Journal of Codicology and Manuscript Research (In persian: Pizhūhish/hā-yi nuskhah/shināsī va taṣḥīḥ-i mutūn)

Journal of Codicology and Manuscript Research (In persian: Pizhūhish/hā-yi nuskhah/shināsī va taṣḥīḥ-i mutūn)

Codicology of the Dīvān of Ni‘mat Khān ‘Ālī Shīrāzī: A Textual and Comparative Analysis of Ten Manuscripts from Libraries in Iran, India, Pakistan, Tajikistan, and the United Kingdom

Articles in Press

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
Majid Lashkari 1
MohammadAmir Mashhadi 2
Sakineh Abbasi 3
1 PhD Student, Department of Persian Language and Literature, Faculty of Literature and Humanities, University of Sistan and Baluchestan, Zahedan, Iran.
2 Professor, Department of Persian Language and Literature, Faculty of Literature and Humanities, University of Sistan and Baluchestan, Zahedan, Iran.
3 Assistant Professor, Department of Persian Language and Literature, Faculty of Literature and Humanities, University of Sistan and Baluchestan, Zahedan, Iran.
10.22034/crtc.2025.526914.1191
Abstract
Mirzā Niʿmat Khān ‘Ālī Shīrāzī was a prominent poet and writer of the Indian style during the Mughal period, active in the latter half of the 11th and the early decades of the 12th century AH (17th–18th century CE). Despite his literary significance, the absence of a critically edited version of his Dīvān has left his poetry largely unexplored in contemporary scholarship. This study aims to provide a codicological overview of his work by introducing and analyzing ten extant manuscripts of his poetry. These manuscripts, housed in libraries across India, Iran, the UK, Tajikistan, and Pakistan, encompass a wide range of poetic forms including ghazals, qasidas, quatrains, chronograms, satires and witticisms, riddles, and enigmata. The analysis focuses on various aspects such as physical features, dates of transcription, textual comprehensiveness, legibility, orthographic accuracy, and intertextual relationships among the manuscripts. The findings identify the manuscript preserved at the Khuda Bakhsh Library in Patna—dated 1110 AH and transcribed during the poet’s lifetime—as the most authoritative extant version, due to its completeness, orthographic precision, appropriate script, clear beginning and ending, and an identified scribe. Nevertheless, some alternative manuscripts offer more accurate or complete readings in certain cases, which are valuable for textual evaluation and comparative analysis. This research lays the groundwork for the recovery and scholarly engagement with this neglected corpus of Persian poetry.
Keywords
Codicology, Niʿmat Khān &‌lsquo
Ālī, Persian manuscripts, manuscript comparison, text restoration, Indian style

