Zone d'identification
Cote
Titre
Date(s)
- [1861-1899] (Création/Production)
- 1424 (Création/Production)
Niveau de description
Étendue matérielle et support
Handwritten inscription paper on cloth, 49 x 102 cm
Zone du contexte
Nom du producteur
Notice biographique
Henry Ferdinand (Heinrich) Blochmann (8 January 1838 – 13 July 1878), was a German orientalist and scholar of Persian language and literature who spent most of his career in India, where he worked first as a professor, and eventually as the principal at Calcutta Madrasa, now Aliah University in present Kolkata. He authored one of the first major English translations of Ain-i-Akbari, the 16th-century Persian language chronicle of Mughal emperor Akbar, published in 1873.
Born in Dresden he came to England in 1858 and enlisted in the British Army so that he could travel to India. After leaving the army he joined the Peninsular and Oriental Company as an interpreter. He was befriended by William Nassau Lees, the principal of the Calcutta Madrasa, and Blochmann, aged 22, became an assistant professor of Arabic and Persian there. In 1861 he graduated M.A. and LL.D. at the University of Calcutta, choosing Hebrew for the subject of his examination. In the following year he left the Madrasa to become pro-rector and professor of mathematics, at Doveton College; but returned to the Madrasa in 1865, and remained there for the rest of his life. He was principal when he died in 1878.
Histoire archivistique
It is unknown who created this epigraph and how it became part of the Society's collections.
Source immédiate d'acquisition ou de transfert
The immediate source of acquisition is unknown.
Zone du contenu et de la structure
Portée et contenu
A copy of the foundation epigraph from the Jama Masjid, Ahmedabad. This is written in black ink on paper which has been mounted onto cloth. The epigraph translates as: 'This lofty edifice and extensive mosque was built by the slave who trusts and returns and has recourse to the mercy of God who is kind, who alone is to be worshipped according to the Qur'an verse: "Verily, the Mosques belong to God; worship no one else with Him" - by the slave who trusts in the helping God, Nasiruddunya waddin Abul Fath Ahmad Shah, son of Muhammad Shah, son of Muzaffar, the king. The date of its erection from the flight of the Prophet (God's blessings on him) is the first day of Safar (may the month end successfully and Victoriously) of the year 827 [4 January 1424]. (This translation was undertaken by H. Blochmann in his article 'Eight Arabic and Persian Inscriptions', Indian Antiquary 1875, pp. 289-293.)
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
System of arrangement
Zone des conditions d'accès et d'utilisation
Conditions d’accès
Open. Please contact the archivist. Details can be found here : https://royalasiaticarchives.org/. The archive is open on Tuesdays and Fridays 10-5, and Thursdays 2-5. Access is to any researcher without appointment but it will help if an appointment is made via phone or email. Please bring photo ID.
Conditions governing reproduction
Digital photography (without flash) for research purposes may be permitted upon completion of a copyright declaration form, and with respect to current UK copyright law.
Language of material
- arabe
Script of material
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Caractéristiques matérielle et contraintes techniques
Finding aids
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Existence and location of copies
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Mots-clés - Sujets
Mots-clés - Lieux
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Mots-clés - Genre
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Identifiant du service d'archives
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Niveau de détail
Dates of creation revision deletion
This catalogue was created by Nancy Charley, RAS Archivist, in 2024.