Kalila et Dimna (Topkaki H.363)

Kalila et Dimna (Topkaki H.363) est un des plus anciens manuscripts illustrés du Kalila et Dimna, datant de la fin du 13ième siècle. Rédigé en persan, il fut créé en Iraq, à Bagdad ou Mossoul, vers 1265-1280, juste après les conquètes Mongoles de ces deux villes (Bataille de Bagdad (1258), Siege de Mosul (1261))^[1].

Pourtant, le manuscript ne présente pas encore les «éléments chinois» généralement associés aux influences mongoles^[1]. Le commanditaire original de la traduction, le souverain ghaznévide Bahram-Shah de Ghazna (reigne 1117–1152), y est représenté en frontispice et dans le texte^[2]. C’est Bahram-Shah de Ghazna, souverain ghaznévide, qui, entre 1143 et 1146, chargea Abu’l-Ma’ali Nasrallah de traduire le Kalila wa Dimna de l’arabe en persan^[3].

Ce manuscrit est le plus ancien manuscrit connu du Kalila wa-Dimna en langue persane^[4]^,^[5].

Frontispice, avec illustration the Bahram Shah sur son trône, et scène de remise du livre Kalila et Dimna
Scène animale, montrant un chien et son reflet dans l'eau
Un homme avec des oiseaux

References

Bernard O'Kane, Early Persian painting: Kalila and Dimna manuscripts of the late fourteenth century, London, Tauris, 2003 (ISBN 978-1860648526), p. 41
↑ Turks: a journey of a thousand years, 600-1600, London : New York, Royal Academy of Arts ; Distributed in the U.S. and Canada by Harry N. Abrams, 2005 (ISBN 978-1903973578), p. 386, item 37 :
« (...)The frontispiece depicts, on the right-hand side, a scene of textual transmission with scholars and scribes, culminating, on the left hand-side, in a scene of enthronement where the book is being presented. This pictorial juxtaposition of textual transmission and courtly patronage is replayed in Nasr Allah Munshi's introduction, where the patron of the translation, Bahram Shah, is praised and portrayed in an enthronement scene (fol.6a). »
↑ Aptin Khanbaghi, The Mongols' Middle East: Continuity and Transformation in Ilkhanid Iran, Brill, 2016, « Champions of the Persian Language: The Mongols or the Turks? », p. 199
↑ « KALILA WA DEMNA iii. ILLUSTRATIONS », sur Encyclopaedia Iranica : « The earliest illustrated Arabic manuscripts that have survived date from the beginning of the 13th century, while the earliest illustrated Persian example (Istanbul, Topkapi Saray Library, MS H. 363) is from the last quarter of that century. »
↑ Anna Contadini, Arab painting: text and image in illustrated Arabic manuscripts, Leiden Boston, Brill, 2010, 2nd rev. éd. (ISBN 978-90-04-18630-9), p. 140 :
« ...the earliest surviving Persian manuscript of the text, H. 363 of the Topkapı Saray Library, datable to 1265–80. »

Portail du Moyen Âge
Portail de l’Irak

[Kane-1] Bernard O'Kane, Early Persian painting: Kalila and Dimna manuscripts of the late fourteenth century, London, Tauris, 2003 (ISBN 978-1860648526), p. 41

[2] Turks: a journey of a thousand years, 600-1600, London : New York, Royal Academy of Arts ; Distributed in the U.S. and Canada by Harry N. Abrams, 2005 (ISBN 978-1903973578), p. 386, item 37 :
« (...)The frontispiece depicts, on the right-hand side, a scene of textual transmission with scholars and scribes, culminating, on the left hand-side, in a scene of enthronement where the book is being presented. This pictorial juxtaposition of textual transmission and courtly patronage is replayed in Nasr Allah Munshi's introduction, where the patron of the translation, Bahram Shah, is praised and portrayed in an enthronement scene (fol.6a). »

[:0-3] Aptin Khanbaghi, The Mongols' Middle East: Continuity and Transformation in Ilkhanid Iran, Brill, 2016, « Champions of the Persian Language: The Mongols or the Turks? », p. 199

[4] « KALILA WA DEMNA iii. ILLUSTRATIONS », sur Encyclopaedia Iranica : « The earliest illustrated Arabic manuscripts that have survived date from the beginning of the 13th century, while the earliest illustrated Persian example (Istanbul, Topkapi Saray Library, MS H. 363) is from the last quarter of that century. »

[5] Anna Contadini, Arab painting: text and image in illustrated Arabic manuscripts, Leiden Boston, Brill, 2010, 2nd rev. éd. (ISBN 978-90-04-18630-9), p. 140 :
« ...the earliest surviving Persian manuscript of the text, H. 363 of the Topkapı Saray Library, datable to 1265–80. »

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