An illustrated leaf from a dispersed manuscript of the Şah u Geda of Yahya Beg Dukakin-zade (d. after AH 982/AD 1574-75), depicting the Shah interceding of behalf of the beggar Geda Ottoman Turkey, 16th/17th Century


Ottoman Turkish manuscript on paper, 17 lines to the page written in two columns of naskhi script in black ink, first line written within gold cartouches, one heading written in red ink within a gold cartouche, intercolumnar rules and inner margins ruled in gold (lacking on text verso) leaf 256 x 165 mm.
|ProvenancePrivate UK collection.For the text, see E. J. W. Gibb, History of Ottoman Poetry, vol. III, pp. 122-25 & 368-70. A copy of this work is in the Bodleian Library: see G. Kut, Supplementary catalogue of Turkish Manuscripts in the Bodleian Library, Oxford 2003, pp. 146–47, no. 207, Ms. Turk. e. 73.In this scene, the Shah has offered to intercede on behalf of the love-struck beggar, Geda. After swearing the Shah to secrecy, the Beggar holds up a mirror and tells the Shah to look in it if he wishes to know the identity of his beloved (see Gibb, op. cit., p. 369).