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Miftah al-Sarod

Manuscript Binding
late 19th century to early 20th century (made), 1691 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Binding of a copy of the Miftah al-Sarod, a musical treatise. The manuscript's text is in Persian and the manuscript contains 81 illustrated pages of which 3 pages have 2 miniatures. The pages have been rebound out of sequence.

Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleMiftah al-Sarod (series title)
Materials and techniques
Painted, written and drawn in opaque watercolour, gold and ink on paper
Brief description
Binding, probably late 19th or early 20th century rebinding of an illuminated manuscript, a copy of the Miftah al-Sarod (a treatise on music by Qazi Hasan), north Deccan, dated 1691 AD
Physical description
Binding of a copy of the Miftah al-Sarod, a musical treatise. The manuscript's text is in Persian and the manuscript contains 81 illustrated pages of which 3 pages have 2 miniatures. The pages have been rebound out of sequence.
Dimensions
  • Height: 25.7cm
  • Width: 17.5cm
  • Depth: 2.6cm
Gallery label
A MANUSCRIPT OF THE MIFTAH AL-SAROD Opaque watercolour, gold and ink on paper Nizamabad (formerly Indur), Deccan 1691; the binding late 19th or early 20th century IS.61-1977 The Miftah al-Sarod is a musical treatise in Persian written at Daulatabad in the Deccan by Qazi Hasan in 1673/4. The treatise is a ragamala work or ‘garland of musical modes’. It describes the six principal ragas or modes. In this system each raga has five ‘wives’ and eight ‘sons’, but Shri raga has six ‘wives’ and nine ‘sons’. There are illustrations of 83 of these ragas (male) and raginis (female) in the manuscript.(27/9/2013)
Object history
The Miftah al-Sarod is a musical treatise in Persian written at Daulatabad in the Deccan by Qazi Hasan, son of Khwaja Tahir, son of Khwaja Muhammad Qazi, in 1673/4. The present copy was written and illustrated, according to the colophon, in the district of Indur (modern Nizamabad) in the Deccan in 1102 A.H. (July-August A.D.1691). It was rebound, probably in the late 19th or early 20th century.

The treatise is a ragamala work or 'garland of musical modes'. It describes the six principal ragas or musical modes (given as Bhairon, Malakansika, Hindola, Dipak, Shri and Megha Malhar) and their 31 'wives' and 49 'sons'. Each raga has 5 'wives' and 8 'sons' but Shri raga has 6 'wives' and 9 'sons'. This is based on the system of Ksemakarna but modified in the case of Shri Raga. Thus the total number of ragas (male) and raginis (female) is eighty-six, of which eighty-three illustrated remain in the manuscript.
Bibliographic reference
Skelton, Robert, et al, The Indian Heritage. Court life and Arts under Mughal Rule London: The Victoria and Albert Museum, 1982 Skelton, Robert, cat. 82.
Collection
Accession number
IS.61:1-1977

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Record createdJune 12, 2013
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