پژوهشنامه مطالعات نسخ خطی
پیاپی 2 (بهار و تابستان 1402)

Nowadays, academic research is one of the topics that can have the potential to improve knowledge. Meanwhile, archival studies can be considered as among the areas that have not been given serious attention proportionate to their excellent research capacities. Using manuscripts, as one of the prominent scientific sources in science, is considered with different influence coefficients in each field. In the meantime, Islamic manuscripts have been the subject of relatively extensive research due to their content and apparent values. The present research is intended to answer a multi-faceted question as to how many of the university theses written in Iran have been based on manuscripts; the geographical dispersion (city-university); the field dispersion; the level of study dispersion and its chronology; in what way and, in the meantime, what approaches have prevailed in the use of manuscripts?

Research/Method Approach: 

The method of this research is descriptive-analytical and the sampling is conducted on the basis of two databases approved by the Ministry of Science and academic and research centers (IranDoc and National Library).

The findings indicate that 135 universities in 58 cities have undertaken to write 2707 theses, among which Tehran is ranked at the top with 22 centers. The fields benefiting from the manuscripts of 32 fields and Persian language and literature with 1160 theses have a noticeable distance from other fields. 2236 theses belong to the master's level and 471 theses belong to the doctoral level. From 1333 Sh/1954 AD to the fall of 1401 Sh/2022 AD, writing the thesis has annually undergone a significant difference, as one can refer to 1399 Sh/2020 AD with 246 theses and the 10 years, in which no theses were written focusing on manuscripts.

Examining the developments of sciences (exact sciences such as mathematics, astronomy, ‘ilm al-ḥabl (physics, mechanics), and natural sciences such as medicine, botany, and zoology) in the context of history has always been of interest to scientists. In the meantime, one of the important topics of astronomy and its branches is azyāj or the science of zīj (astronomical table), whose topic has been researched and written extensively about and has made the manuscripts of the history of science distinguished. This research is intended to identify and examine the content of the manuscripts of Islamic zījs in the Astan Quds Razavi library, and to analyze and compare the manuscripts of zīj and especially Zīj al-Shastke among other libraries in Iran and the region; and finally, to further clarify the impact of these Muslim scientists on the development and progress of these sciences.

Research Method/Approach: 

This research was conducted with a descriptive and analytical approach and based on library study of the manuscripts titled zīj in general and Zīj al-Shastke in Persian, Arabic and Urdu languages, which were extracted, identified, examined and researched ​​from among the collection of manuscripts on the subject of history of science (mathematics and astronomy, music and medicine) preserved in the library of Astan Quds Razavi.

According to the investigation and research done, out of 80 thousand manuscripts in the treasure of Astan Quds Razavi, 6124 manuscripts are on the subject of history of science (mathematics and astronomy, music and medicine, etc.) and 92 of them are under the general title of zīj. Of the 80,000 manuscripts in the Astan Quds Razavi treasure, there are 6124 manuscripts on the subject of the history of science (mathematics and astronomy, music and medicine, etc.). Through a study and comparison, it was clarified that the collection of ancient and exquisite manuscripts titled zīj in the Astan Quds Razavi libraries amounts to 92 copies; that is to say approximately 37% of all Iranian manuscripts are in the Astan Quds libraries. Also, out of the 18 manuscripts of zīj-i hurmuzĪ (Zīj al-Shastke) available in Iran, 11 of them are preserved in the libraries of Astan Quds. Out of these 11 Astan Quds copies (61% of the total), 5 copies of are of complete work and with two astronomical tables about congregation and welcoming the moon and the sun and seeing the crescent moon in Astan Quds, and the rest of the library copies are abridged and shortened versions of this work and are without astronomical tables. In the incomplete copies, the author's name is mistakenly recorded as Ḥasan bin Mūsā Hiravī and Mehri instead of Husayn bin Mūsā Hurmuzī; and it was clarified among the identified copies that a significant percentage of the exquisite and old copies with the title of zīj, including the oldest Zīj al-Shastke, with the transcribing date of 581 AH/1185 CE, are preserved in the library of Astan Quds Razavi.

Technical Term Network (TTN) is an innovative method to find similarities among texts through matching technical terms and the vocabulary used in them. This method, which is modeled after the semantic network of linguistics, is effective in finding the main sources of a book as well as recognizing the identity of an unknown text. This research is intended to take advantage of the features of the technical term network representation and use it to recognize the identity of a text that remains anonymous or has been wrongly identified. This method is also efficient in finding the similarities among texts in using technical terms, their frequencies, and chronological priorities.

