19th Century handwritten Quran sold for Rs29.5m

HELD SRINAGAR: Sotheby's, the New York-based British-founded American multinational corporation, has sold a copy of the 19th century Quran handwritten by Kashmiri artists for £137,500 (approx Rs29.5 million). “This Quran is one of the finest manuscripts produced in Kashmir in the first half of the nineteenth century,” a note from the world's largest brokers of fine and decorative art, jewelry, real estate and collectibles had said before putting the manuscript for auction at Christie’s London some time ago, a report appearing in a local news portal said.

Giving the description of the sold manuscript, the Sotheby’s says on its official website that it is an illuminated Qur’an copied by Muhammad Hasan with a marginal commentary copied by Muhammad Isma’il in Kashmir and dates back to 1246 AH (the Hijri year of the Islamic lunar calendar) corresponding with 1831 AD.

“Arabic manuscript on paper, 544 leaves plus 3 fly-leaves, 24 lines to the page, written in naskh in black ink within clouds against a gold ground, the Persian interlinear in red nasta’liq, ruled in blue and gold, verses separated by gold roundels, surah headings in blue thuluth against a gold ground within a cartouche, the margins dense with commentaries in nasta’liq within clouds against a gold ground, f.1b and f.2a with an illuminated frontispiece, several illuminated pages throughout, in lacquer binding decorated with flowers and signed ‘Abd al-Aziz Mugul,” reads the website.