Kitāb al-sul wa-al-umnīyah fī taʿlīm al-furūsīyah كتاب السول والأمنية في تعلم أعمال الفروسية [Aqsarā’ī, Muḥammad ibn ʿĪsá أقسرائي، محمد بن عيسى]

Content

A Mamluk manual on horsemanship, military arts and technology, also known as Nihāyat al-sūl wa-al-umnīyah fī taʿlīm ʿamal al-furūsiyya (نهاية السول والأمنية في تعليم عمل الفروسية), attributed to Muḥammad ibn ‘Īsá ibn Ismā‘īl al-Ḥanafī al-Aqsarā’ī (أقسرائي، محمد بن عيسى بن اسماعيل) (died c.1349).

The copy was completed on 20 Shaʿbān 785/18 October 1383 by the scribe ʿAlī ibn Ḥāmid ibn Abī Bakr al-Buwayṭī al-Shāfiʿī (علي ابن حامد ابن ابي بكر البويطي الشافعي, see colophon Section at the end of a manuscript text. , f. 166r, transcribed below).

The scribe attributes the compilation of this work to Najm al-Dīn al-Aḥdab (نجم الدين الأحدب, died 694/1294-5) and he also credits 'the two masters' (ومَن معه مِن الأستاذين), possibly Najm al-Dīn's successive disciples, ʿIzz al-Dīn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz al-Rammāḥ (عز الدين عبد العزيز الرماح) and al-Aqsarā’ī. A number of illustrated copies of this work are known, including British Library Add. MS 18866. The present volume's planned illustrations were never completed; blank spaces accompanied by detailed captions are found throughout the text, mainly in the chapter on swordsmanship.

Contents:

• Introduction (ff. 2v-20v) [on the virtues of jihad];
• Book 1: Instruction in archery (الكتاب الأول في التعليم لرماية النشاب, ff. 20v-25v);
• Book on the illnesses that afflict the archer's body (كتاب في العلل التي تلحق الرامي في بدنه, ff. 25v-29r);
• Book 3: Instruction in the lance (الكتاب الثالث في تعليم الرمح, ff. 29r-72v);
• Teaching 3: Swordsmanship (التعليم الثالث في العمل بالسيف, ff. 72v-94v);
• Teaching 4: The shield (التعليم الرابع في الترس, ff. 94v-95v);
• Teaching 5: Using the mace (التعليم الخامس في العمل بالعمود ff. 95v-96r);
• Teaching 6: The art of soldiers and cavalrymen (التعليم السادس في صناعة الجنود والفرسان, ff. 96r-101r);
• Teaching 7: Discussion of weapons (التعليم السابع في ذكر الأسلحة, ff. 101r-120r);
• Teaching 8: The conscription, assembling and management of troops (التعليم الثامن في عقد الجيوش وجمعها والاتها, ff. 120v-129v);
• Section on the battle lines (فصل في الصفوف, ff. 129v-134r). Add. MS 18866 entitles this chapter 'Teaching 9: Arrangement of battle lines by the general' (التعليم التاسع في تعبية الأمير الصفوف في القتال);
• Teaching 10: Military strategies with incendiaries (التعليم العاشر في المكايد الحربية من تسليط النيران, ff. 134r-136v);
• Teaching 11: The division of spoils (التعليم الحادي عشر في قسمة الغنائم, ff. 136v-160r);
• Teaching 12: What the soldier needs to know (التعليم الثاني عشر فيما يحتاج إليه المحارب وغيره, ff. 160r-166r).

The text includes a number of extracts from other works including poetic verses, passages from the Greek military writer The lowest of the four classes into which East India Company civil servants were divided. A Writer’s duties originally consisted mostly of copying documents and book-keeping. Aelian's (اليانس) treatise Tactica (written ca 106 CE), and a treatise on sword making by the philosopher al-Kindī, addressed to the Caliph al-Mu‘taṣim (باب في السيوف وأنواعها وسقاياتها وهي رسالة أبي يوسف يعقوب ابن اسحق الكندي لأمير المؤمنين المعتصم, f. 90v).

Spaces left for illustrations, with captions:

