Ancient Manuscript Review 11 : Antique Mughal Quran ( 250 years old)

This is a beautiful old handwritten Quran originated from India during Mughal area. The first 2 pages & the last 2 pages are heavily illuminated with gold water and various colors. Text written in Naskh within golden border with colorful ornaments in the margin. Undated but from the design it's estimated about 250 years old.


Manuscript Specs

Item : A Handwritten Mughal Quran
Content : A complete Quran
Dim : 7.5" x 4.5" x 2"
Date : Undated but believed to be about 250 years old ( Mughal area).
Copyist : anonymous
Origin : India
Calligraphy : Naskh
Design : Text written in Naskh script on Arabic paper with vowel & diacritical signs in black and red. 15 lines per page. Leather cover was newly bound.
Purchased Price :USD

Ancient Manuscript Review 10 : Al Azkar Imam Nawawi ( 667 AH )

This is a book titled Al Azkar written by Imam Nawawi. The text was written on thick old Arabic paper in Sudani script. I couldn't confirm the origin of this manuscript however this script is very popular in West Africa. I purchased this manuscript from a friend in Lebanon. All pages are loose and originally without cover.

Manuscript Specs

Item : A complete Al Azkar An Nawawi
Content : Prayers book
Dim : 8" x 6" x 1"
Date : 667 AH ( 1268 CE)was written on the last page however this date is copied from the original manuscript. Since the origin of this manuscript from Africa, I believe this manuscript was copied few centuries later.
Copyist : anonymous
Origin : Probably West Africa
Calligraphy : Sudani
Design : Text written in Sudani script on Arabic paper without vowel & diacritical signs. Some words in red. 25 lines per page. Loose pages. Wrapped with leather cover.
Purchased Price :USD

Ancient manuscript Review 09 : Somalia Quran ( 1249 AH )

At last I managed to have these 7 volume of full Quran from Somalia!! I used to have similar set but was confiscated by Abu Dhabi custom. Alhamdulillah these one were approved by Ministry of Information and released by Dubai custom.Thanks to my friend, D, from Somalia who has managed to acquire these books for me.

This Quran consists of 7 books.I still couldn't figure what type of script written. Is it a Sudani script ( from a Maghribi Script) or is it a twisted form of Naskh script. I need to do more research.

There is a colophone at the end of one of these books mentioning the date as 23 Rejab 1249 Ah ( December 1833 CE).

Manuscript Specs

Item : A Somalian complete Quran in 7 books
Content : Quran written in Naskh ( or Sudani) with vowel & diacritical signs.The world " Allah" in red. 11 lines per page
Dim : 9" x 7" x 1" ( 7 books in total)
Date : 23 Rejab 1249 AH ( December 1833 CE)
Copyist : anonymous
Origin : Somalia
Calligraphy : Naskh or Sudani
Design : leather.
Purchased Price :USD

Ancient Manuscript Review 08 : Mini handwritten Quran ( 1268AH)

This is one of miniature Qurans in my collections. The size is 3.5" x 2.5" x 1.5". I acquired this Quran recently from a friend in India. This Quran originally belonged to elderly couples who live in Rajputna ( Rajastan). The Quran has 2 first pages & the last page illuminated. The colophone dated this Quran to 1268 AH ( 1852 C.E)with anonymous copyist.




Manuscript Specs

Item : Indian Miniature Handwritten Quran
Content : A complete Quran written in Naskh without vowel & diacritical signs. 19 lines per page within a gold frame & red border
Dim : 3.5" x 2.5" x 1.5"
Date : Rabiul Akhir 1268 AH ( March 1852 CE)
Copyist : anonymous
Origin : North India
Calligraphy : Naskh
Design : cloth wrapped hard cover.
Purchased Price :USDsm

Antique miniature Quran

At last I received today my antique miniature Quran. I will try to upload the pictures later today. Its totally different than my other mini Qurans.I was a bit worried last time as my other antique Qurans from Africa got held up in Dubai custom so I thought this mini Quran will also be questioned. Alhamdulillah it passed through. Now I am waiting a call from Dubai custom in regards to the fate of my Somalian Qurans.

