The Ni'matnama Manuscript of the Sultans of Mandu

TRAMA

The Ni'matnama is a late fifteenth-century book of recipes written for the Sultan of Mandu, in what is now Madhya Pradesh, India. It contains recipes for cooking a variety of delicacies and epicurean delights, as well as providing remedies and aphrodisiacs for Nasir ad-Din Shah of Mandu and his court. The text provides a unique account of courtly life in a fifteenth century Indian Sultanate and documents a fascinating stage in the history of Indian cookery. <BR>There is only one copy of The Sultan's Book of Delights in existence, held in the Oriental and India Office Collections of the British Library (BL-Persian 149). The book manuscript is illustrated with fifty elegant miniature paintings, most of which show showing the Sultan observing the women of his court as they prepare and serve him various dishes. These illustrations are important historical art documents in their own right. Painted in a distinctive Shirazi (Southern Iranian) style, they are also stylistically influenced by indigenous styles of book painting found in Central and Western India, and are the earliest known example of miniature painting in an Islamic Deccani style. <BR>For the first time, a facsimile of the original text is reproduced for a scholarly audience. Norah Titley, formerly assistant keeper, Oriental Collections at the British Library, has masterfully translated this unique book.

NOTE EDITORE

The Ni'matnama is a late fifteenth-century book of the recipes of the eccentric Sultan of Mandu (Madhya Pradesh), Ghiyath Shahi, collected and added to by his son and successor, Nasir Shah. It contains recipes for cooking a variety of delicacies and epicurean delights, as well as providing remedies and aphrodisiacs for the Sultan and his court. It also includes important sections on the preparation of betel leaves as well as advice on the logistics of hunting expeditions and warfare. The text provides aremarkable and tantalizing account of rarified courtly life in a fifteenth-century Indian Sultanate region.

SOMMARIO

1. Preface 2. Introduction 3. List and Description of the Manuscript's Illustrations 4. Facsimile of the Manuscript including Colour Inserts for Illustrations 5. Translation of the Manuscript 6. Bibliography 7. Glossary 8. Index

AUTORE

Norah M. Titley is one of the scholars in Britain specialising in the study of Persian language manuscripts and miniature paintings. She began her career in the British Museum's Department of Oriental Manuscripts in 1950 and retired as the British Library's curator of illustrated Persian manuscripts in 1983. Since retiring, she has worked intensively on translating the Ni'matnama.

ALTRE INFORMAZIONI

• Condizione: Nuovo
• ISBN: 9780415350594
• Collana: Routledge Studies in South Asia
• Dimensioni: 9.25 x 6.25 in Ø 2.10 lb
• Formato: Copertina rigida
• Illustration Notes: 2 b/w images, 53 color images and 142 line drawings
• Pagine Arabe: 544