BL Asian and African @BLAsia_Africa Twitter profile | Pikagi

Pikagi

BL Asian and African

@BLAsia_Africa

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Introducing Asian & African Collections at @britishlibrary . Enquiries:

London

https://t.co/inz749kZdi

Joined March 2013

Don't wanna be here? Send us removal request.

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@BLAsia_Africa

BL Asian and African

2 months

A reminder for those readers looking to make use of the @britishlibrary Asian and African Collection this summer. You can find digitised versions of some of our printed catalogues, and links to external digital collections, here👇

Restoring access to the British Library’s Asian and African Collections

Following the recent cyber-attack on the British Library, the Library has now implemented an interim service which will enable existing Registered Readers to access some of our printed books and...

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@BLAsia_Africa

BL Asian and African

7 years

Bilingual Chinese Arabic Quran. More at

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All 7 vols of Sultan Baybars Qur'an are now online. 2000 pages of gold: #Mamluk #Quran #BLQurans #BLArabic #IslamicCalligraphy

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The angel provides a ram just as Abraham is about to sacrifice his son. From a late 16C copy of Jami’s Yusuf Zulaikha (IO Islamic 737) #EidMubarak #EidAlAdha #BLPerMss

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5 years

For ‘Bold script of wildness and beauty’ take a look at our #Daghistan #Qurans

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7 years

Looking at Sahih al-Bukhari today. This is our oldest copy thought to date from 1185/86 AD #BLArabic

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3 years

Today we have launched our #Batak Manuscripts Digtisation Project! all 37 @britishlibrary Batak MSS from north Sumatra, written on folded treebark, bamboo and bone, are now fully accessible online

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Some amazing #Ethiopian #magic texts in our latest post by @DerilloEyob

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5 years

Today our Curator for Persian Manuscripts @SaqibBaburi shows us three Mughal marriage certificates from our @britishlibrary collections. Enjoy! #islam #wedding #seals #gold (Shelfmarks: IO Islamic 4556 and 4555, Or 16987/35)

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6 years

The Mughal royal ladies were highly educated, could read and write in several languages and had their own libraries – as demonstrated by this manuscript which belonged to Hamida Banu

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An 11th century Qur’an (Add MS 7214), one of the earliest examples of naskhi script. More about this at

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#WednesdayWonder Alexander/Iskandar listens to the talking tree (BL Add Ms 18804, f.128r). From a North Indian copy of the #Shahnama dated 1719 #waqwaq #BLPerMss

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7 years

Amazing marginal decorations in Or.1009, a 14th century Mamluk Quran #BLArabic

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6 years

Wishing you all a very Happy Christmas from @BLAsia_Africa with this nativity scene from a Syriac manuscript from northern Iraq, c. 1190 (Add. 7170, f.21)

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7 years

To celebrate #Epiphany : The arrival of the three kings, wise men from the East, from Add.7170, Syriac lectionary completed in Mosul, 1216-20

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4 years

This colourful copy of Qazwīnī’s ʻAjāʼib al-makhlūqāt (‘Wonders of creation’) was produced in the Deccan, South India, in the 16th century. Shown here the archangels Jibrail/Gabriel and Israfil #BLArabic

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#GoodFriday #Easter #Easter2021 A richly illustrated #Ethiopic Bible from the late 17th century. Or 481. The item is fully digitised and you can explore it here:

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8 years

Hand coloured lithograph of 'Aja'ib al-makhluqat, Lucknow 1866, just rediscovered!

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4 years

#EidAdhaMubarak Before Ibrahim/Abraham could sacrifice his son, God provided a lamb instead. Illustration from a 16th century Safavid Persian manuscript of Qisas al-anbiya 'Stories of the prophets' (BL Add Ms 18576. Read more about this manuscript here:

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7 years

A Waqwaq tree, from Miftah al-fuzala, a 16th century illustrated Persian glossary from Sultanate India (Or.3299) #BLPerMss

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This woodblock printed Life of Jesus in #Chinese (1637) is online for the first time thanks to #DiscoveringSacredTexts . It is one of the thirty-seven surviving copies and it includes a foldout map of Jerusalem.