Subjects

References:
1.    Arezo, Sirajuddin Ali Khan (1385), Majma’ al-Nafays, edited by Mir Hashem Muhaddis, Cultural Heritage and Honors Association: Tehran.
2.    Azad Belgrami, Mir Gholam Ali (1393), Tazkreh Sarvo Azad, edited by Mir Hashem Muhaddis, Ambassador of Ardahal: Tehran.
3.    Akhtar Hooghly, Qazi Mohammad Sadeq Khan (1392), Tazkreh Aftab Alamtab, edited by Maryam Barzegar, Volume 2, Ambassador of Ardahal: Tehran.
4.    Iman, Rahm Ali Khan (1386), Mantabkhet al-Latif, edited and explained by Hossein Alizadeh, Mehdi Alizadeh, Tahouri: Tehran.
5.    Hosseini Sonbahli, Mir Hossein Doost (1292 AH), Tazkreh Hosseini, lithographed version, Newal Kishore: Kanpur.
6.    Khoshgo, Bandar bin Das, Safine Khoshgo, manuscript, Majles Library, Tehran, date of edition number: 403, 1268 AH.
7.    Khoshnazar, Hakimeh (2013), “Critical Introduction to the Manuscript of the Events of Nemat Khan Ali Shirazi”, Allamah (Literary and Textual Research Journal), No. 42, pp. 89–104.
8.    Derayati, Mustafa (2012), Catalogs of Iranian Manuscripts (Fankha), Editor: Mojtaba Derayati, National Library and Archives Organization of the Islamic Republic of Iran: Tehran.
9.    Rostami, Abbas; Sahan, Ahmad and Mozaffarian, Farzaneh (1404), Introduction, Criticism and Study of the Manuscripts of Divan Shobh Lari, Manuscriptological Research and Textual Correction, Fourth Volume, No. 1, pp. 71–114.
10.    Shafiq, Lachmi Narain (1977), Sham Ghariban, edited by: Muhammad Akbaraluddin Siddiqui, Urdu Development Association: Karachi.
11.    Ali Shirazi, Nemat Khan (1894), Divan of Poems, lithographic version, Newal Keshore: Kanpur.
12.    -------------------, Divan of Poems, manuscript. Tehran, National Library and Archives Organization of Iran, No. 23346, 1215 AH. .
13.    -------------------, Divan of Poems, manuscript, Dushanbe, Library of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Tajikistan, No. 1120, 1344 AH. .
14.    -------------------, Divan of Poems, manuscript. Lucknow, Madrasa Al-Wa'ezin Library, No. Noor Microfilm No. 453, 13th century AH. .
15.    -------------------, Divan of Poems, manuscript, Oxford, Bodleian Library, No. Ouseley MS 255, 12th century AH. .
16.    -------------------, Divan of Poems, manuscript, Patna, Khodabakhsh Public Library, No. HL No. 587, 1110 AH. .
17.    -------------------, Diwan-e-Sha'ar, manuscript, Patna, Khodabakhsh Public Library, HL No. 588, 12th century AH. .
18.    -------------------, Diwan-e-Sha'ar, manuscript, Tehran, Tehran University Library, No. 1/7944, 1210 AH. .
19.    -------------------, Diwan-e-Sha'ar, manuscript, Tehran, Islamic Parliament Library, No. 11404, Bita.
20.    -------------------, Diwan-e-Sha'ar, manuscript, Delhi, Persian Research Center of Iran and Pakistan (Ganj Bakhsh), No. 9401, microfilm 1237, 12th century AH. .
21.    Abdul Rashid, Colonel (1346), Tazkreet of Punjab Poets, Iqbal Academy of Pakistan: Lahore.
22.    Erfan Rathore, Mohammad (2007), “A Look at the Poetry of Nemat Khan Ali Shirazi”, Danesh (Journal of the Persian Research Center of Iran and Pakistan), No. 75, pp. 45–60.
23.    Asgari, Reza (2011), “Introduction to Nemat Khan Ali Shirazi and the Intellectual and Literary Stylistics of His Ghazals Based on Medical Motifs”, Scientific Research Monthly Bahar Adab (Persian Poetry and Prose Stylistics), Volume 14, No. 56, pp. 91–112.
24.    Azimabadi, Hossein Qoli Khan (2012), Tazkereh Nishtar Eshgh, Corrections and Comments: Seyyed Kamal Haj Seyyed Javadi, Miras Maktoob: Tehran.
25.    Kabiri, Shirin; Saki Entezami, Saeedeh; Ostad Mohammadi, Javad; Dehghanipour, Hamid Reza (1402), “The Manifestation of Allegory in the Educational and Moral Teachings of Nemat Khan Ali Shirazi’s Poems”, Allegory Research in Persian Language and Literature, Volume 1, Issue 3, pp. 79–102.
26.    Gopamoi, Mohammad Qodrat-Allah (1387), Tazkireh-e-Naqs-e-Afkar, edited by Yousef Beig Babapour, Majma’ al-Maqbool al-Islami: Qom.
27.    Maqbool, Seyyed Ahmad (1342), Description of the Life, Works, and Style of Poetry and Prose of Nemat Khan Ali Shirazi, Master’s Thesis, University of Tehran, Faculty of Literature and Humanities.
28.    Momeni, Fatemeh; Samiei, Amir (1401), “Analytical Study of Traditional Medicine Topics and Terms in Nemat Khan Ali Shirazi’s Masnavi “Manna-e-Salvi”, Interdisciplinary Research on Literature and Traditional Medicine, Islamic Azad University, No. 4, pp. 113–136.
29.    Valeh-Daghestani, Ali Qoli Khan (1390), Tazkreh Riaz al-Sha’ara, edited, prefaced and lists: Abolghasem Radfar and Gita Ashidari, Institute for Humanities and Cultural Studies: Tehran.
Journal of Codicology and Manuscript Research (In persian: Pizhūhish/hā-yi nuskhah/shināsī va taṣḥīḥ-i mutūn)

Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript
Available Online from 08 May 2026

  • Receive Date 29 May 2025
  • Revise Date 28 July 2025
  • Accept Date 16 September 2025
  • Publish Date 08 May 2026