Khamsa-i-Nizami – Beheram Gur in White Palace

22.3225 (332 folio)

Khamsa-i-Nizami – Beheram Gur in White Palace

22.3225 (332 folio)

Description

Sir Ratan Tata Art Collection.

Script – Nastaliq,
language – Persian.

The Khamsa-i-Nizami is a masnavi (collection of poems) by poet Nizami. A famous classic of Persian literature, it consists of five poems: Makhnul Asarar (not dated), Khusru-wa Shirin (1584 CE), Haft Paikar (1584 CE), Laila Majnu (1583 CE), and Sikandar Nama (not dated). Among these, only Haft Paikar is extensively illustrated.

Haft Paikar is the story of Prince Behram, the son of Yazdegar, King of Persia. He was an expert in the game of hunting and achieved the title Gur – wild ass – after killing a fighting lion and wild ass with one arrow. Later he married seven beautiful princesses from different countries. He then ordered his most talented architect Shideh to build a palace for each of the seven princesses. Shideh, true to his abilities, built seven palaces with different coloured domes constructed according to the positions of the planets and their respective colours. Behram decided to visit the princesses one by one according to the day of the week, and requested each of them to tell him a story.

The seven stories told by seven princesses reflect seven different stages in the philosophical journey of human life. Behram first visits the princess in the black pavilion, which symbolizes the mystery of God hidden by the veil of ignorance. His journey ends at the palace of Princess Diroste,. which is white, a symbol of divine purity and unity.

The colophon pages of the manuscript do not mention the name of the scribe. However, the notes in Persian before the beginning of the second and third masnavi give information about the owner of the book in a later period. It seems that in the mid-17th century this book was in the possession of a Mughal noble who took it with him on the expedition to Kandahar led by Prince Muhammad Aurangzeb. The study of these notes yields very interesting information about the movements of the royal army and the distances covered.

Collection

Indian Miniature Paintings

Object Type

Manuscript Miniature Painting

Material

Ink and opaque watercolour on paper

Schools/Culture/Period

Deccani

Technique

--

Date

AH 992 = 1584 CE

Location

Deccani (provenance uncertain)

Dimension

Folio 21.7 x 16.3 cm, painting 6.1 x 12.5 cm