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Celebrating the genius #Firdawsi who died 1000 years ago today with illustrations of some of the best known stories from the #Shahnama : Add Ms 18188, dated 1486 and illustrated with 72 paintings #NationalFerdowsiDay #PersianLanguageDay #BLPerMss

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Christ resurrected follows the three women visiting his tomb, from Syriac lectionary dated 1216-20, Mosul (Add. 7170, f.160) #HappyEaster from @BLAsia_Africa

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Recipes for samosas and more from the late 15th and early 16th century Ni’matnamah, or Sultan Nasir Shah’s ‘Book of Delights’

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6 years

A ‘timsāḥ’ which in Persian they call ’nihang’ (crocodile). From Persian translation of Qazwini’s ‘Wonders of the creation’ Or.1621, f159v #BLPerMss

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3 years

We're dreaming of #Istanbul ! Let's think outside the box for a moment. This wonderful #illustration from Or 13882, the Hamse-yi Atayi, shows how #Ottoman illustrators sometimes pushed beyond the boundaries of the text to transport their readers to the setting of the story.

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Today our @DerilloEyob shows us a beautiful illustrated #Ethiopian manuscript: the Miracles of Mary (Or.641) #MondayMotivation . Digitised by @BL_MadeDigital

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3 years

Just our type... 😍 This set of 48 pieces of #Japanese metal movable type reflects early 20th-century script reforms, e.g. including ん but not ゑ. The order follows the 'iroha' いろは, a poem that uses every character of the hiragana syllabary without repetition. 📚 ORB Misc 181

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Pair of #simurghs , the legendary Iranian birds, from #Shahnama dated 1564/65 Astarabad Iran #BLPerMss (Or12085)

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One of the most beautiful Javanese manuscripts newly-digitised in the Bollinger @britishlibrary project is Panji Jaya Kusuma, MSS Jav 68, copied for a female patron in Surabaya in 1805: read about Mrs Gezaghebber here:

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3 years

This beautiful image showing the Holy Family is from a Gospel manuscript written in Coptic and Arabic.

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7 years

BL Or.848, Qur'an of Sultan Faraj ibn Barquq. Cairo, late 14th cent.

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#Mecca and pilgrims 600 yrs ago. Illustration from Fiqh Abi Hanīfah in Add.27261, a miscellany containing 23 works, commissioned by Timur’s grandson Jalāl al-Dīn Iskandar #hajj2018 #BLPerMss

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4 years

A 17th-century #Chinese #Quran : it shows how #Islamic styles of #calligraphy and illumination were combined with local styles, symbols and aesthetics. Explore the item here:

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3 years

The Divan of Hafiz, copied by Sulayman al-Fushanji in Ramazan 855/October 1451. Copied on dyed Chinese imported paper (Add Ms 7759). See more at #BLPerMss

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7 years

Looking at Sultan Baybars Quran this afternoon (Add.22412) dated 705/1305-6

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5 years

Recently repaired 17th century 60 leaved 'alifi' #Quran . Every line begins with ا (alif). This format seems to have been very popular in India. #BLIslamicIllum #BLArabic

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1 year

This 1849 Bombay #lithograph of Firdausi's #Shahnamah was designed to look like a manuscript with hand-coloured headings and illustrations. Here a rare image of #Zoroaster and his convert the legendary King Gushtasp, the first Zoroastrian ruler of Iran (14807.h.4)

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Mary Magdalene and her companions visit the tomb guarded by an angel who announces the resurrection. Meanwhile Christ himself appears. From a Syriac Lectionary, Mosul (Iraq), early 13th century (Add. MS 7170) #Easter2023

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6 years

More rhinos! Baburnama Or.3714, f. 379r #BLPerMss

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4 years

Wishing our followers a blessed #EidAlFitr with some illustrations of holy places from Futūḥ al-ḥaramayn (‘Revelations of the two sanctuaries’): Mecca, Medina and Mt. Arafat #EidMubarak and

