Prayer Book (Dala'il Al-Khayrat), India, Probably Kashmir, 1818, pasteboard, paint, lacquer; opaque watercolour, ink, and gold on paper, AKM278

Prayer Book (Dala'il Al-Khayrat), India, Probably Kashmir, 1818, pasteboard, paint, lacquer; opaque watercolour, ink, and gold on paper, AKM278

The prayer book "Waymarks of Benefits" (Dala"il al-Khayrat), originally composed in fifteenth-century Morocco, was frequently copied from Senegal to Turkestan, at the western and eastern extremes of the Islamic world. It was the most popular devotional work along the Silk Roads, second only to the Qur'an. While it does not state where and when it was made, this copy can be confidently attributed to Kashmir, in northern India, based on the illumination marking the book divisions and the inclusion of the boteh (paisley) motif, featured on Kashmiri textiles.

Muhammad (d. 1465)

Aga Khan Museum

November 1818

(c) The Aga Khan, CC-NC-BY

Dimensions: 13.6 x 8.5 x 2 cm

Material: pasteboard, paint, lacquer; opaque watercolour, ink, and gold on paper

Arabic

AKM 278

Kashmir