Rare and Important Indian Talismanic Shirt (Jama) With Qur’anic Verses and the Jawshan Al-kabeer - SOLD

Project Details

Rare and Important Indian Talismanic Shirt (Jama) With Qur’anic Verses and the Jawshan Al-kabeer – SOLD

North India or the Deccan, 17th-18th Century, Heigth: 72 cm., Width: 99.5 cm.

Cotton shirt inscribed with Qur’anic suras and the Jawshan al-Kabeer prayer in red and blue thuluth, red ghubar script, written in large panels on a green ground to arms, shoulders and lower section to front, reverse with large, symmetrically arranged foliate decoration on green ground. Its original bold colours highlight its strong design centred on quotations from the Qur’an, prayers, offering the promise of protection to its owner. The Bismillah (the first verse of the Holy Qur’an: “In the name of God the Merciful, the Compassionate”) in the middle in large, white thuluth followed by the first verse of Surat al-Fath from the Qur’an: “Indeed, We have given you, [O Muhammad], a clear conquest”. In her thesis on talismanic shirts Rose Evelyn Muravchick discusses the use of Qur’anic verses and the significance of the Surat al-Fath in talismanic shirts. Please see: Rose Evelyn Muravchick’s God is the Best Guardian: Islamic Talismanic Shirts from the Gunpowder Empires, University of Pennsylvania, 2014, p. 105. A 16th century Ottoman talismanic shirt which also bears verses from Surat al-Fath, in the Topkapi Palace Museum, is published in Hülya Tezcan’s Topkapı Sarayı Müzesi Koleksiyonundan Tılsımlı Gömlekler, İstanbul, 2011, p. 160. On the lower part are two of God’s names in monumental thuluth: “Yā Hannān (The one who is merciful to his servants) and Yā Mannān (the one who is tremendous in giving)”. The white, large thuluth inscriptions on the left and right shoulders read Yā Qādī al-Hājāt (Bestower of Desires). On the back the Surat al-Yasin from the Qur’an is written in thuluth script. The Jawshan al-Kabeer prayer is written both in the front and the back of the shirt in miniscule ghubar (dust) script. The 17th century collar, embroidered in red, green and corroded brown with typical Mughal floral designs. The scrolls with tulips on the front and those intertwined on the back of the shirt display Indian aesthetic. Similar scrolls decorated with tulips are found on the margin decoration of an album page

from Bijapur, circa 1590, published in Victoria and Albert Museum – Arts of India 1550-1900, London, 1990, p. 112. A comparable Indian talismanic shirt, in the same size, from the Metropolitan Museum (inv. no. 1998-199) has been dated to the end of the 15th, early 16th century. Please see: Stefano Carboni, Daniel Walker, and J. Kenneth Moore’s “Recent Acquisitions: A Selection, 1997–1998; Islam.” Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin vol. 56, no. 2 (1997–1998). p. 12, ill. (color). Also see: David Alexander and W. Pyhrr Stuart’s “In the Metropolitan Museum of Art.” in Islamic Arms and Armor, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2015. p. 14, ill. fig. 15 (color). Another talismanic shirt from India, dated to 16th or early 17th century, is in the Khalili Collection (inv. no. TXT 0471), in London. An earlier Ottoman shirt, with similar tulip decoration is in the Turkish and Islamic Arts Museum (inv. no. 539), Istanbul. Please see: Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts, Akbank, Istanbul, 2002, p. 248-49.

Talismanic shirts are found throughout the Islamic world and the earliest surviving examples are from the 15th century. In the Surat al-Yusuf of the Qur’an, a shirt of the Prophet Yusuf (Joseph) is described as providing him protection. He hands it over to his father Yaqub (Jacob) so it can heal his blindness. Talismanic shirts are usually inscribed with verses from Qur’an, names of God and of prophets and with numbers. They may carry images or symbols. The inscribed names of God are believed to be capable of offering protection and guidance to the owner. Although talismanic shirts can be worn to protect against many evils most of them seem to be intended as a shield in battle. These were believed to be imbued with protective powers and may have been meant to be worn under armour in battle. An important feature of this shirt is its small size. Almost all known examples including the rich collection in the Topkapi Palace Museum (Hülya Tezcan, Topkapı Sarayı Müzesi Koleksiyonundan Tılsımlı Gömlekler, TİMAS, Istanbul, 2011), are full sized. This shirt must have been made for a high-born youth, possibly a prince. Given the vulnerability of such shirts to damage it is extraordinary to find an example in such remarkable state of preservation.

Provenance:

Lieutenant Lachlan Forbes or Captain William Halliday
The talismanic shirt was brought to the UK by either Lieutenant Lachlan Forbes or Captain William Halliday.

Lieutenant Lachlan Forbes was serving in the Indian army at the time of the Indian Rebellion, in 1857. Colonel Malleson in his The History of the Indian Mutiny recorded that “a force commanded by Lachlan Forbes, fought against river piracy, against Rup Singh who had taken possession of a fort at Barhi, near the junction of the Chambal with the Jamnah”. Please see: Colonel Malleson’s The History of the Indian Mutiny of 1857-58: Vol 5, p. 215.

Captain William Halliday was also a military figure serving in the Indian army. He fought and died during the Siege of Cawnpore, part of the Indian Rebellion. Cawnpore was an important garrison town for the East India Company forces. Located on the Grand Trunk Road, it lay on the approaches to Sindh (Sind), Punjab and Awadh (Oudh). By June 1857, the Indian rebellion had spread to several areas near Cawnpore, namely Meerut, Agra, Mathura, and Lucknow. There is a collection of letters from William Halliday’s wife Emma Halliday in the India Office Library. For a brief account please see: http://www.britishempire.co.uk/forces/armycampaigns/indiancampaigns/mutiny/cawnporehalliday.htm

Categories: Notable Sales
Credits: Private UK Collection, since 1857.

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Rare and Important Indian Talismanic Shirt (Jama) With Qur’anic Verses and the Jawshan Al-kabeer – SOLD

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