Paintings from Islamic Lands by R. Pinder-WilsonReview by: Donald N. WilberJournal of the American Oriental Society, Vol. 92, No. 1 (Jan. - Mar., 1972), pp. 133-134Published by: American Oriental SocietyStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/599672 .

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Reviews of Books Reviews of Books

such medical manuscripts there should not surprise the reader, because the study of the so-called Unani Medi- cine, in reality Arabic medicine originally copied from the Greek, is still taught in certain medical schools in India and legally practiced.

Dr. Subba Reddy's interest induced the Central Government to give financial assistance to his depart- ment, the outcome of which is the compilation of a bibliography of Arabic and Persian medical manuscripts found at six libraries at Hyderabad by Mr. M. Azeez Pasha with an introduction by Dr. Subba Reddy. In the introduction he informs the reader that owing to the influence of Islamic culture in the Deccan region, and to the eager desire of noble and old middle-class families, both Muslim and Hndu, to collect manuscripts for their private and public libraries, the area has a wealthy col- lection of Arabic, Persian, and Urdu manuscripts. He regrets that the bibliography is so concise but hopes to publish fully descriptive reports on the manuscripts in the future.

All the manuscripts in the bibliography are found at Hyderabad at the State Central Library, Salar Jung Oriental Library, Osmania University Library, Unani Medical College Library, Sayeedia Library, and Idare-a- Adabiat-a-Urdu Library.

The bibliography is in two parts. Part one contains 188 Arabic manuscripts, part two, 416 Persian manu- scripts. The Arabic or Persian title of the manuscript is printed in the original language, transliterated, and translated; this is followed by the name of the author and the call number of the manuscript in the libraries mentioned. There is no way to determine whether or not the manuscripts are complete, but one hopes that the detailed reports promised will do so. Special care has been taken in cataloguing the manuscripts and Mr. Azeez Pasha has been able to identify the names of the physicians and the titles of the manuscripts.

In general the Arabic collection of the manuscripts is very rich. It contains published and unpublished manu- scripts of such famous physicians who wrote Arabic medical works as Ibn Sina, al-Razi, Hunayn ibn Ishaq, al-Zahrawi, Ibn al-Baytar, al-Samarqandi, and Dawud al-Antaki. Works translated from the Greek into Arabic are worth mentioning: Manuscript No. 5 is On Foods and Drinks by Galen; No. 10 is The Aphorisms by Hip- pocrates, a very popular work that was used as a text- book by those who taught Arabic medicine; No. 65 is Hippocrates' Compendium by Hasan Ahmad ibn Mo- hammad Tairi; and No. 168 is A Book to Glauco by Galen, in a translation by HIunayn ibn Ishaq, another very popular work. Noteworthy, too, are: a collection of medical epistles; Nos. 125-36, by physicians such as Galen, Hunayn ibn Ishaq, Ibn Sina, and Abu Sahl al- Masihi, and Nos. 142-59, which are annotations on works by renowed physicians, including Hippocrates, Hunayn ibn Ishaq. and Ibn Sina.

such medical manuscripts there should not surprise the reader, because the study of the so-called Unani Medi- cine, in reality Arabic medicine originally copied from the Greek, is still taught in certain medical schools in India and legally practiced.

Dr. Subba Reddy's interest induced the Central Government to give financial assistance to his depart- ment, the outcome of which is the compilation of a bibliography of Arabic and Persian medical manuscripts found at six libraries at Hyderabad by Mr. M. Azeez Pasha with an introduction by Dr. Subba Reddy. In the introduction he informs the reader that owing to the influence of Islamic culture in the Deccan region, and to the eager desire of noble and old middle-class families, both Muslim and Hndu, to collect manuscripts for their private and public libraries, the area has a wealthy col- lection of Arabic, Persian, and Urdu manuscripts. He regrets that the bibliography is so concise but hopes to publish fully descriptive reports on the manuscripts in the future.

