Windsor Shahnameh

The Windsor Shahnameh or Shahnameh of Qarajaghay Khan[1] (Persian: شاهنامه قرچغای خان‎) is an illustrated manuscript of the Shahnameh, the national epic of Greater Iran. It is one of the most famous manuscripts of the Shahnameh, dating from 1648. The painters are Muhammad Qasim and Muhammad Yusuf.[2] 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.[3]

Depiction of Rostam and Sohrab from the Windsor Shahnameh, 1648, signed by Mohammad Yusef the Painter
IO Islamic 3682, f.92r

The Windsor Shahnameh contains 148 or 149 miniatures and is written in Nastaʿlīq script by Mohammad Hakim Hosseini to the order of Qarachaqay Khan (one of the commanders-in-chief of Abbas I of Persia). 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 and subsequently his heir, Kamran Shah. In 1839, the Windsor Shahnameh was presented to Queen Victoria by Kamran Shah, for her support of the Afghans against the Qajar dynasty. The manuscript is now in the Royal Collection and usually in the library at Windsor Castle.

Miniatures
  • The Simurgh returns Zāl to his father Sam
    Unsigned. f.38r
  • The death of Rostam
    f.310v
  • In his youth Khusraw Parviz had loved Shirin but gave her up on becoming king. Meeting years later, he fell in love with her again and married her.
    f.510v

References
  1. "The Windsor Shahnama of 1648". Retrieved 17 February 2016.
  2. John A Boyle (4 May 2012). Persia (RLE Iran A): History and Heritage. Routledge. pp. 87–. ISBN 978-1-136-82110-3.
  3. Hosseini, Mehdi. "Shahnameh of Qarajaghay Khan". Retrieved 17 February 2016.
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