Scattered Leaves

Abstract

A number of folios of a grand Qurʾan, known as the Qurʾan of Bāysunghur, are preserved in collections across the world. No thorough research has been carried out on this manuscript due to the fact that the folios of this Qurʾan—the largest of the Islamic era—are scattered. Consequently, many points about the early details, the scribe and the history of the manuscript remain vague. Endowed between the late 12th/18th and the early 14th/20th century to the Āstān-i Quds-i Raḍavī Library and Museum in Mashhad, around sixty-five opisthographic folios of the Qurʾan are now kept in the collection. A close investigation of the folios not only rejects and proves earlier hypotheses but also presents new ones. After examining the codicological features of the work by comparing the information contained in the historical sources and the features of the manuscript, the present article speculates that the Qurʾan was commissioned by Ulugh Beg in Samarqand, to the scribes of the court scriptorium. Some folios were scattered in the course of the 10th/16th century and the rest during the occupation of Samarqand in the course of the 12th/18th century. Around sixty pages, however, were transferred to Imāmzāda Ibrāhīm of Qūchān and five pages were endowed to the Holy Shrine of Imām Riḍā during the 12th/18th century. Finally, in 1923, the remaining folios of the Imāmzāda were transferred to the Library of the Holy Shrine to be mended, where they have been kept ever since.