What were the Mughals’ favourite books?

We are often asked about the Mughals’ favourite books. Unfortunately, there is no complete record of the contents of the Mughal Library, but John Seyller’s comprehensive survey in 1997 of manuscripts containing Mughal valuations and inscriptions (see below) gives a fairly good indication. A clear favourite was the Khamsah (“Five Poems”) written in Persian by Ni??m? (d.ca. 1202). Other very popular works were the Gulist?n (“Rose Garden”) and B?st?n (“Scented Garden”) by the well-known Persian poet Sa?d? (d.1291/92), the poems of J?m? (d. 1492) and of course, the D?v?n of ??fi? of Shiraz (d.ca. 1389). The British Library collections suggest similar conclusions, with several fine examples of Mughal copies of these works.

In a recent post (“A Jewel in the Crown”), I wrote about what was probably the most highly regarded imperial copy of Ni??m? ’s Khamsah (“Five Poems”). However, an equally beautiful example is Or.12208,  which was copied for Akbar between 1593 and 1595 by ?Abd al-Ra??m, one of the most celebrated calligraphers of his day. It originally contained 42 illustrated folios (two double-page illustrations), five of which are now in the Walters Art Museum, Baltimore; the remaining 37 are still intact in the manuscript. Altogether 22 different artists contributed to this work, all of whom were Hindu painters except for ?Abd al-?amad, who came to India from Iran with the Emperor Humayun in 1555.

The D?v?n of ??fi?

Examples of two elegant copies of the D?v?n of ??fi? (Or.14139 and Or.7573) were given in our most recent post. A third (Grenville XLI) probably dates from between 1600 and 1605. Folio 3r contains a note, possibly by Jahangir, saying that the work was completed at Allahabad where he held court as Prince Salim. Another note, by Shah Jahan, records that it entered his library on the day of his accession on 25 Bahman [corresponding to 8 Jum. II] 1037 (February 14, 1628, a similar note occurs in Or.6810 which you can see here).

Sa?d?’s Gulist?n and B?st?n

This copy of the Gulist?n was copied in 975 (1567/68) by the calligrapher M?r ?Al? ?usayn?, who describes himself in the colophon as a royal scribe (al-k?tib al-sul??n?) at the capital (d?r al-khil?fah), Bukhara (Uzbekistan). Assuming that this is the genuine work of the famous master M?r ?Al?, it is the latest dated example of his work by 20 years (Thackston, pp. 154-55). Between 1531 and 1547/48, M?r ?Al? copied several notable manuscripts in Bukhara which subsequently passed into Mughal ownership (see John Seyller’s article below), including another Gulist?n, which was copied for Sul??n ?Abd al-?Az?z Bah?dur Kh?n (ruled 1540-1549).

The miniatures in the British Library Gulist?n include six Bukhara-style paintings which were commissioned apparently at Akbar’s request (see dedicational inscriptions on ff. 30r and 91r). Four of these are ascribed to the artist Shaykhm Muzahhib – possibly Shaykhm, son of Mull? Y?suf al-Harav?, one of the painters of Raw?at al-Mu?ibb?n, also partially copied by M?r ?Al? (see Seyller below, p. 339). The manuscript was “‘improved” again in Jahangir’s reign when seven more paintings were added, probably between 1605 and 1609.

From Sa?d?’s B?st?n. Illustration by an unnamed artist depicting a story illustrating the advantages of silence: an old man interferes and breaks up a mixed-race courtship, only to be severely reprimanded by the girl afterwards (Add.27262, f. 129r.).  

Sa?di’s verses were also often used as examples of calligraphy. Examples by the last Mughal ruler, Bahadur Shah “Zafar” (r. 1837-1857), and his eldest son Mirza Darabakht (1790–1849) can be seen in an earlier post “A 19th century album of imperial calligraphy”.

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