A VERY FINE AND RARE MUGHAL ENAMELLED DAGGER (KARD) WITH VELVET COVERED SHEATH

Description:

Probably Jammu und Kashmir, North India, dated AH 1189/1775-76 AD
L. 35 cm
Steel blade, the hilt, locket and chape decorated in various deity figures with polychrome enamels on blue enamelled ground, the spine with Shi'a avocations and prayers in gold on blue enamel, the tip of the pommel with a prayer and dated AH 1189.
In Arabic, on the back edge of the hilt - ‘O Lord, for the sake of Muhammad and the family of Muhammad, ‘Ali, and Fatima the daughter of Muhammad, Hasan and Husayn’
In Arabic and Persian, on the front edge of the hilt - ‘For every catastrophe that occurs recite seventy times / There is no hero but ‘Ali no sword but Dhul-Fiqar’
In Arabic and Persian, on the base of the hilt - from the Qur’an, LXI, suraal-saff, part v.13: Help from God and speedy victory / Brings forth an answer at the court of God
In Arabic, on the side of the scabbard - an invocation to ‘Ali
In Arabic, along the edge of the scabbard - invocations to God - ‘O Judge of Needs! And O Sufficient in Necessities! And O Answerer of Supplications!’
Box.
Al Thani Collection, Qatar sold by Christie's New York, sale 'Maharajas & Mughal Magnificence', 19 June 2019, lot 379 - Private collection purchased at the above noted sale
Published and exhibited:
The Doge’s Palace, Venice 2017, p. 190, no. 127
The Palace Museum, Beijing 2018, pp. 214-245, no. 131
The decoration on this dagger and scabbard displays a rare combination of Muslim prayers alongside images of Hindu deities. The inscriptions are derived from both the Qur’an as well as Shi’a sources. The figures of Indian gods and goddesses including the multi-armed goddess Durga, Vishnu seated under a five-headed serpent and the monkey god Hanuman illustrate an influence of eighteenth century North Indian painting from Kashmir and Pahari states (Beijing 2018, p.214). The turquoise enamelling used for the ground on the hilt as well as the fittings on the scabbard is highly unusual.