Manuscript containing 10 colourful hand-painted Mughal-style miniatures. The text, probably in the Sindhi language using Perso-Arabic script, is written in a clear and simple style. The painted headpiece and the full-page illustrations were added in after and over the manuscript text, with some parts of the text incorporated into the edges of the illustrations almost as a caption. The general outline of the lines of text underneath the illustrations can be seen when holding the leaves against the light.
The illustrations seem to depict scenes of court or noble life and feature relatively intimate, but never explicit, scenes between some of the people depicted. The first illustration in the work only depicts men holding drinking cups and sitting around a hookah, in the following illustrations women are introduced. The male figure with the red turban with white decorations seems to be the main character, as he returns in every scene and often takes centre stage. Unfortunately, we do not (yet) know if the illustrations match the text and/or were based upon the text or that they were painted onto the manuscript for an unrelated reason. Nevertheless, the vibrant illustrations capture one's attention and imagination.
Mughal style painting typically consisted of realistic portraits of people, with the head drawn in profile, and the body half turned towards the viewer. They are often vibrantly coloured, which can clearly be seen in the present examples. The fine details were traditionally painted with special brushes made of squirrel hair.
The watermark is listed in the Memory of Paper database and dated to 1809-1832. The papermaker is not identified, but the watermark is only mentioned in Portuguese sources, so the paper is most likely of Portuguese origin.
The book block is detached (save for 1 string) from the binding. The front flyleaf is torn, lacking the back flyleaf, the edges of the leaves are slightly frayed, the lower margin is somewhat soiled. Otherwise in good condition. The miniatures remain vibrant and clean. Cf. Bernstein, The memory of paper, ref. nos. 2117, 1640, 467, 2400 and 1970 (watermark).