All the manuscripts in the bibliography are found at Hyderabad at the State Central Library, Salar Jung Oriental Library, Osmania University Library, Unani Medical College Library, Sayeedia Library, and Idare-a- Adabiat-a-Urdu Library.

The bibliography is in two parts. Part one contains 188 Arabic manuscripts, part two, 416 Persian manu- scripts. The Arabic or Persian title of the manuscript is printed in the original language, transliterated, and translated; this is followed by the name of the author and the call number of the manuscript in the libraries mentioned. There is no way to determine whether or not the manuscripts are complete, but one hopes that the detailed reports promised will do so. Special care has been taken in cataloguing the manuscripts and Mr. Azeez Pasha has been able to identify the names of the physicians and the titles of the manuscripts.

In general the Arabic collection of the manuscripts is very rich. It contains published and unpublished manu- scripts of such famous physicians who wrote Arabic medical works as Ibn Sina, al-Razi, Hunayn ibn Ishaq, al-Zahrawi, Ibn al-Baytar, al-Samarqandi, and Dawud al-Antaki. Works translated from the Greek into Arabic are worth mentioning: Manuscript No. 5 is On Foods and Drinks by Galen; No. 10 is The Aphorisms by Hip- pocrates, a very popular work that was used as a text- book by those who taught Arabic medicine; No. 65 is Hippocrates' Compendium by Hasan Ahmad ibn Mo- hammad Tairi; and No. 168 is A Book to Glauco by Galen, in a translation by HIunayn ibn Ishaq, another very popular work. Noteworthy, too, are: a collection of medical epistles; Nos. 125-36, by physicians such as Galen, Hunayn ibn Ishaq, Ibn Sina, and Abu Sahl al- Masihi, and Nos. 142-59, which are annotations on works by renowed physicians, including Hippocrates, Hunayn ibn Ishaq. and Ibn Sina.

The Persian manuscripts exceed the Arabic in number. The title of one Persian manuscript, Names of Medicines in Different Languages, No. 51, sounds very interesting- one wonders what the other languages are. Nos. 54-62 are on the usefulness of different matters including phy- sicians, man, and good men. For those interested in surgery, No. 81 is On the Removal of the Hymen. Several well-known Arabic manuscripts are translated into Persian, pointing up the important part played in the Middle East by medicine written in the Arabic language: No. 154 on Medicine Practiced by al-Razi and al-Majusi; No. 226, entitled Etiology and Symptoms [of Diseases] by al-Samarqandi; No. 170, and No. 330, translations of the very popular work of Ibn Sina, entitled Heart Medicines, No. 347 entitled Cure in a Moment by al- Razi. A collection of manuscripts, Nos. 171-84, under the title of Experimented Medicine by certain physicians attracts the attention of the researcher. Two illustrated manuscripts are outstanding because of their topics, although the quality of the illustrations cannot be de- termined unless personally examined: No. 356, Illustra- tions of Urine Flasks of Variant Colors with Prescrip- tions, and No. 357, on Illustrations of the Anatomy of the Human Body.

Some printing errors are found in the catalogue, especially on p. 18, but none that would prevent readers from recognizing the meaning, especially readers whose field is Arabic or Persian medicine. An errata sheet is in preparation.

Depsite the fact that this Union Catalog is simply a list of the titles of the works and their authors, it is of tremendous value to those interested in research in the history of medicine, who are aware of the thousands of still uncatalogued Arabic and Persian medical manu- scripts scattered in many libraries. The efforts of the author are thus very much appreciated.

It is regrettable that a complete list of the valuable Hyderabad manuscripts is beyond the ability of those concerned to compile, not only because of lack of funds but also because of the indifference of authorities toward their real value. Some manuscripts are being sold by their owners or otherwise removed, and some are de- teriorating under the improper care that invites worms to feast on the precious material of a culture that should be preserved for posterity.

