Add MS 15296(1)

AYODHYAKANDA from the VALMIKI RAMAYANA

Pothi manuscript on large sheets of Indian paper, thick, slightly burnished, light beige in colour; laid lines visible but not continuous. 129 folios. 21.2 by 38.4 cm. 9-22 lines of Nagari, with colophons, dandas, etc, in red. The text is arranged in panels formed by a framework of three red vertical lines on each side and two at top and bottom. In the centre of most folios, recto and verso, is a blank diamond five lines high, empty but for four isolated aksaras (there are five of these in the last two folios). In the opening folios, this blank is outlined in red to form a Greek cross, while there are also traditional Jaina red spots on the versos. The text area measures 14-16 by 26-32 cm. 68 full-page paintings within broad red and yellow borders, approximately 17-18 by 34 cms.

The colophon reads as to date and patronage: samvat 1707 varse margrasirsamase suklapakse dvitiyam titho bhriguvasare maharajadhiraja maharamnasri-Jagatasyamgha ji avalokanartham acaryasri-Jasavamtajilikhavatam Mahatma-Hiranamdalikhatam. The Sanskrit text was written by Mahatma Hirananda and commissioned by Acarya Jasvant for the inspection of, i.e. for the library of, Maharana Jagat Singh I (of Mewar). It was finished on Friday the 2nd tithi of the bright half of the month Margasirsa in the Samvat year 1707 (Friday, 25 November 1650).

Provenance: royal library in Udaipur; given by Maharana Bhim Singh (1778-1828) to James Tod (1782-1835), from 1818 the first Political Agent to the Rajput courts, and by him to the Duke of Sussex (1773-1843) after his return to England in 1823. Purchased at the sale of the Sussex library in 1844.