Colophon of the manuscript of Kitab-i Nigaristan, from a manuscript of Nigaristan

• Accession Number:AKM272.f317r
• Creator:Author: Ahmad b. Muhammad Ghaffari, Persian, died 1567 Scribe: Ahmad al-Shirazi
• Place:Iran, Shiraz (probably)
• Dimensions:38.7 cm × 25 cm × 6.4 cm
• Date:1573-74 CE/980 AH/AH 980
• Materials and Technique:Ink, opaque watercolour, and gold on paper

• Traditionally, the last folio of a manuscript is the colophon, payan-nameh. It contains data such as the name of the scribe, the place where it was produced, and in some more complete colophons, even the name of the patron. This colophon in the Aga Khan Museum Collection is from an intact manuscript of Kitab-i Nigaristan, a collection of anecdotes and historical incidents written in prose by the historian and scholar Ahmad Muhammad Ghaffari (1504–1567/68) of Kashan in 1551–2. This illustrated manuscript, dated 1573, was probably produced in a Shiraz workshop. 

   

  See AKM272 for more information about the manuscript and links to the other illustrations. 

    

Further Reading 

The last lines in this colophon correspond to the last sentences of the Nigaristan. The Nigaristan ends with four lines of poetry. In the poetry the phrase "Nigaristan" occurs as well as the reason for choosing the term as the title of the book. The four lines, along with the last sentence and the information about the scribe and the dating of the manuscript, are in a triangular frame whose apex points towards the bottom. 
 
The last line of the colophon translates as follows: "The book was finished with God's help of the All-Giving by the servant Aḥmad Shirazi. 980 AH." This provides the strongest evidence that the scribe of the Nigaristan was Ahmad Shirazi and that he finished this manuscript in 980 AH.  
 
The translation of the quatrain at the end of the text is as follows:  

I have thought about the title of this chronicle, 
my mind told me that the following consideration takes everything into account:

Because in reality there is China's picture gallery, 
Comes from it the Nigaristan, the picture gallery of events. 
 

Here, Ghaffari reasons that his Nigaristan is to be understood as a "picture gallery" of events. Thus, he sees the events he describes in the Nigaristan as anecdotes or pictures, and he even compares them to Chinese pictures. 
 
- Elika Palenzona-Djalili