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Sept Update

Ramadhan is over. My life is rolling back to its course. Few things happened this month. I purchased 1 dated mini Quran from India. It is different than my other mini Quran. All pages is gold gilded. I cant wait to receive it probably next week. Price....quite expensive. I paid double this time compared to my other Octo mini Quran ( see the spec under manuscript).Once receive the Quran I will display it in here. Also, earlier last week, I have a chat with my friend who is an artist. He told me about his works and his exhibitions. It is very inspiring!! I have a thought of putting up an exhibition to display my old manuscripts & coins and my calligraphy. My first step towards that was purchasing a framing tool!! I will explain about this tool and post the picture later. Last but not least is that I have sold 3 old Quran manuscripts to my friend in Saudi Arabia. He is also a collector and he has good intention of putting up an exhibition in his city. So I can resist his request to purchase my manuscripts though I had no intention ever to sell them.

Coin Arrival

Today just received my coin purchased from Ebay. Its coin from era Constantine I. I will post the picture later and a bit of history behind this ruler. This is a prominent ruler who shaped the Christianity.

Ancient Manuscript Review 07 : Antique Handwritten Muhammadiah - Sufism ( 970 AH / 1562 CE)

This is a manuscript on Muhamadiyah ( Sufism). Written by Hafiz Abdul Rahman Musa and copied by Katib Mahmud bin Haji Ahmad in 970AH ( 1562AD). it is a complete manuscript written in nice Naskh script. Dim 210 x 150mm. This is one of the oldest manuscripts in my possesion. With a gold illuminated miniature in one of the pages, making this manuscript priceless. Brown leather cover. Origin Middle East. The leather binding is recent but from another old manuscript cover. The original cover of this manuscript is hardcover and not leather. I had the binding replaced during my visit in Istanbul in 2010.

Ancient Coin Review 28 : Heraclius - Byzantine Emperor ( 610-641 CE)

This is Heraclius-Small Follis from Constantinople A bronze follis, 18mm, 3.40 grams, of Heraclius, struck at Constantinople 627/628 AD. Heraclius, his young wife (and niece!)Martina and his son standing facing, each wearing crown and chlamys and holding globus cruciger in right hand.
Large M, monogram to left, regnal year 18, (gamma)/CON. Sear, Byzantine Coins,808, Dumbarton Oaks 102. Fine, brown patina. Overstruck on an earlier half follis.

The coin was minted struck during the time of Heraclius, the famous Byzantine emperor. He has been ruling from 610 -641 AD. He lived during the time of Prophet Muhammad (saw). On 628 AD, Prophet Muhammad (saw) has sent him a letter inviting him to Islam. Unfortunately he refused but treated the letter with respect. In contrast to King of Persia, Khusro Parwez who ripped off similar invitation letter from the Prophet sent in the same year.

Byzantine emperor (r.610-41) who came to the throne in a period of crisis precipitated by Avar and Persian invasions. Reorganization of the military administration enabled Heraclius to drive the Avars out of the Balkans and the Persians out of Syria, but only after enduring a siege of Constantinople in 626. By the time of his death in 641, Greek had replaced Latin as the empire's official language and the Byzantine period had begun.

Chronology


575 AD : Heraclius was born to Carthage & Epiphania
608 AD : Heraclius led a troop to Constantinople to curb rebels
Joined force with his cousin, Nicetas. Captured Cyenaica and Egypt.
Phocas beheaded.
610 AD : Became emperor on October 5th.
Married to Fabia and had a daughter, Eudocia & a son, Heraclius Constantine.
612 AD : Wife, Fabia died of epilepsy.
613 AD : Heraclius married his niece, Martina.
His marriage was never received favourably by his people or the church.

