Nujum-ul-Ulum

Last updated
An untypically large miniature from the Dublin MS Meister des Nujum-al-'Ulum-Manuskripts 001.jpg
An untypically large miniature from the Dublin MS

Nujum-ul-Ulum ('Stars of the Sciences', c. 1570 CE), is a manuscript commissioned during the Adil Shahi rulers of Bijapur, India. The manuscript is described as an illustrated encyclopedia about ancient Indian astrology and astral magic. The book consists of 876 miniature paintings and about 400 paintings of various angels, planets, signs, degrees, Sufic talismans, magical spells, Hindu goddesses, astrological tables and horoscopes, animals and weapons. These are among the earliest examples of the Deccan painting style.

Contents

History

The manuscript was completed on August 17th 1570 in Bijapur, during the regime of Ali Adil Shah I. It is considered to be an illustrated manual or encyclopedia of astrology and astral magic. The imprinted date and painting style indicates that either the work was commissioned by the Bijapur sultan Ali Adil Shah (1557-1579) or by one of the members of his court. This hypothesis is strengthened by the length of the volume, the quality and quantity of its miniatures, the extensive use of gold in the manuscript, and the number of painters employed - all factors that seem to suggest a royal patron. [1]

In fact, Emma Flatt in her recent article on the Nujum al-‘ulum goes further to attribute, from internal evidence, the authorship to Ali Adil Shah himself "or at least the sixteenth-century equivalent of a celebrity ghostwriter". [1] :235

The author and professor O. P. Parameswaran writes that this school of Bijapur was patronized by Adil Shah I (1558-1580) and his successor Ibrahim II (1580-1627), both of whom were patrons of art and letters, while the latter was an expert in Indian music and author of a book on this subject, the Nauras Nama. The rulers of Bijapur had cordial relations with Turkey and Persia, and the astronomical illustrations in the Nujum al-‘ulum might well derive from an Ottoman Turkish manuscript, such as the works of Fuzuli.

Description

The manuscript's description in the Chester Beatty Library says that the Nujum al-‘ulum (‘Stars of the Sciences’) is a compendium of Muslim and Hindu beliefs mainly dealing with astrology and magic. Depending on how they are counted, the manuscript contains between four and almost eight hundred illustrations. The folios included here illustrate the northern constellations Andromeda (portrayed as a woman) and the Horse, the Sun in a chariot, the zodiac sign Leo (a lion) with accompanying nakshatras (mansions of the moon) and degrees, Jupiter depicted as an elderly king in procession, and the Universal Ruler (cakravatin) upon his seven-storied throne. The only other copy of this text known was also produced in Bijapur, about a hundred years later, and is also in the Chester Beatty Library.

Related Research Articles

Chester Beatty Library Archive in Dublin, Ireland

The Chester Beatty is a museum and library in Dublin. Formerly known as the Chester Beatty Library, it was established in Ireland in 1950, to house the collections of mining magnate, Sir Alfred Chester Beatty. The present museum, on the grounds of Dublin Castle, opened on 7 February 2000, the 125th anniversary of Beatty's birth and was named European Museum of the Year in 2002.

Deccan sultanates Former states in India

The Deccan sultanates were five late-medieval Indian kingdoms—on the Deccan Plateau between the Krishna River and the Vindhya Range—that were ruled by Muslim dynasties: namely Ahmadnagar, Berar, Bidar, Bijapur, and Golconda. The sultanates had become independent during the break-up of the Bahmani Sultanate. In 1490, Ahmadnagar declared independence, followed by Bijapur and Berar in the same year. Golconda became independent in 1518, and Bidar in 1528.

Adil Shahi dynasty Muslim dynasty (1490–1686)

The Adil Shahi or Adilshahi, was a Shia Muslim, and later Sunni Muslim, dynasty founded by Yusuf Adil Shah, that ruled the Sultanate of Bijapur, centred on present-day Bijapur district, Karnataka in India, in the Western area of the Deccan region of Southern India from 1489 to 1686. Bijapur had been a province of the Bahmani Sultanate (1347–1518), before its political decline in the last quarter of the 15th century and eventual break-up in 1518. The Bijapur Sultanate was absorbed into the Mughal Empire on 12 September 1686, after its conquest by the Emperor Aurangzeb.

