Muhammad Juki’s Shahnamah of Firdausi

This study focuses on a particular manuscript of Firdausi’s epic poem the Shahnamah produced in the late 1440s for the Timurid Muhammad Juki, seventh son of Shah Rukh. The manuscript contains thirty-one exquisite miniature paintings depicting scenes from the epic and is regarded by some as the finest surviving Persian illustrated manuscript. This monograph, the first complete study of the manuscript, provides a detailed analysis of the cycle of illustrations, and is accompanied by a commentary on the manuscript notes by A.H. Morton, which offers telling insights into the practices of the Mughal library where it was kept for many years.