[Codex of Ottoman Turkish and Arabic texts].

A codex containing three texts, the first of which is in Ottoman Turkish, the latter two in Arabic. ff. 1r-132r : An Ottoman Turkish translation of the Sharaf-nāmah of Sharaf Khān al-Bitlisī, entitled Tercüme-yi Tevarih-i Şeref Han. The work was translated by Şem'i from the Persian, and is a slightly abridged version of Sharaf Khān's history of the Kurds. The latest date found in the notes by the translator is 1095 AH (1683-84 CE). The author states in the preface that in a reception, which he had the honour to attend at the Court of his prince, Emir Mustafa (designated at the close of the work as the ruler of Egil, Emir Mustafa Beg), the conversation happened to fall upon the Prince's ancestors, when the Sheref-name was referred to for information. That work, however, was in Persian and was not well understood, and the Emir requested that Şem'i translate it into Ottoman Turkish. The verse of the original Persian version is largely condensed into prose, and the latter part of the text, which provides the history of Bitlis, is especially condensed. The manuscript is also lacking in information on rulers from the Ayyubi Prince Ebü'l-Fetih Osman ibn-i Salahaddin Yusuf through to the Hakkari princes; the rulers of Kilis; the Emirs of Girdekan; the latter part of the history of the Princes of Mekri; the latter part of the history of the Mahmudi Emirs; the Emirs of Derteng; the history of the Emir Ibrahim ibn-i Haci Mehmet. The Hatime, or history of the Ottoman dynasty, is entirely omitted. The translator adds, however, the history of the Princes of Egil (ff. 59r-60v) and that of the rulers of Palu (ff. 63r-68v), which are not in the original narrative. The general contents of the manuscript are as follows:. Mukaddime (f. 4v). Sahife I (f. 7v). Sahife II (f. 27r). Sahife III, Firka I (f. 52r). Sahife III, Firka II (f. 88v). Sahife IV (f. 102v). Zeyl (f. 129r). ff. 133r-183r : Murūj al-Dhahab (مروج الذهب), an historical work by al-Masᶜūdi in Arabic. Vol. I. ff. 183v-184v : Taᵓyat al-Shaykh Ismāᶜīl al-Muqrī (تأية الشيخ اسماعيل المقري), a poem in Arabic. The manuscript contains considerable marginalia and graffiti between the various texts. These include verses in Ottoman on f. 132r; partially obliterated notes in Arabic regarding ownership, as well as three ownership seals (Ḥājī Ḥusayn Bakr), a magic square and sums on f. 133r; and Arabic verses, sums and magic squares (?) on f. 182v.

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Purchased from the Reverend T. H. Sternschuss on 8 March 1851.