• 'Illustration of two horsemen whose lance-heads are between each other's shoulder-blades' (صورة فارسين سنان كل واحد منهما بين كتفي صاحبه, f. 60r);
• Caption is water-damaged and erased (f. 61r). The caption is visible offset on the facing page: 'Illustration of a number of horsemen [taking part in a contest, their lances on] their shoulders' (صورة عدة الفرسان [يلعبون ناوردًا ورماحهم على] أكتافهم, f. 60v);
• 'Illustration of a horseman taking part in a game with a lance, the lance-head being in his hand and its shaft to his rear' (صورة فارس يلعب برمح وسنان الرمح في يده وعقبه الى خلف, f. 62v);
• 'Illustration of a horseman on a steed, brandishing two lances in his hand' (صورة فارس علي جواد وبيده رمحين يلعب بهما, f. 67v);
• 'Illustration on a horseman standing up in his saddle on the steed and impaling a bear from [...] the horse' (صورة فارس قد قام في سرجه على جواد أنهم وقد طعن دب من [...] الفرس, f. 69v);
• 'Illustration of a horseman brandishing his sword, riding a furious steed' (صورة فارس يلعب بسيف على جواد أشهب, f. 74r);
• 'Illustration of a horseman with a sword in his hand and his sleeve wound over his hand as he rises out of his saddle and strikes with the sword' (صورة فارس وفي يده سيف وكمه ملفوف علي يده وهو بارز عن سرجه وهو يضرب بالسيف, f. 75v);
• 'Illustration of a horseman with a sword in his hand with which he strikes from the horse's ear as far back as its right croup' (صورة فارس وبيده سيف يضرب به من أذن الفرس الى كفله الأيمن, f. 77r);
• 'Illustration of a horseman on a red steed with the edge of the sword under his right armpit, the hilt in his left hand with the reins' (صورة الفارس وهو على جواد أحمر وذبابة السيف تحت إبطه الأيمن والقائم في يساره مع العنان, f. 78v);
• 'Illustration of a horseman with a small shield around his neck and a sword in his hand which he brandishes left and right' (صورة فارس مقلدٍ بدرقة صغيرة وفي يده سيف يلوح به يمينًا وشمالاً, f. 80r);
• 'Illustration of a horseman with a hide shield over his face, the sword edge under his right armpit and the hilt on his left' (صورة فارس ودرقة على وجهه وذبابة السيف تحت إبطه الأيمن والقائم في شماله, f. 80v);
• 'Illustration of a horseman with an iron helmet on his head, with a sword. A fire is lit on the helmet, the sword blade and in the middle of the shield' (صورة فارس على رأسه خوذة حديد ومعه سيف والنار تؤجج في الخوذة وفي ذباب السيف ووسط الترس, f. 81v);
• 'Illustration of a horseman with a sword in his right hand, its blade on his left shoulder and a sword in his left hand whose blade is under his right armpit' (صورة فارس ومعه سيف في يده اليمنى وذبابته على كتفه اليسري وفي يده اليسري سيف وذبابة تحت إبطه اليمني, f. 82r);
• 'Illustration of a horseman with a sword in his left hand and its tip under his left armpit' (صورة فارس في يده اليسار سيف وذبابة تحت إبطه الأيمن, f. 83r);
• 'Illustration of two horsemen wheeling around, with a sword in each one's hand on the horse's back' (صورة فارسين متجاولين في يديهما سيفين كل واحد منهما سيفه على متنه, f. 84r);
• 'Illustration of a horseman with two swords and two small hide shields, one up at his face and the other in his hand with the sword' (صورة فارس ومعه سيفين ودرقتين صغار درقة على وجهه والأخري في يده مع السيف الواحد, f. 84v);
• 'Illustration of a horseman with a lance in his hand which he is dragging behind him, and a shield in his other hand' (صورة فارس في يده رمح يجرّه ورأه وفي يده الأخري ترس, f. 86r);
• 'Illustration of a horseman with a lance in his hand which he is brandishing, and a shield [...] taking part in a contest' (صورة فارس بيده رمح يلعب به ودرقته [...] يلعب ناورداً, f. 86v);
• 'Illustration of four horsemen, each one with a sword and a hide shield, and each one carrying his shield on his horse's croup' (صورة أربع فوارس مع كل واحد منهم سيف ودرقة وكل منهم درقته على كفل فرسه, f. 88r).

Diagrams: Executed in red ink, with captions.

• Space left for a table of the 'dispatches' (تساريح) of Shaykh Najm al-Dīn al-Aḥdab, with caption صورة الجدول (f. 46r);
• Twelve diagrams of dressage patterns (ميادين, ff. 54v-57r);
• Diagram of a parade ground (الموكب, ff. 57v-58r);
• 'Seven figures' [of military insignia] (سبعة أشكال, ff. 122v-125r);
• Three sketches of Euclidean figures (أشكال أقليدس, see f. 128r, line 14) used by the ancient Greeks as military insignia (ff. 128r-128v and 129r);
• A mangonel missile (f. 135v).