Research Method/Approach: 

The present applied research has employed manuscript contents in the phase of collecting textual evidence with the library-documentary method, and has utilized qualitative and quantitative methods based on terminography in the phase of extracting technical terms and terminology. To this end, technical terms are collected from among the primary sources and after examining the evidence related to each one, the semantic separations are specified and the semantic network of each is delineated, and finally the technical term network is formed on the basis of an extensive and generalized semantic network. Based on the prevailing relationships between terms and resources, this technical term network represents them in a conceptual network. This method is applied in the purposeful collection of technical terms, classification, the discovery of links, and the relation of texts with each other, which makes catalogers and researchers needless of adapting the entire texts.

The treatises of mathematics, especially arithmetic, are very similar to each other due to their logical structure, and this sometimes causes faults in identifying the title and author of the work, considering some original Persian texts as being translations, or confusing works with similar content in cataloging manuscripts in such a way that in many cases, the mistakes mentioned above have been repeated by the researchers who rely on the information of the indexes. The present article examines an example of this deficiency in research and by using terminography and applying TTN, it tries to identify the main identity of the work. Relying on the single copy preserved in the library of the Center for the Great Islamic Encyclopedia, the work in question is registered under the title "Persian Translation of Talkhīṣ al-Miftāḥ" in the MSS catalogues; whereas, according to the investigations carried out in this research, claiming it to be a translation and attributing it to Ghīyāth al-Dīn Jamshīd Kāshānī's Talkhīṣ al-Miftāḥ is totally incorrect and disapproved. The mentioned manuscript is a brief part of Mullā ʿAlī Ghūshchī's Mīzān al-Ḥisāb, which is not properly identified due to many flaws and omissions in the text.

Iftikhārnāma-yi Ḥaydarī composed by Mīrzā Muṣtafā Iftikhār al-‘Ulamā, known as Ṣahbā-yi Āshtīyānī, is one of the most important religious epics in the Qajar era. Iftikhārnāma has 49 diptychs of paintings with the signature of "Mīrzā Naṣrullāh". These illustrations, which are executed with strong design and delicate and skillful penning, all have a story theme and are closely related to the theme and story of the written text and their analysis is very important in understanding the painting style of lithographic copies. This research tries to introduce the most important features of these illustrations.

Research Method/Approach: 

The present research has analyzed the illustrations of the only lithographic copy of Iftikhārnāma using the descriptive-analytical method and using the method of library studies and presented its conclusions using the qualitative content analysis.

By examining the illustrations in the book, it was found that all of them are related to religious themes and religious events and wars, and depiction of the impressive parts of the life of Imam Ali (A.S.). By making changes in religious painting and inspired by the text of Iftikhārnāma-yi Ḥaydarī, the illustrator has created very artistic, delicate and elaborate illustrations and has made ample use of the lithography industry to convey the religious concepts of Shi'a school. In these pictures, human figures are in the focus of attention. Conveyance of concepts that was carried out by paint prior to lithography has been carried out by script; therefore, outlining, delineating, thinness, thickness, darkness, and lightness of the scripts are extremely important in these illustrations. The main part of the text of each picture is devoted to the images of awliyā (the saints). The artistic painter represents the incidents and events that took place in the past, based on the natural factors that he experienced in the real world. For this reason, the figures of humans, the forms of the angels, the structures of the buildings, clothes and ornamental elements of the illustrations are in accordance with the traditions prevalent in the Qajar era.

The present research is intended to introduce and examine the condition of the manuscripts preserved in Sabzevar seminary. The research limits are the electronic archives and the repositories of two libraries of Fakhriya and Fasihiya seminaries.

Research Method/Approach: 

The present research is conducted by the tool of document-library collection and descriptive-analytical method and with an approach based on the tool of observing the original work.

The findings showed that more than two hundred volumes of manuscripts, with an antiquity of three hundred and fifty years, and more than one thousand volumes of lithographs are preserved in these libraries with no temperature, light and humidity control systems and even without any shelving, which are not catalogued either. An electronic archive has been prepared for all manuscripts with the cooperation of Astan Quds Razavi and Hakim Sabzevari University and the office of the reverend prayer leader of Sabzevar. However, no action has been taken so far concerning the lithographic manuscripts. Asking for the permission and consent of endowment trustee of these works, the high expenses of restoration and reconstruction, the need for a specialized librarian, and inappropriate storage place are among the most important challenges. According to the field observation, there are valuable and exquisite works in these small libraries, but the condition of preservation, management, and accessibility of people to manuscripts and lithographs in Fasihiya and Fakhriya libraries is not suitable and requires more attention from the authorities.

The present research is intended to investigate the process of legitimization of Safavid dynasty in the interaction between sultan and jurist or, in other words, to explain the process of Safavid rule’s turning legal-conventional with centrality of repentance.