King Chosroes of Persian, launced series of attack on Byzantine Empire.
Heraclius lost Damascus to Persian.
614 AD : Persian invaded Jerusalem, destroyed the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and captured the Holy Cross.
619 AD : Persian invaded Egypt

Heraclius signed a peace treaty with Avars of West.
622 AD : Heraclius started a campaign of expanding Byzantine territory. Invaded Armenia and several Persian territories.
626 AD : Persian attacked Constantinople from east with Avars, Slavs & Bulgars from west. Heraclius defeated the enemies.
627 AD : Heraclius defeated Persian at Nineveh.
King Chosroes was deposed and his son, Kavadh-Siroe signed treaty with Heraclius.
628 AD : Prophet Muhammad (saw) sent Invitation letter to heraclius.

“In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful. This letter is from Muhammad the slave of Allah and his Apostle to Heraclius, the ruler of the Byzantines. Peace be upon him who follows the right path. Furthermore, I invite you to Islam and if you become a Muslim you will be safe, and Allah will double your reward, and if you reject this invitation of Islam you will be committing a sin by misguiding your subjects. And I recite to you Allah's statement:
“O People of the Scriptures! Come to a word common to you and us that we worship none but Allah and that we associate nothing in worship with Him, and that none of us shall take others as Lords beside Allah. Then if they turn away, say: Bear witness that we are Muslims (those who have surrendered to Allah). (Qur’an: Surah 3, Ayah 64).”

630 AD : Heraclius travelled to Jerusalem and returned the Holy Cross to the city.
634 AD : Khalid Al Walid invaded Syria & defeated Theodore, Heraclius’s brother.
636 AD : War of Yarmuk occurred on 20th August resulted in a Muslim Victory.
638 AD : Heraclius supported Monotheletism ( by Sergius ) and put an edict known as Ekthesis in the narthex of Hagia Sophia. Opposed by the Orthodox, the Monophysites and Church of Rome.
641 AD : Heraclius died and left the throne to his sons Heraclius Constantine and Heraclonas, to rule jointly with Martina.

Ancient Coin Review 27 : King Khusro II - Sassanid Empire ( 591-628 CE)

Date ......... 591-628
Ruler........... Khursu II
Condition.............. gF-VF
Mint Mark................ Gl
Province.............. Guey
Regnal year.............. 37
Approx. diameter............. 1 - 1 1/8 inches
Approx. weight in grams............... 4 grams


Obverse
HWSRWD = Khusro (Name of the ruler)
Ideogram GDH
Word PZWT means “ Khusro, may his splendour increase”
AFD in outer margin means “Praise”
GD = Guey ( a mint city in Isfahan )
HPTSYH = 37 ( Regnal year)

The coin was minted in 626 AD during the time of Khusru II ( known as Khusro Parveez by the Arabs), the great Persian Emperor ( Iran ). He ruled Persia from 591 – 628 A.D. During the his invasion of Palestine from Roman, he seized the Holy Cross and brought it to Persia. He was also the one whom tore the “daawa” letter from the Prophet Muhammad (saw) in 628 AD in arrogance. Not long later he was defeated and his reign banished.

Sassanid Empire

Family name of the dynasty that rules Iran from 224-642 AD. They claim to be descended from the ancient Persian empire of the Achaemenids (559-330 BC).

Family Background
Khusro was the fourth son of Hormouz IV and the grandson of Khusro I ( Anushirwan The Just ). Due to some political situations, he had to flee from his country and Rome’s older King had helped him at that time and kept him like a son. Khusro II was married to the King’s daughter. He ascended the throne after the murder of his father in 591 A.D.

Personality
According to Tabri, Khusro II was the most prudent far-sighted emperor of Persia. Deeds of valor, exploits of victory, abundance of wealth, stroke of luck and favourable circumstances had so bunched up during his reign. It was for these reasons that he came to be known as Pervez which meant victorious in Arabic. ( Tarikh Tabri, Vol. II, (Egypt) , p. 137)
The reign of Khusro II was characterised by the wasteful splendour and lavishness of the court. He was so fond of amassing wealth and artefacts. In the 13th year of his reign, he had 830 million Mithqals of gold in his exchequer.