SAMIRA JADON UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, LOS ANGELES

Paintings from Islamic Lands. By R. PINDER-WILSON, editor. Pp. 204; fig. 131. Columbia, S.C.: UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA PRESS. 1969. $7.95.

This title gives no real clue as to its contents: "ten

essays by prominent scholars from many different coun-

The Persian manuscripts exceed the Arabic in number. The title of one Persian manuscript, Names of Medicines in Different Languages, No. 51, sounds very interesting- one wonders what the other languages are. Nos. 54-62 are on the usefulness of different matters including phy- sicians, man, and good men. For those interested in surgery, No. 81 is On the Removal of the Hymen. Several well-known Arabic manuscripts are translated into Persian, pointing up the important part played in the Middle East by medicine written in the Arabic language: No. 154 on Medicine Practiced by al-Razi and al-Majusi; No. 226, entitled Etiology and Symptoms [of Diseases] by al-Samarqandi; No. 170, and No. 330, translations of the very popular work of Ibn Sina, entitled Heart Medicines, No. 347 entitled Cure in a Moment by al- Razi. A collection of manuscripts, Nos. 171-84, under the title of Experimented Medicine by certain physicians attracts the attention of the researcher. Two illustrated manuscripts are outstanding because of their topics, although the quality of the illustrations cannot be de- termined unless personally examined: No. 356, Illustra- tions of Urine Flasks of Variant Colors with Prescrip- tions, and No. 357, on Illustrations of the Anatomy of the Human Body.

Some printing errors are found in the catalogue, especially on p. 18, but none that would prevent readers from recognizing the meaning, especially readers whose field is Arabic or Persian medicine. An errata sheet is in preparation.

Depsite the fact that this Union Catalog is simply a list of the titles of the works and their authors, it is of tremendous value to those interested in research in the history of medicine, who are aware of the thousands of still uncatalogued Arabic and Persian medical manu- scripts scattered in many libraries. The efforts of the author are thus very much appreciated.

It is regrettable that a complete list of the valuable Hyderabad manuscripts is beyond the ability of those concerned to compile, not only because of lack of funds but also because of the indifference of authorities toward their real value. Some manuscripts are being sold by their owners or otherwise removed, and some are de- teriorating under the improper care that invites worms to feast on the precious material of a culture that should be preserved for posterity.

SAMIRA JADON UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, LOS ANGELES

Paintings from Islamic Lands. By R. PINDER-WILSON, editor. Pp. 204; fig. 131. Columbia, S.C.: UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA PRESS. 1969. $7.95.

This title gives no real clue as to its contents: "ten

essays by prominent scholars from many different coun-

133 133

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Journal of the American Oriental Society, 92.1 (1972)

tries, all concerned with the history of painting in Islamic lands." Even this quotation from the jacket is not quite accurate since two of the essays are not concerned with painting; for painting, read "miniature painting."

This work is not for the amateur looking for an easy introduction to Islamic miniature painting, since the essays are very recondite studies of manuscripts and of schools of illustration. Rather, they are directed towards those already familiar with the subjects discussed. The general reader may browse the text, enjoy the numerous illustrations, and may be persuaded to seek out the major works on miniature painting cited in the essays.

The essays have as their sole link a chronological se- quence. The opening article by S. M. Stern, "A Manu- script from the Library of the Ghaznawid Amir 'Abd al- Rashid," is about an Arabic manuscript of a work on the Physical and Moral Characteristics of the Prophet by an

epigone author whose name is otherwise unknown. The exhaustive account is a monument to perserverance in the pursuit of highly specialized details.