Research method/approach: 

This writing is entirely based on the fundamental theory and the survey of those who have experienced this process. Accordingly, the present research, by simultaneous analysis and continuous comparison between the data during the research process and by relying on inductive thinking with an emphasis on creating concepts (Islamic rule, jurist, Sultan [just, unjust], justice, welfare, security, criminal law, the rights of Allah, the rights of people, enjoining good and forbidding evil, repentance, etc.) has established a relationship between these categories and by taking into consideration the comparative thinking simultaneous to them, has explained, supported, deduced and produced the theory proposed during the research process.

The principles of the legitimacy of the Safavid rule have been examined, with an emphasis on the documents of repentance left among the anthologies, manuscripts and stone edicts of the congregational mosques of the Safavid era. From among these, 4 cases are from the letters of repentance of Safavid kings, 4 cases are from the emirs and commanders of the Safavid army, and one case includes the repentance of the public. The process of compiling the Shi’a political jurisprudence following the efforts of Shi’a jurists and planning the principles of interaction with sultans, both unjust and just, upon the rise of the Shia Safavid rule, practically brought the jurists into a new phase concerning the implementation of the legal rulings of Shi’a jurisprudence. The jurisprudential-political theory proposed by some Safavid scholars such as Muḥaqqiq al-Karakī led to the formation of a new political-jurisprudential literature in the field of Shi’a political thought. One of these discourses, and in fact the most fundamental and the most important of them, which first led to the strengthening of the Safavid government and, prior to it, the strengthening of the political, legal and conventional status of the jurists and making the government more jurisprudential, is the discourse of repentance. Examining the status of repentance and the content classification of repentance documents shows that the process of writing repentance letters, especially after the repentance of the Safavid Shah Tahmasab I, remained as an official principle during the Safavid era and it is very likely that the history of repentance as a principle of avoiding sin has had a special place in all religions and initiation rites, but the expansion of this discourse from the era of the Ilkhanids onwards with the expansion of Sufism and the Sufi orders and the spread of mystical and Sufi texts has been effective in the examination of the documents of the letters of repentance. Besides, the outcomes of repentance in the society for people in the form of security and public interest plans have led to the issuance of a series of decrees comprising of various subjects such as the decrees of tax exemptions and decrees of prohibiting taboos such as drinking alcohol.

The present research is intended to investigate the role of Iranian women in transcribing manuscripts in the Qajar period.

Research method/approach: 

It was done by documentary-library method, through which 34 women scribes were identified. After a brief introduction of the female scribes, following questions have been reviewed and answered: the time interval between the scribes and the era of the authors of the transcribed manuscripts; the topics of the manuscripts that they have transcribed, the application and function of the manuscripts; the type of script and language of the transcribed works; the status and the scientific and familial credit of the scribes. Manuscripts handwritten by the author or, in other words, the works of the female researchers, which have the original manuscript, are out of the scope of this research and have not been mentioned.

The absence or lack of women's names in the field of transcribing and editing manuscripts does not mean that they did not have a role in this field; rather, this has been affected by the heavy shadow cast upon them by the government, culture and society, and ultimately by men and families in the past and has prevented the registration of their names and characters. Although in the Qajar period, women gradually enjoyed more personal and functional freedom and were granted more privileged social status compared to their past, but in the findings from the Qajar era, we still see this shadow. Besides, the humbleness and submissiveness of the scribes (even in male scribes) in the past have prevented them from writing their full names. They were either unwilling to mention their names or they considered the names of their fathers and ancestors above their own names, and women would also use such phrases as: ṣabiyya...; bint...; zan… (i.e., daughter of…; wife of…). In the findings of the research, we see scholarly and virtuous women who were allowed to transmit hadiths and narrations, female commentator or marginal annotator, calligraphers, and women who grew up in scholarly families and were the links for transmission of knowledge from the past generation to the future. On the other hand, topics such as literature, jurisprudence, and supplications have been of more interest to women writers; they have also taken more care and made more endeavor in transcribing the works of their families or their ancestors. The Arabic language enjoyed less frequency and popularity than the Persian language among the women of the Qajar era.

The most famous and most accessible work attributed to Nu‘mānī is his Kitāb al-Ghaibah, which was written by Nu‘mānī in the early period of Major Occultation and with the prolonged absence of the Hidden Imam (A.S.), and the advent of some doubts among the Shi’ites and was presented for solving this problem. Now, Kitāb al-Ghaibah is one of the important works whose manuscripts need to be compiled and indexed. Therefore, it should be queried: In what status is the number of the extant manuscripts of al-Ghaibah? Do the manuscripts of al-Ghaibah have important differences that can be separated and analyzed in a special way? What statistical information can be provided about the al-Ghaibah manuscripts?