Chronology
591 AD : Enthronement of Khusro Parvez as Chosroes II after the
death of his father Hormouz.
604 AD : Started campaign to invade Byzantine.
611 AD : Heraclius offered a peaceful treaty with Khusro but the
latter rejected.
614 AD : Captured Damascus, Iraq and Jerusalem. He stole Holy Cross
from Jerusalem and brought it to Ctesiphon. Permitted Jews
to rebuild Temple Mount
625 AD : Heraclius invading Sassanian territory.
628 AD : Prophet Muhammad (saw) sent Daawa letter to Khusro. The
letter was torn and thrown. (The letter was dispatched
after returned from Hudaibiah Treaty in Zulkaedah 6H/628 AD)
628 AD : Imprisoned and killed by his son, Shiroe


Events in 626 AD ( 4H/5H)
- Bilal Ibn Harithe (RA) brought 400 people from Banu Muzeena to
prophet to embrace Islam. ( Rejab 5H)
- Hussain (RA) birthday on 5th Syaaban 4H ( 9 Jan 626 AD)
- Battle Banu Mustalaq and ayat of Tayamum was revealed on 2nd
Syaaban 5 H (26 Dec 626 AD)
- Prophet married to Ummu Salamah in Syawal 4H ( March 626 AD)
- Ghazwah Zatur Raqa’ on 10th Muharram 5 H
- Ghazwah Dumatul Jundal on Rabiul Awal 5 H

Ancient Manuscript Review 06 : Antique Handwritten Prayer Manuscript from Mali Africa ( 17th Century)

 

 This is a small prayer book written in Arabic. No title but the content consists of some Quranic verses and prayers. Undated but probably late 17th century to early 18th century. Origin from Mali Africa.
Similar manuscript can be found in British Library in below link
Mali Manuscript in British Library

Ancient Manuscript Review 05 : Antique Handwritten Malay Prayer Manuscript ( 18th-19th century)

This is a small prayer book written in Arabic and Malay. No title but the content consists of some Quranic verses, teachings on Islamic practices and prayers. Undated but probably late 18th century to early 19th century. Origin from Malaysia or Indonesia. However from the book IlluminationsThe writing Traditions of Indonesia, the first page illumination is very much similar to manuscript written from Aceh ( page 87 - 91).

 

 

 

Manuscript Specs

Item : Prayers Manuscript
Content : Selective prayers
Dim : 5.5" x 4" x 0.25"
Date : 19th century
Copyist : anonymous
Origin : Malaysia/Indonesia
Calligraphy : Malay Script
Design : 9 lines written in Malay script without border
Purchased Price :US

Indian-Persian Qurans

Alhamdulillah. Today I acquired 6 pieces of old handwritten Quran from my Pakistan dealer. Each and every one of them has different design and illumination. I have paid for 2 of them but the rest I have to make some installments. They are so old yet beautiful.

Ancient Coin Review 26 : Kelantan Sultanate Pitis ( Sultan Muhammad IV - 1900 - 1920 CE)

This is a tin coin from Sultan Muhammad IV era of Kelantan Sultanate. He became the sixth sultan in 1900 CE. During his reign, the transfer of Kelantan to the Straits Settlements Government in 1909 has caused the issue of all pitis or keping discontinued.

Circular tin coin ( pitis / keping) under the rule of Kelantan Sultan Muhammad IV( 1900-1920 CE) minted in 1321AH = 1904 CE.

Obverse : Belanjaan Kerajaan Kelantan = Currency of Kelantan Govt.
Reverse : Duriba fi Dhul' Hijja Sanat 1321 = minted in Dhul Hijja year 1321 AH
Weight : 3.60 gm
Dim : 21mm
Rarity : Common ( ref SS24 pg 225)

Ancient Coin Review 25 : Kelantan Sultanate Pitis ( Sultan Muhammad IV - 1900-1920 CE)

This is a tin coin from Sultan Muhammad IV era of Kelantan Sultanate. He became the sixth sultan in 1900 CE. During his reign, the transfer of Kelantan to the Straits Settlements Government in 1909 has caused the issue of all pitis or keping discontinued.

