On the Early Collections of the Works of Ġiyāṯ al-Dīn Jamšīd al-Kāšī

Abstract

Ġiyāṯ al-Dīn Jamšīd al-Kāšī (d. 832/1429), also known as Kāšānī, was a prominent astronomer and mathematician in the 9th/15th century and was a central figure at the observatory in Samarqand under the patronage of Ulugh Beg (r. 811–853/1409–1449), the Timurid ruler of Transoxiana. Kāšī’s works have frequently been copied and circulated in bound collective volumes, the earliest of which was produced during Kāšī’s lifetime by his colleague, Muʿīn al-Munajjim al-Kāšī, and is now held as MS Tehran, Malik 3180. This article introduces the second earliest such volume, which is currently held in a private collection in Toronto, Canada. The only dated colophon in MS Toronto is a forgery. Fortunately, I located another copy of Kāšī’s Miftāḥ al-ḥisāb that was transcribed in the same hand and bears a genuine copy date of 881/1476. Thus, MS Toronto was in fact produced approximately fifty years after Kāšī’s death and about eighty years earlier than the spurious colophon would indicate. In addition to resolving further codicological questions, this article highlights the decorative and paleographic features that make this codex an exemplar of the intellectual and material history of Timurid bookmaking. Ultimately, this codex offers valuable new evidence on the early transmission of Kāšī’s works as bound collections.