"Notes on the Iconography of the "Demotte" Shah- nama," by 0. Grabar assumes that the reader is already very familiar with the fifty-eight miniatures of the mid- fourteenth century, dispersed by the dealer Demotte to more than twenty museums and private collections. Grabar examines the miniatures as they do, or do not, closely relate to the text of Firdausi, and suggests such earlier sources for the scenes as other epics and the mural

paintings of Soghdiana. Sophie Walzer discusses a manuscript in the Topkapu

Saray Library, an illustrated Persian translation of the Kalzla wa-Dimna, so named after two jackals who are the main characters in a collection of animal stories: the manuscript is dated 816/1413. Drawing on compar- ative material, she concludes that the manuscript was made at Shiraz, and traces the outgrowth of the Shiraz

style into the Timurid period under Ibrahim Sultan, grandson of Timur and governor of Shiraz. Her enthu- siasm for the "naturalistic" portrayal of beasts and birds in the manuscript seems almost as naive as the pictures themselves.

"Herat, Tabriz, Istanbul-The Development of a Pictorial Style," by E. Grube takes up a large number of

miniatures, most of them preserved in the Topkapu Saray Library, which have not fitted into any of the so- called court schools of painting. One group consists of

meticulously drawn animals and birds in narrative re-

lationships; the palette is limited to greys and browns and the direct contact with Chinese painting is most

apparent. The author believes this group was executed in Herat as preliminary studies for book bindings known to have been made there in the second quarter of the fifteenth century. Two other groups are also assigned to Herat: the second of these breaks with the earlier ones in the use of brilliant colors. Grube argues that the rapid rise of the Safavid dynasty at Tabriz resulted in the

migration of the artists of this fantastic and decorative drawing, citing bindings made at Tabriz. Finally, the capture of Tabriz by the Ottoman Turks resulted in the removal of manuscripts, albums and painters to Istanbul where this unique style flourished from the sixteenth century into the eighteenth.

"A Copy of the Rawzat al-Safa with Turkish minia- tures," by G. M. Meredith-Owens, deals with a manu- script of a Persian history transcribed in 1008/1599-1600. Its eleven full page miniatures display racial types, costumes, and architectural features which make it certain that they are by a Turkish artist who interpreted in his own way traditional scenes of Persian painting.

A. S. Melikian Chirvani writes of "L'Ecole de Shiraz et les origines de la miniature moghole." His theory is that artists from Shiraz migrated to India and illustrates a miniature in the style of the school of Shiraz of about 1450 which contains characteristic Indian details; he shows other examples of what he calls Indo-Shirazi art as the alleged forerunner of Mughal painting.

In "Painting at Bijapur," Douglas Barrett success-

fully distinguishes the work of that center from the prod- ucts of Ahmadnagar and Golconda, other artistic sites in the Deccan region of India during the sixteenth and first quarter of the seventeenth centuries. In his con-

cluding paragraphs he suggests "it would be useful if someone experienced in this field could sex the splendid elephant" depicted in a miniature which is not, however, illustrated. The reviewer, an elephant fancier, can state that even a close examination of the appropriate parts may not disclose its sex, only the size of its tusks, or tushes in the female, can make determination certain.

In "An Illustrated Mughal Manuscript from

Ahmadabad," R. Pinder-Wilson discusses a manuscript of the Anwar-i-Suhayli, the Persian translation of Kalila wa-Dimna. Completed in 1009/1600-01, it includes

forty-three miniatures. The writer stresses the point that the style of Mughal court painting was established in provincial centers during the reign of Akbar (1556- 1605). The reader may compare its mature style with the illustrations presented in the essay by Sophie Walzer.

M. Idris Siddiqi in "An Illustrated Manuscript from

Sind," deals with an illustrated romance now in the British Museum. Completed in 1189/1775, it is believed to be the earliest such work executed in Sind.

The final essay, "Qajar Painted Enamels," by D. W. Robinson is an absorbing account of the artisans, known

by name, who made these pieces in nineteenth century Iran. The many illustrations depict objects in the col- lection of the Crown Jewels at Tehran, as well as a num-

ber in foreign collections. This American edition is a local binding of the sheets

of the English edition; the typographical errors of the

original are repeated. There is no index. DONALD N. WILBER

PRINCETON

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