Futuh al-Haramayn (a Handbook for Pilgrims to Mecca and Medina) of Muhyi al-Din Lari

Location: India

Materials: ink, gold and watercolour on paper

Dimensions: 40 folios; 21.2 x 15.6cm (page)

Accession Number: MSS 1274

Other Notes: The Futuh al-haramayn is a guide in Persian verse for pilgrims on the hajj, listing and illustrating the stations of the pilgrimage and the rituals to be observed, together with the customary prayers and offerings. It was the work of the polymath Muhyi Lari (d 933 AH/ 1526 or 1527 AD) who later dedicated it to Muzaffar ibn Mahmudshah, the ruler of Gujarat. No early illustrated Indian copies are known, but later in the 16th century it was widely copied in Ottoman Turkey, both in Istanbul for the sultan’s library and in the provinces. (See MSS 1038)

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