman were added to illustrate Nizami’s poem the Haft paykar (‘Seven Beauties’). Damage to the upper part of these folios suggests that that they were most probably removed from an album or from another copy of the same poem (Soucek and Waley, pp. 199-200; 208).


Painting by Muhammad Zaman dated Mazandaran, 1086 (1675/76). The servant girl Fitnah impresses Bahram Gur with her strength by carrying an ox on her shoulders (Or.2265, f. 213r)


Not much is known about the painter Muhammad Zaman ibn Hajji Yusuf Qummi (fl. 1649-1704), famous for his figures in European dress and use of night scenes and shadows. He has often been confused with Muhammad Paolo Zaman, a Persian Christian whom Niccolo Manucci met in India ca. 1660 (Storia do Mogor, pp. 17-18). This person had been sent to Rome by Shah ʻAbbas to study theology with a view to being able to counter Christian missionaries. Converting to Christianity, he fled, after his return, to the court of Shah Jahan. However, there is nothing in Manucci’s account to suggest that this Muhammad Zaman was an artist. Moreover, as demonstrated in a recent article (Landau, 2011), there is no need to place our painter Muhammad Zaman in Rome: his inspiration was clearly derived from European paintings and prints, of which there were plenty circulating in Iran at the time.


Episode from the Indian Princess’s story: King Turktazi’s visit to the magical garden of Turktaz, Queen of the Faeries. Signed by Muhammad Zaman at Ashraf (Mazandaran) and dated 1086 (1675/76) (Or. 2265, f. 221v)


This painting was previously thought to represent Bahram Gur with the Indian Princess. However, Amy Landau (see below) has convincingly identified it as depicting King Turktazi with the Queen of the Faeries, Turktaz. King Turktazi, she suggests, may represent the Safavid ruler Shah Sulayman (ruled 1666–94) while Queen Turktaz is modelled on a European queen or princess.

Detail: Turktaz Queen of the Faeries

Thanks to the Iran Heritage Foundation’s partnership in our Digital Persian Manuscripts Project this manuscript has recently been digitised and can be now be viewed on our Digital Manuscripts website. Another 48 manuscripts are to be digitised and put online in the coming months, so watch this space to find out more!

Painting by Muhammad Zaman dated 1086 (1675/76). Bahram Gur proves his worthiness by killing a dragon and recovering treasure from a cave. (Or.2265, f.203v)

Ursula Sims-Williams, Asian and African Studies


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Further reading

Priscilla Soucek and Muhammad Isa Waley, “The Nizāmī manuscript of Shāh Tahmāsp: a reconstructed history.” In J.-C. Bürgel and C. van Ruymbeke (eds.), A Key to the Treasure of the Hakim: artistic and humanistic aspects of Nizāmī Ganjavī’s Khamsa (Leiden 2011), pp. 195-210.

Amy Landau, “From Poet to Painter: Allegory and Metaphor in a Seventeenth-Century Persian Painting by Muhammad Zaman, Master of Farangi-Sazi”, Muqarnas 28 (2011), pp. 101-131.

Eleanor Sims, “Muhammad Zaman [Muḥammad Zamān ibn Ḥājjī Yūsuf Qumī]”, in Oxford Art Online.

— “Toward a Monograph on the 17th-century Iranian Painter Muhammad Zamān ibn Ḥājī Yūsuf”, Islamic Art 5 (2001), pp. 183-194, plates vi-viii; with an appendix containing a provisional list of Muhammad Zaman's paintings.

A. A. Ivanov, “The Life of Muḥammed Zamān: a Reconsideration”, Iran 17 (1979), pp. 65-70.

Abū’l-Fażl ʻAllāmī (1551-1602)

A recurring figure throughout the exhibition ‘Mughal India’ is Akbar’s influential administrator and adviser, the court historian Abū’l-Fażl.

Abū’l-Fażl ʻAllāmī was the second son of Shaykh Mubārak (1505-1593), a distinguished teacher and scholar who had migrated to Agra in 1543 from Nagaur in Rajastan. His older brother was the court poet Fayżī about whom we’ll be writing in future postings.

A precocious child, Abū’l-Fażl was already by the age of 15 familiar with traditional Islamic philosophy and science. However, not content with this, he actively sought the company of those of other faiths:

Sometimes a sympathy with the padres of Portugal pulled at my skirt. Sometimes a conference with the mubids of Persia, and sometimes a knowledge of the secrets of the Zendavesta [the Zoroastrian sacred scriptures] robbed me of repose, for my soul was alienated from the society both of the sobered and the (spiritually) drunken of my own land.

Abū’l-Fażl ʻAllāmī, Akbarnāmah, vol 3: tr. H. Beveridge. Reprint: Calcutta, 1939, p. 117

At 20 Abū’l-Fażl was contemplating a total withdrawal from society, but instead entered imperial service in 1574. His broad-minded and humanitarian views greatly influenced Akbar’s policies but were strongly opposed by the religious establishment. He took part in Akbar’s religious debates and helped to draft the famous decree (maḥżar) of 1579 which gave Akbar as emperor the right to decide any religious question on which qualified legal interpreters (mujtahidīn) were not in agreement. His prominence, however, led to rivalries and jealousies, and in 1602 Abū’l-Fażl was assassinated at the request of Akbar’s son Salīm (later to become the Emperor Jahāngīr). 

