An Illustrated Copy of Nava’i’s Khamseh by Pir Ahmed bin İskender: TSMK. H. 802

Ali Shir Nava’i (d.1501) was a famous statesman, poet and linguist, a political and cultural identity in the Timurid capital, Herat at the end of the 15th century. The subject of this research is the first and only illustrated copy of Ali Shir Nava’i’s Khamseh, which was produced in the Ottoman Royal Atelier. The colophon on folio 309v of this copy, dating 937/1530-31, shows that the calligrapher, bookbinder and the painter of this Khamseh as Pir Ahmed bin Iskender. This copy includes a total of 16 illustrations, two of which depict scenes from Hayrat-ul-abrar, seven of which depict scenes from Farhadva Shirin, three of which depict scenes from Layli va Majnun, three of which depict scenes from Sab'ai Sayyar and one of which depicts scenes from Sadd-i-Iskandari. This manuscript, which appears to be an original example with both the choice of subject in the paintings and the style of the paintings, is important in terms of pioneering the historical and literary manuscripts prepared in the period of Suleiman the Magnificent and after wards.