The Windsor ''Shahnameh'' or ''Shahnameh'' of Qarajaghay Khan () is an illustrated manuscript of the ''

Shahnameh The ''Shahnameh'' (, ), also transliterated ''Shahnama'', is a long epic poem written by the Persian literature, Persian poet Ferdowsi between and 1010 CE and is the national epic of Greater Iran. Consisting of some 50,000 distichs or couple ...

'', the

national epic A national epic is an epic poem or a literary work of epic scope which seeks to or is believed to capture and express the essence or spirit of a particular nation—not necessarily a nation state, but at least an ethnic or linguistic group wi ...

Greater Iran Greater Iran or Greater Persia ( ), also called the Iranosphere or the Persosphere, is an expression that denotes a wide socio-cultural region comprising parts of West Asia, the South Caucasus, Central Asia, South Asia, and East Asia (specifica ...

. It is one of the most famous manuscripts of the ''Shahnameh'', dating from 1648. The painters are Muhammad Qasim and Muhammad Yusuf. The miniatures of this ''Shahnameh'' are very similar to the miniatures of the ''Shahnameh'' of Rashida, and therefore it has been suggested that these manuscripts have been prepared by the same painters. The Windsor ''Shahnameh'' contains 148 or 149 miniatures and is written in

Nastaʿlīq script ''Nastaliq'' (; ; ), also romanized as ''Nastaʿlīq'' or ''Nastaleeq'' (), is one of the main calligraphic hands used to write Arabic script and is used for some Indo-Iranian languages, predominantly Classical Persian, Kashmiri, Punjabi a ...

by Mohammad Hakim Hosseini to the order of

Qarachaqay Khan Qarachaqay Khan (; died 1625) was a military commander in Safavid Iran of Armenian origin. He was known for his great collection of porcelain items and loyal service to Shah Abbas I. Qarachaqay Khan was killed while commanding an expedition again ...

(one of the commanders-in-chief of

Abbas I of Persia Abbas I (; 27 January 1571 – 19 January 1629), commonly known as Abbas the Great (), was the fifth Safavid shah of Iran from 1588 to 1629. The third son of Shah Mohammad Khodabanda, he is generally considered one of the most important rulers i ...

). It is in very good condition compared to other manuscripts of the ''Shahnameh''. It is not clear how and when this version of the ''Shahnameh'' was acquired by

Ahmad Shah Durrani Ahmad Shāh Durrānī (; ; – 4 June 1772), also known as Ahmad Shāh Abdālī (), was the first ruler and founder of the Durrani Empire. He is often regarded as the founder of modern Afghanistan. Throughout his reign, Ahmad Shah fought ov ...

and subsequently his heir, Kamran Shah. In 1839, the Windsor ''Shahnameh'' was presented to

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...

by Kamran Shah, for her support of the Afghans against the

Qajar dynasty The Qajar family (; 1789–1925) was an Iranian royal family founded by Mohammad Khan (), a member of the Qoyunlu clan of the Turkoman-descended Qajar tribe. The dynasty's effective rule in Iran ended in 1925 when Iran's '' Majlis'', conven ...

. The manuscript is now in the

Royal Collection The Royal Collection of the British royal family is the largest private art collection in the world. Spread among 13 occupied and historic List of British royal residences, royal residences in the United Kingdom, the collection is owned by King ...

and usually in the library at

Windsor Castle Windsor Castle is a List of British royal residences, royal residence at Windsor, Berkshire, Windsor in the English county of Berkshire, about west of central London. It is strongly associated with the Kingdom of England, English and succee ...

References

External links

www.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk

The ''Shahnamah'' 1648
{{Shahnameh Manuscripts of Shahnameh Books in the Royal Collection of the United Kingdom