Mughal painting South Asian painting in manuscript miniatures from the Mughal period

Mughal painting is a particular style of South Asian, particularly North Indian, painting confined to miniatures either as book illustrations or as single works to be kept in albums (muraqqa). It emerged from Persian miniature painting and developed in the court of the Mughal Empire of the 16th to 18th centuries. The Mughal emperors were Muslims and they are credited with consolidating Islam in South Asia, and spreading Muslim arts and culture as well as the faith.

Ibrahim Adil Shah II Adil Shahi Emperor

Ibrahim Adil Shah II was king of the Sultanate of Bijapur and a member of the Adil Shahi dynasty. Under his reign the dynasty had its greatest period as he extended its frontier as far south as Mysore. He was a skilful administrator, artist, poet and a generous patron of the arts. He reverted to the Sunni sect of Islam, but remained tolerant of other religions, including Christianity. However, during his reign high-ranking Shiite immigrants became unwelcome and in 1590, he ordered the confinement of criers who read the khutba in the Shia form. After his reign, increasing weakness permitted Mughal encroachment and the successful revolt of the Maratha king Shivaji, who killed the Bijapur general Afzal Khan and scattered his army. The dynasty left a tradition of cosmopolitan culture and artistic patronage whose architectural remains are to be seen in the capital city of Bijapur.

Siyer-i Nebi Turkish epic about the life of Muhammad

The Siyer-i Nebi is a Turkish epic about the life of Muhammad, completed around 1388, written by Mustafa son of Yusuf of Erzurum, known as al-Darir, a Mevlevi dervish on the commission of Sultan Berkuk, the Mamluk ruler in Cairo. The text is based on a 13th-century Arabic sira by al-Bakri of the original Biography of the Prophet by al-Waqidi (748-822).

Persian miniature Small Persian painting on paper

A Persian miniature is a small Persian painting on paper, whether a book illustration or a separate work of art intended to be kept in an album of such works called a muraqqa. The techniques are broadly comparable to the Western Medieval and Byzantine traditions of miniatures in illuminated manuscripts. Although there is an equally well-established Persian tradition of wall-painting, the survival rate and state of preservation of miniatures is better, and miniatures are much the best-known form of Persian painting in the West, and many of the most important examples are in Western, or Turkish, museums. Miniature painting became a significant genre in Persian art in the 13th century, receiving Chinese influence after the Mongol conquests, and the highest point in the tradition was reached in the 15th and 16th centuries. The tradition continued, under some Western influence, after this, and has many modern exponents. The Persian miniature was the dominant influence on other Islamic miniature traditions, principally the Ottoman miniature in Turkey, and the Mughal miniature in the Indian sub-continent.

<i>Tutinama</i>

Tutinama, literal meaning "Tales of a Parrot", is a 14th-century series of 52 stories in Persian. The work remains well-known largely because of a number of lavishly illustrated manuscripts, especially a version containing 250 miniature paintings was commissioned by the Mughal Emperor, Akbar in the 1550s. The Persian text used was redacted in 14th century AD from an earlier anthology ‘Seventy Tales of the Parrot’ in Sanskrit compiled under the title Śukasaptati dated to the 12th century AD. In India, parrots are popular as storytellers in works of fiction.

Bidar Sultanate

Bidar sultanate was one of the Deccan sultanates of late medieval southern India.

Chand Bibi Regent of Bijapur and Ahmednagar

Sultana Chand Bibi was an Indian Muslim ruler and warrior. She acted as the Regent of Bijapur Sultanate and Ahmednagar Sultanate (in current day Maharashtra. Chand Bibi is best known for defending Ahmednagar against the Mughal forces of Emperor Akbar in 1595.

Ibrahim Adil Shah I (1534–1558) was a Sultan and later Shah of the Indian kingdom. of Bijapur. He succeeded his elder brother, Mallu Adil Shah, through the machinations of the Afaqi faction at the court. He was the first Adil Shahi ruler to assume the royal title of Shah.

