Prayer Book (Dala'il Al-Khayrat), India, Probably Kashmir, November 1818 CE / Muharram 1233 AH, Lacquer binding; opaque watercolour, ink, and gold on paper, AKM278

Prayer Book (Dala'il Al-Khayrat), India, Probably Kashmir, November 1818 CE / Muharram 1233 AH, Lacquer binding; opaque watercolour, ink, and gold on paper, AKM278

The prayer book "Waymarks of Benefits" (Dala'il al-Khayrat), originally composed in fifteenth-century Morocco, was frequently copied from Senegal to Turkestan, at the western and eastern extremes of the Islamic world. It was the most popular devotional work along the Silk Roads, second only to the Qur'an. While it does not state where it was made, this copy can be confidently attributed to Kashmir, in northern India, based on the illumination marking the book divisions and the inclusion of the paisley motif (boteh) featured on Kashmiri textiles.

Muhammad ibn Sulayman al-Jazuli (d. 1465) (author)

Dimensions: 13.6 x 8.5 x 2 cm

Material: Lacquer binding; opaque watercolour, ink, and gold on paper

AKM278

Kashmir (?)

Photographer credit: Courtesy of the Aga Khan Museum

November 1818 CE / Muharram 1233 AH

Arabic

Aga Khan Museum

(c) The Aga Khan, CC-NC-BY

Prayer Book (Dala'il al-Khayrat)