Organised by
Iran Heritage Foundation
Date
Tuesday 2nd September 2015, 6.30pm
Location
Cavendish Conference Centre, 22 Duchess Mews, London W1G 9DT
Description
The British Library’s collections hold numerous manuscripts of Sa‘di’s works, several of which are distinguished for their literary rarity, refined artistic quality, and notable provenance. This paper studies one such fine manuscript, specifically a Bustan (BL Add.27262) produced on a large scale, embellished with elaborate borders, illumination, illustrations, and contemporaneous covers. Transcribed in bold nasta‘liq calligraphy by Hakim Rukna, the manuscript was either commissioned by or presented as a gift to Emperor Shah Jahan I (r. 1628-1658) alongside a copy of the Gulistan copied earlier by the same calligrapher.
Painted with the minute details and brilliant colours associated with deluxe courtly productions, the illustrations (ten in total) are marked by numerous peculiarities, such as the reintroduction of compositional and coloristic archaisms, as well as confining illustrations to an unusually narrow horizontal format that privileges the surrounding calligraphy over areas of painting. The predominant impression is that the illustrations were of secondary importance to the overall design. Considered the most significant clues for determining the manuscript’s status as either an imperial commission or sub-imperial gift, the illustrations have hitherto commanded the most attention.
This paper concentrates on the career of the Bustan’s calligrapher, Hakim Rukna. A native of Kashan who began his career at the court of Shah ‘Abbas I in Iran, the polymath physician, also a talented poet, later joined the Emperor Jahangir, where he quickly ingratiated himself among the highest circles of power. With the aid of contemporary court histories, biographies, and Hakim Rukna’s own poetry, this paper questions whether the Bustan manuscript was intended purely as an amateur artistic exercise or a bid to secure favour in the eyes of the aesthete Shah Jahan. Whether or not the project fulfilled its objectives in the end, the ‘Hakim Rukna’ Bustan remains one of the British Library’s finest manuscripts. It has been digitised, along with other important manuscripts, as part of the Persian Manuscripts Digitisation Project which is part-funded by the Iran Heritage Foundation (Digital Access to Persian Manuscripts)
Painted with the minute details and brilliant colours associated with deluxe courtly productions, the illustrations (ten in total) are marked by numerous peculiarities, such as the reintroduction of compositional and coloristic archaisms, as well as confining illustrations to an unusually narrow horizontal format that privileges the surrounding calligraphy over areas of painting. The predominant impression is that the illustrations were of secondary importance to the overall design. Considered the most significant clues for determining the manuscript’s status as either an imperial commission or sub-imperial gift, the illustrations have hitherto commanded the most attention.
This paper concentrates on the career of the Bustan’s calligrapher, Hakim Rukna. A native of Kashan who began his career at the court of Shah ‘Abbas I in Iran, the polymath physician, also a talented poet, later joined the Emperor Jahangir, where he quickly ingratiated himself among the highest circles of power. With the aid of contemporary court histories, biographies, and Hakim Rukna’s own poetry, this paper questions whether the Bustan manuscript was intended purely as an amateur artistic exercise or a bid to secure favour in the eyes of the aesthete Shah Jahan. Whether or not the project fulfilled its objectives in the end, the ‘Hakim Rukna’ Bustan remains one of the British Library’s finest manuscripts. It has been digitised, along with other important manuscripts, as part of the Persian Manuscripts Digitisation Project which is part-funded by the Iran Heritage Foundation (Digital Access to Persian Manuscripts)
Biography
Dr Sâqib Bâburî is the Iran Heritage Foundation Curator of Persian Manuscripts at the British Library. He is a member of the BL’s Persian Manuscripts Digitisation Project, which aims to make collections available online and update them. He was formerly the Simon Digby Postdoctoral Fellow and Iran Heritage Foundation Visiting Fellow at SOAS, University of London, where he also completed his PhD in History. Dr Bâburî’s research interests include the history, diplomacy, chancery practices, seals, calligraphy and palaeographic traditions of the Persianate world, and especially the history of art and culture at the court of Shah Jahan. He has lectured at the British Library, SOAS, Kings College London, the University of Cambridge, the Victoria and Albert Museum, and the Institute of Iranian Studies (Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften), among other institutions.
