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Royal MS 16 B VI

Record Id:
040-002107104
Hierarchy Root Ancestor Record Id:
032-002105724
MDARK:
ark:/81055/vdc_100000000338.0x0000fa
LARK:
SLARK:
Format:
ISAD(G)
Reference (shelfmark):
Royal MS 16 B VI
Title:
Khordah Avesta
Scope & Content:

A copy of the Khordah Avesta (‘little Avesta’), described as Kitāb zand avastā, a collection of prayers in Avestan, lacking the first folio.

A Persian colophon (f. 67r) gives the date as Aneran (30th day), Ardibihisht (2nd month,) 1042 AY (1673), and the scribe’s name as Herbad Hormazyar Faramurz Qiyamdin Kayqubad Sanjanah, written at the request of Kunvarji ibn Nanabhai (Nāhānahphā’ī) Modi. The same scribe Herbad Hormuzyar also copied the manuscript Ṣad dar (Royal MS 16 B VII) in 1674 for the same patron who is there described as the Agent (Modi) for the English (Angrez).

A tipped in note at the end, possibly written by E. Sachau, lists the contents.

Contents:

  • f. 1r: Yathā ahū vairyō and the Ashem vōhū
;
  • f. 1v: Nērang kustī bastan;
  • f. 3r: Nērang;
  • f. 6r: Hōshbām;

  • f. 9v: Khwarshēd niyāyish;

  • f. 17v: Mihr niyāyish;

  • f. 20r: Māh niyāyish;

  • f. 23r: Nyāyish Ardvīsū;r

  • f. 27r: Nyāyish Ātish Bahrām
;
  • f. 32v: Duāē
;
  • f. 35r: Paitaētī; 

  • f. 45v: Gāh Hāvan
;
  • f. 48r: Gāh Rapithwin;

  • f. 51r: Gāh Uzērin
;
  • f. 53r: Gāh Aiwisrūthrem
;
  • f. 56v: Gāh Ushahin;

  • f. 58v: Nekāh; 

  • ff. 65v-67r: two short works in Persian on the Pazand and Avestan alphabets
.
Collection Area:
Oriental Manuscripts
Project / Collection:
Royal Collection
Hierarchy Record Ids:
032-002105724
036-002107098
040-002107104
Is part of:
Royal MS 1 A I-20 E X : Royal Manuscripts
Royal MS 16 B I-XXVIII : 16 B. I-XXVIIIThese MSS., &c., are from the collections of Thomas Hyde, D.D., and are chiefly Oriental.

 

Royal MS 16 B VI : Khordah Avesta
Hierarchy:
032-002105724[1291]/036-002107098[0006]/040-002107104
Container:
View / search within Archive / Collection: Royal MS 1 A I-20 E X
Record Type (Level):
File
Extent:

Codex. :ff. iii+67+iii

Digitised Content:
http://www.bl.uk/manuscripts/FullDisplay.aspx?ref=Royal_MS_16_B_VI (digital images currently unavailable)
Thumbnail:
Languages:
Avestan
Persian
Scripts:
Arabic
Avestan
Start Date:
1673
End Date:
1673
Date Range:
1673
Era:
CE
Place of Origin:
India
Access:

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User Conditions:
Physical Characteristics:

Material: Paper

Dimensions: 235 x 140 mm leaf

Foliation: British Museum pencil; ff. 2-68 in Gujarati

Layout: 15 lines per page

Script: avestan and persian; copyist: Hormazyar Faramurz Qiyamdin Kayqubad Sanjanah

Ink: black, with headings in red

Decoration: ruled margins; floral and geometric section dividers

Binding: red islamic binding with flap, gilt medallion and two pendants. Doublure stamped GR 1757 with crested coat of arms and inscription: HONI SOIT QUI MAL Y PENSE

Custodial History:

Royal MS 16 B. I-XXVIII are from the collections of Thomas Hyde, D.D (1636-1703, oriental scholar, the king's translator). After Hyde's death in 1703 many Oriental manuscripts were purchased from his estate for the Royal Collection

Source of Acquisition:

Presented to the British Museum by George II in 1757 as part of the Old Royal Library

Finding Aids:

Sachau, E. "Contributions to the Knowledge of Parsee Literature," Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society 4 (1870): 229-83, p. 268

Publications:

Sims-Williams, Ursula, "Zoroastrian Manuscripts in the British Library, London". In The Transmission of the Avesta, ed. by A. Cantera (Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 2012), pp. 173-94

Exhibitions:
The Everlasting Flame, SOAS, October 2013 - December 2013
The Everlasting Flame: Zoroastrianism in History and Imagination, National Museum, New Delhi, 19 March 2016 - 29 May 2016
Material Type:
Archives and Manuscripts
Legal Status:
Not Public Record(s)