This is a quite scarce coin as I havent seen a lot of them in the market. I have seen though a lot of counterfeit coins and even used to have one of them. It looks alike as in SS22 with 4 dots in place of cross.

Though this coin is listed as common in Krause catalog but an expert in Zeno.ru said in regard to this ,
"Krause catalogue is absolutely useless reference for Malay islamic coins. Prices there are also just random. Many of coins there are drastically overvalued, while even more are critically undervalued. Besides, many of these "common" coins are impossible to locate."


Circular tin coin ( 10 keping) under the rule of Kelantan Sultan Muhammad IV( 1900-1920 CE) minted in 1321AH = 1904 CE.

Obv: Belanjaan Kerajaan Kelantan Sepuloh Keping,10 = Currency of the govt Kelantan Ten Keping,10
Rev:Sunia fi Dhul Hijja Sanat 1321= Issued in Dzul Hijja year 1321AH
Weight : 13.90 gm
Dim : 31mm
Rarity : Scarce ( ref SS21 pg 223)

Ancient Coin Review 24 : Kelantan Sultanate Pitis ( Sultan Mansur - 1891 - 1900 CE)

This is a tin coin from Sultan Mansur era of Kelantan Sultanate. He became the fifth sultan in 1891 CE.

Circular tin coin ( pitis / keping) under the rule of Kelantan Sultan Mansur( 1891-1900 CE) minted in 1314AH = 1896 CE.

Obv:Adim Mulkahu Belanjaan Kerajaan Kelantan = Permanent be the prosperity of the currency of the state of Kelantan
Rev:Sunia fi jumadal Awal Sanat 1314= Issued in Jamadil Awal year 1314 AH
Weight : 4.90 gm
Dim : 29mm
Rarity : Common ( ref SS14 pg 221)

Ancient Coin Review 23 : Kelantan Sultanate Pitis ( Sultan Muhammed II - 1838-1886 CE)

This is a tin coin from Sultan Muhammed II era of Kelantan Sultanate. He became the second sultan in 1838 CE.

Circular tin coin ( pitis / keping) under the rule of Kelantan Sultan Muhammed II ( 1838-1886 CE) minted in 1300AH = 1883 CE.

Obverse : Dama Sama Mulka Daulat Kelantan =Permanent be the prosperity of Kelantan
Reverse : Duriba fi Jumada'l akhir sanat 1300=Minted in Jumada'l Akhir year 1300AH Weight : 3.80 gm
Dim : 28mm
Rarity : Common ( ref SS11 pg 220)

Ancient Coin Review 22 : Sultan Ahmad ( Samudra-Pasai Sultanate 1270-1295CE)

This one of earliest small coins or masakas during the time of Sultan Ahmad.

Obv : Ahmad Abdul "Wahid ?"
Rev: AsSultan Al Adil


Weight, g: 0.30
Size, mm: 6
Date: 15th century
Denomination: 1/2 kupang or Masakas

Ancient Coin Review 21 : Sultan Abdullah ( Pasai Sultanate 1501-1513 CE)

Indonesia, Pasai Sultanate situated north of Sumatera Abdullah Malik Az Zahir reigned from 1501-1513AD.
Pasai, also known as Samudera and Samudera-Pasai sometimes called Samudera Darussalam was a Muslim harbour kingdom on the north coast of Sumatra from the 13th to the 15th centuries CE. It was believed the word Samudera derived from Samudra meaning ocean in Sanskrit. According to Hikayat Raja-raja Pasai, it was said Merah Silu saw an ant as big as a cat, he caught it and ate it and he named the place Samandara. King Merah Silu later converted to Islam, known as Malik ul Salih, he was the sultan in year 1267 CE.
The Portuguese occupied Pasai in 1521, 10 years after their conquest of Malacca. Through the Portuguese, the place become known in Europe as Pacem.[2] Later, the Acehnese took control of Pasai.

Obv: AsSultan Al Adil
Rev: Abdullah Malik AzZah

Weight, g: 0.61gm
Size, mm: 10mm
Date: 1501-1513AD
Denomination: Kupang