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1 year

The Bollinger Javanese Manuscripts Digitisation is now complete, with 120 more Javanese MSS in @britishlibrary now online! And a full set of digital images was presented to the National Library of Indonesia (Perpusnas) on 24 May 2023

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6 years

A dragon fish which features in our latest post on the popularity of 'wonders' such as these in 16th century Deccan India #BLArabic

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6 years

Heavenly creatures bedecked with flowers from Akhlaq-i Muhsini IO Islamic 1097, Bukhara, 16th century #BLPerMss

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4 years

The story of Jonah and the whale from an illustrated copy of Qisas al-anbiya (stories of the prophets). 16th century, Safavid. Read about Adam and Eve, Noah and more stories in this manuscript (Add Ms 18576) at #DiscoveringSacredTexts #BLPerMss

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8 years

Afghanistan's giant Buddhas rise again with 3D light projection

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Afghanistan's giant Buddhas rise again with 3D light projection | Lion’s Roar

Fourteen years after the massive statues were destroyed by the Taliban, artists have animated the Buddhas with 3D light projection technology.

www.lionsroar.com

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6 years

Opening leaves from poems by Khvaju Kirmani (Or.11519) 15th century #BLPerMss

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5 years

Scenes from daily life recorded in the Divan of Hafiz (Or14139), copied at Herat or Mashhad ca.1470 – possibly by the famous calligrapher Sultan ʻAli Mashhadi #BLPerMss

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4 years

These 29 birch bark scrolls in #Gandhari ianguage in the #Kharoshthi script, date back to the 1st century CE, and are among the oldest surviving #Buddhist manuscripts in the world. Read about them here: #DiscoveringSacredTexts #SilkRoad

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1 year

‘The elephant has no joints. Its knees are formed in such a way that if it falls on its side it is unable to get up.’ From the 13th century Arabic bestiary Kitab na't al-hayawan ascribed to Aristotle and the physician Ibn Bakhtishu

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6 years

Digital Access to Persian manuscripts at @britishlibrary gives links to 88 digitised manuscripts @themaydan

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7 years

Wishing you #ShanahTovah with beginning of 15thC manuscript on customs & prayers for #JewishNewYear (Add.MS.16577, f. 177r) #RoshHashanah

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A mystery for all you linguists! This is Sloane MS 4096, one of a group of scrolls from the 18-19C. This is the only one in Uyghur script and (possibly?) a Turkic language. All guesses and suggestions about its content are welcome!

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6 years

More images from ‘The wonders of creation’ IO Islamic 845: the angels Gabriel and Israfil. Bijapur, 1571. More in our post #BLArabic

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5 years

The spectacular birth of Rustam by Caesarean section in a Mughal illustrated #Shahnama of the beginning of the 17th century (Add. 5600). Read more about Rustam the Redhead in our new post #BLPerMss #MughalArt

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2 years

Wishing you all a very #HappyChristmas with this favourite: Mary and Jesus, Mughal, c.1630 (J.14,2). We're open from Dec 28th. For a holiday treat, visit our exhibitions ' #AlexanderTheGreat : the Making of a Myth' and more

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Feeling peckish? 😋 In 1687, #Chinese Christian convert Michael Alphonsus Shen Fuzong 沈福宗 wrote this note for Oxford librarian Thomas Hyde, listing vocabulary like 'breakfast' and 'banquet' in Chinese. Read about this collection here: 📜 Sloane MS 853a

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6 years

Edinburgh University's 72 metre Mahābhārata scroll is now available online. More about it, with links to digitised version, in their new post via @SAALG_UK

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7 years

Lapis lazuli via @Jake___Benson

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4 years

Find out more about the collection of Christian Arabic manuscripts @britishlibrary . Our guest blogger Miriam Hjälm higlights some of the oldest and most spectacular in our latest blog #BLArabic #ArabicBibles #Bible

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This sloth bear is a real treat from @BL_VisualArts curator Malini Roy

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Taking a look at Qur'ans from China to mark the beginning of the third week of #Ramadan . #RamadanMubarak #BLArabic #BLQurans

