Binding oriental, of dark red leather with medallions and corners, stamped with floral ornament filled in with gold. The flap has the same decoration. The paper is oriental, thick, slightly glossy. The manuscript is in good condition, slightly restored on margins.
The text is written in Indian ink, text headings in gold with floral ornament in gold, red and blue. The ms. starts with the prose preface (ff. 2v - 10r), inc..: Sipas-i afarin-i khuday-ra…, under a very good sarlauh, ff. 2v-3r. The satire on Sultan Mahmud is on ff. 6v -7r. The text of the Shahnama begins on f. 10v under an 'unvan in blue, gold, red and light blue of a very refined design and execution. Incipit of the poem is normative. The text, at least in those passages that are illustrated, is close to the standard editions.
Another 'unvan is on f. 310v, for the start of the reign of Luhrasp.
The copy contains 20 illustrations, including a double-page frontispiece of a hunting scene. The choice of scenes is quite traditional, all being frequently depicted in other mss, and the placement of the paintings in the text is also accurate, so that there is a close coordination between text and image. The painting on f. 84v has been retouched later; several of the others show signs of deterioration. (F.A.).
