Manuscripts in Hamdani Collection

The Muhammad Ali Hamdani Collection in The Institute of Ismaili Studies Special Collections represents a large segment of the Hamdani family’s library collected over seven generations of this eminent family of scholars from the Da’udi Bohra community in India and Yemen. A large part of the manuscripts are Ismaili religious writings, but there are also a good number of books of general Islamic as well as secular content, and these give a rare insight into the whole cultural range of a learned family of Indian religious scholars.

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Munirat al-Basaʾir al-Sultan al-Khattab

Al-Khattab b. al-Hasan b. Abi’l-Hufaz al-Hajuri al-Hamdani, a chieftain in north-western Yemen, produced this work in the formative period of the Tayyibi daʿwa. Copied in 1598, this particular manuscript is the oldest recorded codex of al-Khattab’s work. The codex addresses ten questions put forward to the author.

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Diwan Muhammadi Muhammad Ali al-Hamdani

This 20th century manuscript, copied by the author’s grandson, is a collection of poems composed by Muhammad Ali b. Fayd Allah al-Hamdani (1249/1833 to 1315/1898).

The poems relate to different themes which include praise of the Prophet Muhammad and his family, description of his pilgrimage to Mecca, of his stay in Egypt, and other events in his life. Besides focusing on Prophet Muhammad, the manuscript also includes eulogies on the 47th and 48th da'is (Najm Al-Din and Husam al-Din).

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Kitab Taqwim al-Ahkam al-Shar'iyya

This 16^th century codex, which refers to al-Oadi al-Nuʿman, is a succinct compilation of legal judgements. It is possibly composed in Fatimid Egypt or in Sulayhid or post-Sulayhid Yemen.

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Da'a'im al-Islam

A folio is from the first volume of the Da a'im al- Islam, the principal book of law of the Fatimid state (909 - 1171), which deals with religious law in particular. Da'a'im is written Abu Al-Qadi Abu Hanifa al-Nu'man who, having served the first four Fatimid Imma-caliphs in different capacities, was the most important authority on Fatimd law. The manuscript showm here was copied in 1827.

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Three Greek Treatises on Spherical Geometry and Optics

This extensively illustrated manuscript contains Arabic versions of three ancient scientific treatises, Kitab al-Ukar by Theodosius, Kitab al-Kurra al-Mutaharriqa by Autolycus and Kitab Ikhtilaf al-Manazir by Euclid. These are older and rarer versions than those redacted by Nasir al-Din al-Tusi in his work, Tahrir al- Majisti.

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Kitab al-Riyad by Hamid al-Din al-Kirmani

This important philosophical work is by one of the most influential early Ismaili daʿis and authors. The Hamdani manuscript is the oldest known copy of the work; it was copied in the year 765 AH, or 1364 CE.

Daʿis did not always agree and in fact often debated ideas with one another. Kitab al-Riyad is Kirmani’s critique of an earlier work by al-Sijistani, which was itself a critique of a treatise by Abu Hatim al-Razi, and Razi’s work was in its turn a refutation of a still earlier author, probably al-Nakhshabi.

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A folio from Kitab al-Riyad by Hamid al-Din al-Kirmani

This important philosophical work is by one of the most influential early Ismaili da'is and authors. The Hamdani manuscript is the oldest known copy of the work; it was copied in the year 765 AH / 1364 CE.

Daʿis did not always agree and in fact often debated ideas with one another. Kitab al-Riyad is Kirmani’s critique of an earlier work by al-Sijistani, which was itself a critique of a treatise by Abu Hatim al-Razi, and Razi’s work was in its turn a refutation of a still earlier author, probably al-Nakhshabi.