ISLAM - PROBABLY INDIA - Lot 43

ISLAM - PROBABLY INDIA Real estate deed, dated 1213 H / 1798 A long, beige-colored tumar scroll made of finished woven fabric (or canvas-backed paper), with a few fibers dyed a purplish-red forming horizontal bands at the top and a vertical band on the right side of the document. The Persian text, written in black ink in 29 lines of Shekasteh Nasta’liq script, appears beneath a seal and an administrative formula calligraphically rendered in Thuluth with intertwined letters. At the end of the document are 12 oblique lines, a labeled map, and finally three signatures. 159.5 x 26.5 cm (Stains, creases, water stains, foxing, fraying at the edges, wormholes, minor restorations, pencil marks, text likely erased on the reverse) Note: This document, calligraphed on a scroll of woven and treated textile fibers, exhibits all the characteristics of a real estate deed. Drafted under the authority of the Sheikh al-Islam mentioned in the seal affixed at the top, the deed is issued by the Court of Justice of a city mentioned in the first line, which appears to be Ahmedabad in India: “Baldah Mahfūzah […] Ahmadabad.” It concerns the sale of a house and its land, a map of which appears at the end of the document. While many Iranian towns bear the name Ahmadabad, the mention of rupees in the transaction amount points to an Indian origin. Expert: Camille Celier