Imperial Qajar Qur’an Copied For Nasir Al-Din Shah’s Son-In-Law Prince Muayyad Al-Davla (D. 1912)

Project Details

Imperial Qajar Qur’an Copied For Nasir Al-Din Shah’s Son-In-Law Prince Muayyad Al-Davla (D. 1912)

Qajar Persia
Signed: Ismail bin Visal
Dated: 1278 A.H. / 1861 C.E.
Dimensions: 17.5 x 10.5 cm.

Manuscript on paper, 240 leaves, 2 fly leaves, 19 lines to page, opening with three consequent double pages with the index, prayers and the Surat al-Fatiha and the beginning of Surah al-Baqara lavishly illuminated in gold and polychrome pigments; written in naskh in black ink, ruled in gold, red, green; surah headings illuminated in gold and polychrome, verses separated by gold roundels, in its original lacquered binding.

The dedication above the colophon line:

“Hasb al-amr-i Navvab-i Mustatab Ashraf-i As’ad-i Vala Shahzadah Muayyad al-Davla Dama Jalalahu Tahrir Shud”

(Written on the command of the most esteemed and exalted Prince Muayyad al-Davla may his glory be perpetual).

Ismail b. Visal Shirazi (d. 1869)

Muhammad Ismail b. Visal was born in 1246 A.H./1830 C.E. in Shiraz. He was the fifth son of the famous Qajar court calligrapher and poet Muhammad Shafi’ Visal Shirazi. Ismail himself was also a poet and used the pen-name ‘Tavhid’. He became a master calligrapher. He was praised especially for his skill in naskh script. His calligraphic works can be found in museums and private collections around the world. He died in Shiraz in 1286 A.H./1869 C.E.

Qajar Prince Abu al-Fath Mirza Muayyad al-Davla (d. 1912)

Abu al-Fath Mirza Muayyad al-Davla was a Qajar prince who held a number of governorships. His father was Sultan Murad Mirza Husam al-Saltana, who likewise occupied a succession of government posts. He was married to Princess Afsar al-Davla, daughter of Nasir al-Din Shah by his first marriage, and was thus a brother-in-law of Kamran Mirza Naib al-Saltana, who was for many years governor of Tehran. His first appointment was to the governorship of Yazd in 1287 A.H./1870 C.E., followed by that of Isfahan a few years later; he held both these posts on behalf of his father. In 1293 A.H./1876 C.E. Husam al-Saltana was appointed governor of Kirmanshah and Kurdistan, and he delegated the administration of Kurdistan to his son. Muayyad al-Davla was transferred from Kurdistan to Zanjan in 1299 A.H./1881 C.E., where he remained for four years until a further move took him to Gilan. During his two years’ governorship of Gilan, he gave temporary refuge to the revolutionary Mirza Aqa Khan Kermani before he fled Iran for exile in Istanbul (Nazem-al-eslam Kermani, Tarikh-i bidari-i Iranian: Muqaddema, ed. ʿA. S. Sirjani, Tehran, 1346 /1967, p. 13). He was sporadically reappointed to the governorship of Gilan for the following five years, until in 1310/1893 when he was definitely reassigned to Khorasan. According to Muhammad Hasan Khan I’timad al-Saltana (Ruz-nama-i khatirat, ed. I. Afshar, 2nd ed., Tehran, 1971, p. 874), he established a strict government policy after his arrival in Mashhad, and the period of his governorship appears to have been marked by recurrent turbulence. Again according to I’timad al-Saltana (ibid., p. 951), he hoarded grain and imposed extortionate taxes. Despite his wife’s energetic intercession with Nasir al-Din Shah, he was dismissed from his post on 5 Muharram 1313/29 June 1895. In 1325/1907 he was appointed to the governorship of Fars. He died in 1912 and was buried in Qum.

Categories: Calligraphy & Miniatures

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Imperial Qajar Qur’an Copied For Nasir Al-Din Shah’s Son-In-Law Prince Muayyad Al-Davla (D. 1912)

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