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Read about the Miracles of Mary, Or 641, an #Ethiopic manuscript dating from the late 17th century | thanks to @DerilloEyob #ManuscriptMonday

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For #Ramadan we're revisiting some of our earlier blogs on Qurans. This one features a spectacular early 18th century Indian #Quran . More at

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7 years

Stunning biblical book art: #ArabicGospels (Add.11856) copied in Palestine, 1336. More in our post #BLArabic

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4 years

Happy #LunarNewYear #ChineseNewYear #YearoftheOx ! This year the celebration falls on the 12th of February, as it follows the traditional Chinese lunisolar calendar. Below: detail from a #Chinese almanac from Dunhuang (Or.8210/P.6) showing some of the zodiac animals (thread 1/6)

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New project to digitise 120 more #Javanese manuscripts

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Details from a copy of the seances (Maqamat) of al-Hariri, dated 723/1323. Especially interesting: the half-finished camel scene! #BLAdd7293 #BLArabic

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Saint George is venerated in various #Christian traditions. He is the patron Saint not only of #England , but also of #Ethiopia . We celebrate with two images from @BLAsia_Africa Ethiopian manuscripts Or 723 (folio 4 v.) and Or 639 (folio 6 v.). #StGeorgesDay @BL_MadeDigital

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This beautifully illuminated #Timurid copy of the works of Saʻdi is dated 819 AH (1416), copied by Firuzbakht ibn Isfahanshah #BLPerMss #Illumination (IO Islamic 287)

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The Burmese Inaung, narrating the love of Prince Inaung and Princess Putsapa, dramatised by Myawaddy Mingyi U Sa (1766-1853), is based on the Thai story of Inao, which is itself derived from the Javanese Panji cycle of stories about Prince Inu Kertapati.

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For a virtual exhibition experience revisit our 2004 exhibition: The Silk Road: Trade, Travel, War and Faith. Here you can access photos and information about more than 350 individual objects

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One of the holiest #Zoroastrian prayers, the Avestan Ahuna vairyo. Created by the the wise Lord Ahura Mazda at the time of creation, this sacred prayer protects Zoroastrians and acts a weapon against evil (RSPA 230, f. 64, dated 1647 at Yazd, Iran)

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4 years

#InternationalDogDay ! From @britishlibrary #Ethiopian collection Or 646 f71r, with an illustration of the story of a thirsty dog rescued by Mary who pours water in her shoes and let him drink. 🐕 @DerilloEyob

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3 years

An enigmatic #Javanese manuscript in our latest post by guest blogger Dick van der Meij:

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Today our Head of #MiddleEast collections Dr Colin Baker is presenting the @britishlibrary oldest Qur’an #BLArabic Or 2165 #islam #manuscript

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Iskandar arrives at the fire temple, guarded by a fierce dragon. From the Khamsah of Nizami (centre) and Amir Khusraw (margins). Late 15th or early 16th century (IO Islamic 387) #BLPerMss

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A game of #chess - illustrating the poetry of Mawlana Katibi, Add16561 dated 1468 at Shirvan on #Ming Chinese imported #paper #BLPerMss

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A hand-drawn map of China by Shen Fuzong, the first recorded Chinese person to visit the UK in 1687 from our #BLChinese collections. This item will be featured in the new exhibition 'Chinese and British' opening on 18 November. More at

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The Indian epics the Ramayana and Mahabharata were known throughout Southeast Asia. The earliest Malay version of the Mahabharata, probably via the Old Javanese Bhratayuddha, is Hikayat Perang Pandawa Jaya, ‘The tale of the war of the victorious Pandawa’.

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Remembering St George patron saint of England, Aragon, Catalonia, Ethiopia, Georgia, Greece, Lithuania, Palestine, Portugal, and Russia with a (Persian) dragon #StGeorgesDay #SharedHeritage

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3 years

Cheongeo nogeoldae 淸語老乞大 “The Old Chinaman” (1741) is a Korean-Manchu textbook first published in 1703. It follows the journey of a #Korean merchant from Gaeseong to Beijing. Each #Manchu phrase has a phonetic rendering in Hangeul and a Korean #translation . 📚19951.c.44.

