CATALOG UE OF THE ARABIC AND PERSIAN MANUSCRIPTS IN THE ORIENTAL PUBL IC L IBRARY BANKIPORE PREPARED FOR THE GOVERNMENT OF BENGAL UNDER THE SUPERVISION OF E DEN N PH. D. ISO _R_OSS, Catalogue OF TH E Arabic and Pe rsian Manu scripts IN THE ORIENTAL PUBLIC LIBRARY BAN KIPORE P E RS IA N POE T S FIR DAUSI T O HAFI Z P rqfia r ed by MAU L AV I ABDUL MU Q TADIR ' ’ GAL GU I‘TA THE BENGAL SECRETARIAT Boon DEPOT E P RE FAC . THE pre se nt volume cons titute s the fi rs t insta lme nt of the se rie s of volume s which are to conta in a comple te and de scriptive ca talogue of the Arabic and Pe rsia n Manuscripts pre se rve d in the Orie nta l ublic Li t ki P brary a Ban pore . The Library owe s its origin to Maula vi Muha mmad B akhs h Khan who a t the time of his de ath in Jul 18 6 le ft a coll e e , , y 7 , n hu n vol um e s In 1891 whe n the Librar was tion of four dre d . tee , y m nu s ri s o e ne d to the u blic it contained nea rl four thousa nd a c t . p p , y p u u w of six thousa nd The se T he numbe r of man scripts is now p ards . s ubse que nt additions are e ntire ly due to Ma ula vi Muha mmad ’ B h s son Kha n Bahad ur Ma ulavi Kh uda B akhsh Kha n akhs , , i ra r in it re se nt s w i xis t n to whom the L b y s p ta te o e s ts e e ce . No lon afte r m arrival in India in 1901 I had the rivile e t g y , , p g with Lord urz on In vie w of h fac h a t of visiting this Library C . t e t t this le ndid colle ction was almost unknown in Euro e a nd not sp p , ne arly so well known as it de se rve d to be a mong the learne d Muhammadans of India I had no diffi cu lt in con incin so re at , y v g g a pa tron of le arning as Lord Curz on of the impe ra tive ne e d of ’ havin the Li rar ro e rl ca talo ue d and at His Exce ll e nc s g b y p p y g , y de sire the Gove rnme nt of Be ngal unde rtook to provide funds for this ur ose p p . vi p u r s e s . The ne xt ste p of importance was to fi nd right me n for the task and to tra in the m in h uro n m thods of catalo uin I was t e E pe a e g g. fortuna te e nough to fi nd among the Muha mmada ns studying in Calcutta two young me n who s e e me d to me to posse ss the ne ce ssary ualifi ca tions a nd taste s : na me l q y, Maula vi Ka maluddin Ahmad for Arabic ; a nd Ma ula i Abdul Mu tadir for e rsian v q P . During the year 1904 the se young s tude nts we nt through a re ular course of tra inin durin which the re are d a ca ta lo ue g g, g y p p g m isonné of the Ara bic and Pe rsian Manuscripts in the Calcutta M h adras a which was u lishe d in 1905. , p b With the e xpe rie nce thus gaine d the y proce e de d to Bankipore and be an the ir la ours Ma ula i Ka mal uddin takin u the Koranic g b , v g p Li ra a ula Abdul Mu tadir th Pe rsia n oe tr At te ture nd Ma vi q e P y. the nd f wo e ars Ma ula i K a mal uddin havin acce ted the e o t y v , g p im ortant ost of Su e rinte nde nt of the Chitta on Madrasah was p p p g g , o li e d to i e u his ca talo uin work and his lace was take n b b g g v p g g , p y Maula vi Az imuddin Ahmad who since his a ointme nt h be e n , pp as chie fl occu ied with the Ara ic works on Medicine of which the y p b , i ra fi ne Colle ction of M s n L b r osse sse s a e r SS. e co d onl to tha t y p v y , y of he Ram ur Li rar t p b y . Critics may possibly point out that a gre at ma ny de ta il s con tained in the pre se nt catalogue are s uffi cie ntly w e ll know n to s cholars o mak a n hin be nd a re fe re nce to authoritie s unne ces sa r It t e yt g yo y. must howe ve r be borne in mind that this is the fi rst large ca talogu e m isonné of Ara bic and Pe rsia n Manus cripts e ve r publishe d in India ; a nd that it is conseque ntly to se rv e a s a work of re fe re nce and a mode l to all future com ile rs of ca talo ue s in India Euro a n p g . pe ca ta lo ue s are not e asil rocured in ndia and whe n rocur ed are g y p I , p ofte n di ffi cult for a ma n knowing no othe r Europe an languages tha n En lish to cons ul t g . In the biographical and bibliogra phica l de tails give n u nde r e ach work the compile r has throughout e ndea voure d to use original source s ii pa ara ca. v and to form inde e nde nt ie ws and in this he has laid unde r con p v , tribution se ve ral rare biographi cal works which we re unknown or inacce ssi le to his re de cessors b p . The whole catalogue of the Pe rsian Poe try will probably occupy v um Th re se nt volum d h h t fro Firda us i thre e ol es . e p e e al s wit t e poe s m o Hafi z t . Among the many re markable a nd inte re sting works which a re notice d in this volume the followi ng are spe cia lly worthy of atte n — d o h h h o 1 whi h 1 A s le ndi co f t e S ah Nama N . c . p py ( ) n m r ah Alimardan Khan prese te d to the e pe or Shah J an. — h Rube/ of fuddi n Bakharzi No of 2 A co of t e is Sa . py y ( which no othe r copy is known . — H f hi No A s l ndid co of the aftband o Kas . 3. p e py ( le for its su e rb cali ra h nota b p g p y . — A v r old co of the l rical o m of S lmon of 4. e y py y p e s a ’ Sawah written thirt -thre e ears afte r the oe t s de ath , y y p o (N . 5— A uni ue co of the diwa n of Ruknuddin e m , q py S No ( . — A v r val uable a nd inte re s tin co of h w 6 . e y g py t e di an of afi from which the e m e rors Humfi fi n and Jahan ir took H z , p y g omens a nd on which the y made note s with the ir own hands While the pre se nt volume was be ing printe d I was abse nt from i India and durin tha t t me Mr. J . A. Cha ma n ve r kindl su e r , g p y y p is d e ork i hr h v e th w as t passed t ough t e pre ss . I ca nnot in this place re frain from saying a fe w words in praise of th i f h v lum Maul avi Mu e comp le r o t is o e . qtadir has rise n to the h e i ht of his task b she er de otion and e ne r cou l with g y v gy, p e d a s cholarl instinct such as is rare l me t with amon Muhammadans y y g . In fact I think that the res e nt volume with all its sho mi , p rtco ngs iii PR F E v E AC .