Begins (f. 2v, lines 1-4):

...الحمد لله ناصر من أطاعه واتّقاه

وكاسر من حاده وعصاه ورادع من أعرض عنه وعاداه ووادع من اعتقد أن لا إله

سواه أحمده حمد من أيقن بنفعه وضرره وأذعن لقضائه وقدره وبذل مهجته

في نصرة دينه وأقرّ بالوحدانية انقيادًا لتمكينه

Ends (f. 166r, lines 8-10):

مرهم النورة المستعمل وحده يؤخذ نورة وتشد في خرقة رقيقة

وتحرك في إناء فيه ماء حتى يخرج ما فيه من النورة ويبقى التفل ويترك حتى

يصفوا ثم يصب الماء عنه ويلقى عليه زيت ويضرب حتى يجتمع ويستعمل

Colophon Section at the end of a manuscript text. (f. 166r, lines 11-16):

وبتمام هذه المراهم تم كتاب السول والأمنية

في تعلم أعمال الفروسية

وواقف الفراغ منه بحمد لله وعونه يوم الأحد العشرين من شهر شعبان

المكرم من شهور عام خمس وثمانين وسبعمائة أحسن الله عاقبتها علي

يد العبد الفقير الى الله تعالى علي ابن حامد ابن ابي بكر البويطي الشافعي

غفر الله له ولمالك هذه (!) الكتاب والحمد لله وحده

Extent and format

Codex A collection of pages, usually gathered into quires, and bound between covers. ; ff. iv+166+iv; f. 1 missing.

Physical characteristics

Material: Eastern laid paper

Dimensions: 250 x 176 mm leaf [203 x 135 mm written; varies]

Foliation: Catchwords on every folio verso The back of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'v'. ; binding and collation notes at the beginning and end of each quire Collection of papers folded in half and stitched together to form a gathering of folios. . British Museum foliation in pencil beginning on current f. 2r.

Ruling: Misṭarah ; varying lines per page (from 15 to 28, average 21)

Script: Naskh

Ink: Black ink, with rubricated headings

Decoration: Illuminated gold and blue heading on f. 2r

Binding: Full red leather binding decorated with blind tooling

Condition: Reasonable; many tears and old repairs to first few folios; extensive water damage to beginning and some damage throughout volume, especially at lower edge where ink has frequently run or transferred to the facing page

Marginalia: Infrequent marginal additions and corrections in the same hand throughout; partially obscured reading note (f. 2r); excerpt from Hāfiẓ (f. 2r); marginal doodle (f. 55r); prayer in a different hand in space left for illustration (f. 77r);

Seals: Taylor's seal (f. 2r); British Museum stamps (f. 2r, f. 61r, and f. 166v).

Written in

Arabic in Arabic script

Type

Manuscript

Access & Reference

Original held at

British Library: Oriental Manuscripts

Access conditions

Unrestricted

Archive reference

Add MS 23487

History of this record

Date(s)

20 Shaʿbān 785 (AH, Hijri qamari)

Provenance

Colonel Robert Taylor (1788-1852), Political Resident A senior ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul General) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Residency. in Baghdad (1828-43): his seal, undated, with legend عبده تيلر (f. 2r);

Ībrahīm (ابراهيم): his inscription (in Arabic), dated 1082/1671-2 (f. 80r).

Immediate source of acquisition

Purchased from Mrs Taylor, widow of Colonel Robert Taylor (1788-1852), Political Resident A senior ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul General) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Residency. in Baghdad (1828-43), 14 April 1860

Related material

Finding aids

Cureton, William and Charles Rieu, Catalogus codicum manuscriptorum orientalium qui in Museo Britannico asservantur. Pars secunda, codices arabicos amplectens (London: The British Museum, 1846-71), Item 1462, pp. 667.

Select Bibliography

Partial translations:

Jensen, Kjersti Enger, The Mamluk Lancer: A philological study of Nihāyat al-suʾl wa-ʾl-ʾumnīya fī taʿlīm ʾaʿmāl al-furūsīya (Unpublished Master's thesis, University of Oslo, 2013).

Tantum, Geoffrey, 'Muslim warfare: a study of a medieval Muslim treatise on the art of war', in Islamic Arms and Armour , Robert Elgood, ed. (London: Scolar Press, 1979).

Studies:

Al-Sarraf, Shihab, 'Mamluk Furūsīyah Literature and Its Antecedents', Mamluk Studies Review Vol. 8/1, pp. 141-200 (Chicago: Middle East Documentation Center, The University of Chicago, 2004).

G. Rex Smith, Medieval Muslim Horsemanship. A Fourteenth-Century Arabic Cavalry Manual (London: The British Library 1979).

Marzo, Flavio, 'A book binder for Mr Taylor', BL Collection care blog, 23 June 2014, https://blogs.bl.uk/collectioncare/2014/06/a-book-binder-for-mr-taylor.html

Subjects

Chivalry--Early works to 1800Aqsarāʼī, Muḥammad ibn ʻĪsá, -1349? Nihāyat al-sul wa-al-umniyah fī taʻlīm aʻmāl al-furūsīyah

People & organisations

Najm al-Dīn Ayyūb Aḥdab al-RammāḥMuḥammad ibn ‘Īsá AqsarāʼīEuclidKindī

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Kitāb al-sul wa-al-umnīyah fī taʿlīm al-furūsīyah كتاب السول والأمنية في تعلم أعمال الفروسية [Aqsarā’ī, Muḥammad ibn ʿĪsá أقسرائي، محمد بن عيسى], British Library: Oriental Manuscripts, Add MS 23487, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100073295026.0x000001> [accessed 19 April 2024]

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