Research Method/Approach:

 The present research has identified and examined different types of manuscripts of Kitāb al-Ghaibah using the descriptive-analytical method and by means of inductive strategy; and through genealogy of the manuscripts, and undertaken to analyze some of their data.

Upon examining the manuscripts, it became clear that the text of the manuscripts of this book are very different from one another and these differences are not merely minor typos; rather, they are different in terms of volume and number of hadiths and can be introduced into four structural groups and models. Furthermore, from among the 23 manuscripts of al-Ghaibah, twenty versions are in Iran and three versions are in Iraq; and except for one manuscript that is from the 6th century, all other manuscripts are from the 10th century onwards. Also, from among the twenty-two available manuscripts of al-Ghaibah in its different models, only 8 manuscripts are without omissions and defects. On the other hand, about half of the manuscripts are without the initial sanad of the manuscript; and the sanad of Abī al-Husayn Shujā’ī is also inauthentic and newly-written in all manuscripts having sanad.

It is necessary to examine the performance and publishing record of publications of the National Library and Archives of Iran (NLAI) in the field of manuscripts, as the most important written works of Iranian-Islamic culture and civilization, at three organizational, national and international levels. The aim of the present research is to investigate the role of the NLAI in providing information on Iranian-Islamic manuscripts at organizational, national and international levels based on the record of publications in the field of manuscripts.

Research Method/Approach: 

The present research is applied and conducted by survey method. The method of collecting data was documentary and library method, and the tool for collecting data was a checklist. In this research, sampling was not done and all the publications in the field of manuscripts from 1934 to 2019 published by: 1) Library Services Center, 2) Organization of Cultural Documents of the Islamic Revolution, 3) Ma'aref Public Library, 4) National Library of Iran, 5) Pahlavi National Library, 6) National Archives Organization of Iran, 7) National Library and Archives of Iran, were reviewed.

In general, 6 titles (8.57 percent) / 8 volumes (3.52 percent) of the publications of the Organization of Cultural Documents of the Islamic Revolution, two titles / volumes (100 percent) of the publications of the Ma'aref Public Library, 7 titles (6.19 percent)/ 40 volumes (11.8 percent) of the publications of the National Library of Iran, 2 titles (6.45 percent)/ 10 volumes (9.90 percent) of the publications of the Pahlavi National Library, 8 titles (11.59 percent)/ 16 volumes (17.77 percent) of the publications of the National Archives Organization of Iran, and 40 titles (11.04 percent)/169 volumes (25.03 percent) of the publications of the NLAI are in the field of manuscripts.It can be inferred from the conclusions of the findings and the publishing record of the NLAI that the publishing activity of this organization in the field of manuscripts is one of its important and main goals and tasks. Since the NLAI has collaboration agreements and conventions with hundreds of main great national and international organizations, educational and research institutions and domestic and foreign governmental and non-governmental organizations, focusing on organization, education and transmission of information on manuscripts, its publications on informing about Iranian-Islamic manuscripts have not been in an acceptable rank and with a rich profile in the national and international levels, it has not used the potential possibilities in this regard.

One of the Qur’ans preserved in the library of Astan Quds Razavi is a Qur’an transcribed in Eastern Kufic script, which was restored and bound in the 9th century AH in the art scriptorium of Timurid Ibrahim Sultan in Shiraz, and its handwriting is attributed to Imam Jaf‘ar Ṣādiq (A.S.). This copy was donated to the Holy Shrine of Imam Reza (A.S.) in the Safavid era and is now kept in Astan Quds Razavi Qur'an Museum. Examining the artistic features and the manuscript characteristics of this Qur’an is the main objective of this research, which is conducted in light of the following questions:What information does the general features and the information stored in the endowment deed, notes, and registrations provide about the history of this Qur’an?
What points do the codicological features, including the script, gilding, and the binding contain in order to identify the place of production of this Qur'an?

Research Method/Approach: 

This research is descriptive-case study.

The findings show that given the characteristics of the script, this manuscript belongs to a center that produced important manuscripts such as the Qur'an of ‘Alī Ibn Shādhān al-Rāzī (Chester Beatty Library), and the Qur'an no. 2224 (Astan Quds Razavi Library). However, the exact place of its production is not precisely guessable, and one can only guess the extent of the prevalence of that style in Rayy and Khurasan. Also, the simple form of its illumination, especially in the marginal marks, shows the approximate time of its production in the early 6th century AH. The oldest registration note recorded on the manuscript shows the year 1266 AH, whereas this Qur'an has been kept in the Holy Shrine of Imam Reza (A.S.) since 1008 AH, which shows that the Qur'ans attributed to Imams were not counted as among the conventional list of library Qur'ans until the middle of the 13th century and probably had a different control and counting system.