150 years later, Shāh Navāz Khān (1700-1757) wrote in his biographical dictionary, the Maʻāsir al-umarāʼ, that while many had accused Abū’l-Fażl of being an infidel, whether a Hindu, a fire-worshipper, or an atheist, neverthless there were those who regarded him as a follower of ‘Universal Peace’ and a free-thinker who accepted all religions. His works remained extremely popular and were frequently copied right up until the advent of printing. The manuscript illustrated below is a good example.

This painting from a 19th century copy of the Akbarnāmah shows Abū’l-Fażl, in the presence of Akbar, drafting the order (farmān) which established a new ‘Divine Era’. This solar calendar dated from 1556, the beginning of Akbar’s reign, and used the traditional pre-Islamic (Zoroastrian) Persian day and month names. It also introduced 14 festivals corresponding to the Zoroastrian feasts (Add.26203, ff 162v-163)

The Akbarnāmah and Āʼīn-i Akbarī

Abū’l-Fażl is best known for his monumental history the Akbarnāmah which Akbar commissioned in 1589 as an official history of his reign. The first two volumes covered Akbar’s predecessors and birth, followed by the events of his reign up to the the end of the 46th regnal year (1601/1602). A third volume, the Ā’īn-i Akbarī  ‘Regulations of Akbar’, is usually treated as a separate work. It provided an encyclopedic geographical, historical and statistical account of the empire. It was the first work of its kind, based on private memoirs, imperial archives, and sources in many different languages. Although excessively flattering in style, it remained an invaluable reference source until replaced by the gazetteers of the 19th century.

This 18th century copy of the Āʼīn-i Akbarī illustrates one of Akbar’s inventions: a special wheel to be turned by a cow, which cleaned 16 matchlock barrels in quick succession (Add.5645, ff. 60v-61)

Other works by Abū’l-Fażl

An early work which has not survived was Abū’l-Fażl’s commentary on the Āyat al-Kursī  ‘Throne Verse’ (Qurʼān, Surah 2, verse 255). He completed it in 985 (1575/76) and presented it to Akbar apparently with much approval. Another of his works was the ʻIyār-i dānish ‘Criterion of Knowledge’, a ‘simplified’ version in Persian of the popular Arabic stories Kalīlah wa Dimnah (originally derived from the Sanskrit Panchatantra). Although several Persian translations existed already, they were, as Abu'l-Fażl wrote, "full of rhetorical difficulties" and  abounding in "rare metaphors and difficult words" (Āʼīn-i Akbarī, book 1, Ā'īn 34).

The story of ‘The monkey and the turtle’ tells of a cross-species friendship which ends in betrayal as a result of the plotting of the turtle’s jealous wife. The moral is that women are not to be heeded, in case they ruin a good friendship between men. Leaf from the ʻIyār-i dānish dating from c. 1600 (Johnson Album 54, 36)

Abū’l-Fażl also wrote prefaces for other royal commissions: a Persian translation of the Sanskrit epic the Mahābhārata, and the Tārīkh-i Alfī  ‘History of the Millennium’. Examples of both these works are included in the exhibition. Several posthumous collections of his letters have also survived: the Mukātabāt-i ʻAllāmī and the Ruqaʻāt-i Abū'l-Fażl.

Ursula Sims-Williams, Asian and African Studies

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Further reading

Abū’l-Fażl ʻAllāmī, The Akbarnama; translated by H. Beveridge. 3v. Calcutta: Asiatic Society, 1898-1939.

— The Ain i Akbari; translated by H. Blochmann and H. S. Jarrett. 3v. Calcutta: Asiatic Society of Bengal, 1873-1894.

ʻAbd al-Qādir Badāʾūnī, Muntakhabu-t-tawārīkh; translated by G. Ranking, W. H. Lowe and W Haig. 3 v. Calcutta: Baptist Mission Press, 1898-1925.

All these three translations can be read online at: http://persian.packhum.org/persian/main

An illustrated genealogy of the Timurids, the Mu‘izz al-ansāb (‘Glorifier of Pedigrees’)

The Mughals took great pride in their ancestry. They claimed to be descended from both the 14th-century Turkic warlord Tīmūr (Tamerlane) and the even more formidable Mongol conqueror Genghis (Chingiz) Khan (d. 1227). The genealogy of the Mughals, and of other Timurids (descendants of Tīmūr) is documented in such works as Mu‘izz al-ansāb (‘Glorifier of Pedigrees’), compiled in Persian at the court of the Timurid Shāh Rukh (d. 1447) in Herat, Afghanistan. Some years ago the British Library acquired at auction a complete manuscript (Or. 14306) of this very rare text, whose author is unknown. Formerly owned by the archaeologist and art collector Hagop Kevorkian (d. 1962), this copy has three especially interesting features.

