On the Trail of an Ottoman Kelile ve Dimne

Abstract

This article analyzes a twenty-seven folio partial manuscript in the British Library (BL) collections with the shelf number Or. 7354, which is an Ottoman translation of the famous book of fables Kalila and Dimna with four paintings in it. The article identifies folios and paintings from the manuscript that were dispersed to three other collections besides the BL. In the first two decades of the twentieth century this manuscript was dispersed to the collections of the British Library, Boston Museum of Fine Arts, Bibliothéque Nationale de France and Bibliothèque Universitaire des Langues et Civilisations (BULAC). When compared with the famous imperial manuscripts Nusretnâme (TSMK H. 1365) and Tarih-i Hind-i Garbi (BDK 4969) on the basis of marginal illuminations and the naskh script, it becomes possible to suggest that the manuscript was produced in the same context as these other two, possibly for the chief eunuch of the palace Gazanfer Agha, to be presented to either Murad III or Mehmed III.

This article is an expanded version of the paper presented at the “Ottoman Book Arts and Illustrated Manuscripts: New Examples Symposium”, organised by the Atatürk Cultural Centre in Istanbul on 21 November 2024.

No artificial intelligence-based tools or applications were used in the preparation of this study. All content has been produced by myself in accordance with scientific research methods and academic ethical principles.

The study does not require ethics committee approval, and the data used were obtained through a literature review / published sources. It is declared that scientific and ethical principles were followed during the preparation of the study and that all referenced works are listed in the bibliography.

arisdergisi@akmb.gov.tr

This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC).

The journal is indexed in TR Dizin, ERIH PLUS and J-GATE INDEXING.

There is no potential conflict of interest in this study.

“I would like to thank Michael Erdman and Nil Baydar for their assistance during this project. I would also like to extend my sincere thanks to the audience members at the November 2024 symposium “Ottoman Book Arts and Illustrated Manuscripts: New Examples” and at my presentation at ANAMED in December 2025 for their questions and observations. This study was supported by funds from the Norma Jean Calderwood University Professorship at Boston College.”