Windsor Shahnameh
Illustration — Soloman and the Bilqis enthroned together attended by angels, demons, animals, birds, and Asaf the vizier, Frontispiece of a Windsor Shahnameh painted by Malik Husayn Isfahani The Windsor Shahnameh or Shahnameh of Qarajaghay Khan is an illustrated manuscript of the Shahnameh, the national epic of Greater Iran. It is one of the most famous manuscripts of the Shahnameh, dating from 1648. The painters are Muhammad Qasim and Muhammad Yusuf.
Windsor Shahnameh
Malik Husayn Isfahani · Public domain
- Date
- 1648
- Language
- Persian
- Material
- ink · gouache paint
- Held by
- Royal Collection
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wikidata · Q5943957 · wikipedia · Windsor Shahnameh
In this article
The object
The miniatures of this Shahnameh are very similar to the miniatures of the Shahnameh of Rashida, and therefore it has been suggested that these manuscripts have been prepared by the same painters. The Windsor Shahnameh contains 148 or 149 miniatures and is written in Nastaʿlīq script by Mohammad Hakim Hosseini to the order of Qarachaqay Khan (one of the commanders-in-chief of Abbas I of Persia). It is in very good condition compared to other manuscripts of the Shahnameh. It is not clear how and when this version of the Shahnameh was acquired by Ahmad Shah Durrani and subsequently his heir, Kamran Shah. In 1839, the Windsor Shahnameh was presented to Queen Victoria by Kamran Shah, for her support of the Afghans against the Qajar dynasty. The manuscript is now in the Royal Collection and usually in the library at Windsor Castle.
Materials recorded for it are ink and gouache paint. Recorded constituent parts are Isfandiyar in disguise is recognized by his sisters. It is associated with Safavid Iran. The record gives 1648 as its date of establishment or first appearance. It is recorded in the collection of Royal Collection.
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Part of the biographical narrative on this page reuses licensed material. Its origin, revision and licence are recorded here.
The biographical narrative on this page is based on the Wikipedia article Windsor Shahnameh, revision 1346050791 (EN edition), by its contributors. VALÉORINE has edited that text and built its own documentary record around it. The reused material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, and this page's reuse of it is offered under the same licence. Everything else on this page — the chronology, the holdings, the evidence, the plates and the connections — is VALÉORINE's own record. Sources and licences.
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The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 16 August 2026.
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