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Holy women at the tomb. From Syriac lectionary, Mosul, 1216-20 #BLAdd7170 #EasterDay

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4 years

Time for another #jigsaw #puzzle : the introduction of #chess at the court of Anushirvan, from a late 16th century #Safavid copy of Firdawsi’s #Shahnamah online at #BLPerMss #BLPuzzles

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3 years

Explore this wonderful Qur’an from #Daghestan dated Rabiulawal 1237 (November/December 1821), online at #ManuscriptMonday #BLArabic

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16th century Shiraz illustrated copy of Firdausi's #Shahnamah (IO Islamic 3540) online at Links to paintings here #BLPerMss

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Trading permit in Persian issued by King Chandrawizaya (r. 1710-1731) of Mrauk U of Arakan in Myanmar (Burma), to the Armenian merchant Khwajeh Georgin in Chennaipattana (Madras), granting permission to trade in elephants and ivory. Dated 1728 (Sloane MS 3259) #ManuscriptMonday .

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The story of #AmirHamza was popular throughout the Muslim world and is available in many different languages. Here a #Javanese version (BL Add Ms 12309) in pegon script copied 1792-1812, of 1520 folios – the largest #Javanese ms we know of! More at

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5 years

Celebrate the winter solstice #Yalda tonight with a little Hafiz. This copy dates from 1600 to 1605 and was commissioned for Prince Salim (Jahangir) #BLPerMss

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BL Asian and African

6 years

Exciting discovery: ʻAbd al-Rahim Khan Khanan’s copy of letters of Shaykh Sharaf al-Din Maneri, copied at Ahmadabad in 1587 with note in ‘Abd al-Rahim's hand (IO Islamic 2277) #BLPerMss #SufiTexts #Tasawwuf

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BL Asian and African

7 years

Read about our Coptic collections

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BL Asian and African

4 years

An 11th/12th century #Quran , written on parchment on paper in an Eastern kufic script, showing important developments in #Arabic grammar. #ThursdayMotivation (Or 6573). Explore the item here

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4 years

Today is the birthday of al-Bukhari, a Persian-Islamic scholar who authored the hadith collection known as Sahih al-Bukhari. 🎂 #BLArabic

@BLAsia_Africa

BL Asian and African

7 years

Looking at Sahih al-Bukhari today. This is our oldest copy thought to date from 1185/86 AD #BLArabic

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BL Asian and African

3 years

This beautiful miniatures showing St George and the dragon is from an Armenian prayer scroll

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BL Asian and African

7 years

Amazing #Qur ’ans from China described in our new blog

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Illumination and decoration in Chinese Qur'ans

A seventeenth-century Qur’an from China in the British Library recently attracted much interest in a belated Eid show-and-tell arranged for the local community. This provides an ideal opportunity to...

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BL Asian and African

4 years

The two fragments (Pelliot Sogdien 13, and British Library Or.8212/81) joined digitally here form the only surviving textual evidence for an early Rustam cycle, copied 200 years before Firdawsi completed the Shahnama. Revisit this post to find out more

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BL Asian and African

6 years

Winged horse in a Javanese manuscript of Serat Sela Rasa, 1804. British Library, MSS Jav 28, f. 68r |see our blog

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BL Asian and African

7 years

Looking at #TipuSultan 's library

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Some bindings from Tipu Sultan's court

In recent weeks I have been examining bindings of the British Library’s manuscripts which formerly belonged to Tipu Sultan, Sultan of Mysore (r. 1782-1799). The British Library collection probably...

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BL Asian and African

4 years

Visitors at the @britishlibrary will find a new panel providing an interpretive display on the busts, openly acknowledging our institution’s history and specifically the contentious aspects of the careers of both Joseph Banks and Hans Sloane.

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4 years

A virtual #garden is better than no garden! This early 16th century painting by Dhanu from the #Baburnama shows the construction of the Bagh-i vafa at Kabul (BL Or. 3714 f.173v), online here #BLPerMss

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7 years

Gangotri, the source of the river Ganges by James Baillie Fraser, 1815

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