The Emperor Tīmūr (r.1370-1405),  founder of the Timurid dynasty

Firstly it contains a continuation of the genealogical line, extending right down to the end of the Mughal dynasty in India. Genealogical links are indicated by vertical red lines, linked with red circles or rectangles for the names of sons and daughters respectively. Secondly, there are added notes in English, providing extra information on some of the rulers discussed; regrettably, we have no idea who wrote them. Thirdly, the manuscript contains 30small portraits, beginning with Tīmūr himself and ending with Sirāj al-Dīn Bahādur Shāh, the last nominal Mughal ruler of Delhi, deposed in 1857. The copyist was Nādir ʻAlī and the manuscript and illustrations were probably produced in Delhi between 1840 and 1850. Their iconography largely conforms to that of other portraits of the same figures, sometimes reflecting known traits of character. The subjects include not only the familiar crowned heads but also a number of other royals, including for example Akbar’s sons Mīrzā Dāniyāl and Sulṭān Murād.

The portraits
81v. Sulṭān Amīr Tīmūr Gūrkān

102r. Mīrānshāh, son of Tīmūr

106v. Amīrzādah Sulṭān Muḥammad, son of Mīrānshāh

107r. Sulṭān Abū Saʻīd, son of Sulṭān Muḥammad

108r. ʻUmar Shaykh Mīrzā, son of Abū Saʻīd

108v. Ẓahīr al-Dīn Muḥammad Bābur (r.1526-1530)

The first Mughal Emperor Bābur

109v. Naṣīr al-Dīn Muḥammad Humāyūn, son of Bābur (r.1530-1540; 1555-1556)

110v. Jalāl al-Dīn Muḥammad Akbar, son of Humāyūn (r.1556-1605)

111r. (right) Mīrzā Dāniyāl, son of Akbar; (left) Sulṭān Murād, son of Akbar

111v. Nūr al-Dīn Muḥammad Jahāngīr, son of Akbar (r.1605-1627)

112v. Shihāb al-Dīn Shāh Jahān, son of Jahāngīr (r.1627-1658)

113v. Muḥammad Dārā Shukūh, son of Shāh Jahān

Prince Dārā Shukūh, eldest son and heir apparent of Shāh Jahān, executed in 1659

114v. Shāh Shujāʻ, son of Shāh Jahān

115v. Muḥammad Murādbakhsh, son of Shāh Jahān

116v. Muḥyī al-Dīn Muḥammad Awrangzīb ʻĀlamgīr (r.1658-1707)

The Emperor Awrangzīb ʻĀlamgīr

121r. Bahādur Shāh Muḥammad Muʻaẓẓam Shāh, son of Awrangzīb (r.1707-1712)

122r. Shāhzādah Rafīʻ al-Qadr, son of Bahādur Shāh

122v. Rafīʻ al-Darajāt Shams al-Dīn Abū’l-Barakāt, son of Rafīʻ al-Qadr (r.1719)

123r. (right) Muḥammad ʻAẓīm ʻAẓīm al-Shaʻn, son of Bahādur Shāh (r.1712); (left) Sulṭān Karīm al-Dīn, son of ʻAẓīm al-Shaʻn

123v. Muḥammad Farrukhsiyar, son of ʻAẓīm al-Shaʻn (r.1713-1719)

124r. Khujastah-Akhtar Jahānshāh, son of Bahādur Shāh

124v. Nāṣir al-Dīn Muḥammad Shāh, son of Jahānshāh (r.1719-1748)

125r. Mujāhid al-Dīn Aḥmad Shāh, son of Muḥammad Shāh (r.1748-1754)

126r. Muḥammad Muʻizz al-Dīn Jahāndār Shāh, son of Bahādur Shāh (r.1712-1713)

126v. ʻAzīz al-Dīn ʻĀlamgīr II, son of Jahāndār Shāh (r.1754-1759)

129r. Sirāj al-Dīn Shāh ʻĀlam II, son of ʻĀlamgīr II (r.1759-1806)

Shāh ʻĀlam II, blinded in 1788, wrote Persian and Urdu poetry under the name Aftāb

131v. Muʻīn al-Dīn Muḥammad Akbar Shāh II, son of Shāh ʻĀlam II (r.1806-1837)

133v. Sirāj al-Dīn Bahādur Shāh II, son of Akbar II (r.1837-1857)

The last Mughal Emperor Bahādur Shāh II, an accomplished poet who wrote under the name Ẓafar

The imperial pedigree of Bābur and his successors may look impressive, but the researches of an international team of geneticists put it into perspective. Tracking the male ‘Y’ chromosomes from Genghis Khan, who besides founding a vast empire fathered a vast number of children, in 2003 they published evidence that roughly one in every 200 men alive today is a descendant of his. For The Guardian’s coverage, see http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2003/mar/02/science.research

Muhammad Isa Waley, Asian and African Studies

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