Windsor Shahnameh
Windsor Shahnameh of Shahnameh of Qarajaghay Khan[1] (Persian: شاهنامه قرچغای خان) is an illustrated manuscript of Shahnameh, the national epic of Greater Iran. It is one of the most famous manuscripts of the Shahnameh from the 17th century. It dates from 1648 and the painters are Muhammad Qasim and Muhammad Yusuf.[2] The miniatures of this Shahnameh are very similar to the miniatures of the Shahnameh of Rashida, and therefore it has been suggested that these manuscripts have been prepared by same painters.[3] The Windsor Shahnameh contains 148 or 149 miniatures and is written in Nastaʿlīq script by Mohammad Hakim Hosseini by the order of Qarachaqay Khan (one of the commanders-in-chief of Abbas I of Persia). It is one of the best-survived manuscripts of the Shahnameh. It is not clear how and when this version of the Shahnameh was acquired by Ahmad Shah Durrani and subsequently his heir, Kamran Shah. In 1839, the Windsor Shahnameh was presented to Queen Victoria by Kamran Shah, for her support of the Afghans against the Qajar dynasty. This manuscript is now locate in the Royal Library of the Windsor Castle.