Muraqqa Album in book form containing Islamic miniature paintings and calligraphy

A Muraqqa is an album in book form containing Islamic miniature paintings and specimens of Islamic calligraphy, normally from several different sources, and perhaps other matter. The album was popular among collectors in the Islamic world, and by the later 16th century became the predominant format for miniature painting in the Persian Safavid, Mughal and Ottoman empires, greatly affecting the direction taken by the painting traditions of the Persian miniature, Ottoman miniature and Mughal miniature. The album largely replaced the full-scale illustrated manuscript of classics of Persian poetry, which had been the typical vehicle for the finest miniature painters up to that time. The great cost and delay of commissioning a top-quality example of such a work essentially restricted them to the ruler and a handful of other great figures, who usually had to maintain a whole workshop of calligraphers, artists and other craftsmen, with a librarian to manage the whole process.

Turk Jamat

History of the Turkic peoples between 6th and 14th centuries. Although the chronology of the Seljuq Sultanate of Rûm is covered in this timeline, for a more detailed timeline for the Seljuq Sultanate of Rûm see Timeline of the Seljuq Sultanate of Rûm. For a timeline of the modern Turkish state and its legal predecessor see Timeline of the Ottoman Empire and Timeline of Turkish history. Beyond what is described in this timeline, Turkic peoples have lived outside of the Ottoman Empire and Turkey, such as in Azerbaijan and the Central Asian republics of former USSR as well as Russia, China, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan & India.

Turk (caste)

The Turk Jamat are a Muslim community found in India. Many members of Turk Jamat Muslim community migrated to Pakistan after the independence in 1947 and settled in Karachi.

Ali Barid Shah I Shah of Bidar

Ali Barid Shah I was the third ruler of the Barid Shahi dynasty. He succeeded his father in 1540, and ruled until his death in 1580. He was considered a man of letters, and invited scholars and craftsmen from all over the Indian subcontinent to his capital. He is also known to have played a key logistical role in the Battle of Talikota.

<i>Shahnameh</i> of Shah Tahmasp Illustrated manuscript of the Shahnameh

The Shahnameh of Shah Tahmasp or Houghton Shahnameh is one of the most famous illustrated manuscripts of the Shahnameh, the national epic of Greater Iran, and a high point in the art of the Persian miniature. It is probably the most fully illustrated manuscript of the text ever produced. When created, the manuscript contained 759 pages, 258 of which were miniatures. These miniatures were hand painted by the artists of the royal workshop in Tabriz under rulers Shah Ismail I and Shah Tahmasp I. Upon its completion, the Shahnameh was gifted to Ottoman Sultan Selim II in 1568. The page size is about 48 x 32 cm, and the text written in Nastaʿlīq script of the highest quality. The manuscript was broken up in the 1970s and pages are now in a number of different collections around the world.

Deccan painting Form of miniature painting

Deccan painting or Deccani painting is the form of Indian miniature painting produced in the Deccan region of Central India, in the various Muslim capitals of the Deccan sultanates that emerged from the break-up of the Bahmani Sultanate by 1520. These were Bijapur, Golkonda, Ahmadnagar, Bidar, and Berar. The main period was between the late 16th century and the mid-17th, with something of a revival in the mid-18th century, by then centred on Hyderabad.

Murtaza Nizam Shah II Sultan of Ahmadnagar

Murtaza Nizam Shah II was the Sultan of Ahmadnagar from 1600 to 1610. His rule was dominated by the powerful regent Malik Ambar, under whom he was an effective puppet ruler.

Turkic peoples have historically been associated as one of the non-indigenous peoples to have ruled areas of the Indian subcontinent. Modern day Turkish people in India, on the other hand, are very small in number, and are recent immigrants from Turkey. In the 1961 census, 58 people stated that their mother tongue was Turkish. According to the 2001 census, 126 residents of India stated their place of birth as Turkey. In a state visit during early 2010, Prime Minister Abdullah Gül of Turkey met Turkish expatriates living in India and handed out Hindi-Turkish dictionaries to Turkish students in New Delhi.

References

  1. 1 2 Emma, Flatt (30 June 2011). "The Authorship and Significance of the Nujum al-ulum: A Sixteenth-Century Astrological Encyclopedia from Bijapur". ProQuest   907105123.Cite journal requires |journal= (help)