Qarajaghay Khan Shahnama

The Windsor Shahnama is a large and marvelously illustrated book of epic of Persian King measuring 460 by 280 mm. The manuscript compromises 756 folios in fine nasta `lig script by Muhammad Hakim al-Husayni, in four columns of twenty-two lines to the page, occupying a space of 256 by 160mm. The manuscript is richly decorated and illuminated with wide margins throughout the volume with border design(in gold) of animals, birds and very delicate branches of flowers and plants. The manuscript was presented to Queen Victoria in 1839 by sultan of Heart, as a gift in response to the British backing of Afghan troupes against Iranian forces who had held siege of Kabul and were trying to make it part of their territory. Windsor Shahnama of 1648(corresponding to 1058 A. H.) is a complete book of epic of Persian Kings which has been supported and commissioned outside Royal Library workshops (ketabkhaneh) by Qarajaghay Khan, governor of Khurasan. The manuscript is illustrated with 148 very fine miniature paintings. As it is customary with traditional Persian painting, none of the miniatures is signed and there is no name of its possible illustrators in the frontispiece. The only exception is the episode Barzu and Afrasiyab lassoing one another, in which the name of Muhammad Yusuf can be decipher in lower part of the painting. However, Mr. B. W. Robinson and Dr. Eleanor Sims and Manijeh Bayani believe that major artists of this manuscript are Muhammad Yusuf and Muhammad Qasim, prominent painters of Isfehan School of late Safavid period. As far as structure, composition and technique, applied to these miniatures is concerned, there is a clear and close resemblance between Qarajaghay Khan Shahnama and Rashida Shahnama, of the same period, preserved in Golestan Palace Library, Tehran. In this paper Qarajaghay Khan Shahnama will be introduced and its relationship with Rashida Shahnama will be comparatively examined.Windsor Shahnama of 1648(corresponding to 1058 A. H.) is a complete book of epic of Persian Kings which has been supported and commissioned outside Royal Library workshops (ketabkhaneh) by Qarajaghay Khan, governor of Khurasan. The manuscript is illustrated with 148 very fine miniature paintings. As it is customary with traditional Persian painting, none of the miniatures is signed and there is no name of its possible illustrators in the frontispiece. The only exception is the episode Barzu and Afrasiyab lassoing one another, in which the name of Muhammad Yusuf can be decipher in lower part of the painting. However, Mr. B. W. Robinson and Dr. Eleanor Sims and Manijeh Bayani believe that major artists of this manuscript are Muhammad Yusuf and Muhammad Qasim, prominent painters of Isfehan School of late Safavid period. As far as structure, composition and technique, applied to these miniatures is concerned, there is a clear and close resemblance between Qarajaghay Khan Shahnama and Rashida Shahnama, of the same period, preserved in Golestan Palace Library, Tehran. In this paper Qarajaghay Khan Shahnama will be introduced and its relationship with Rashida Shahnama will be comparatively examined.