MATERIAL: Paper
TYPE: Manuscript
DIMENSIONS: 13.7 x 22.7 cm
COMPONENTS: Ink and opaque watercolour on paper, Rajasthani in black Jainanagari script to the page, 11 folios, keywords in red, central pothi motifs consisting of arrangements of red and yellow squares, borders ruled in red and yellow, 3 full-page illustrations, 5 further illustrations (8 total illustrations) and 4 decorative headpieces.
ITEM ID: 3480
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Illustrated Hindi Divination Manual

DATE
Year: 1718
Decade: 1710s
Century: 18th (1701-1800)

This marvellously illustrated divinatory work, written in Jainanagari script and in typical Jain format, is a testament to the influence of Jain scribes throughout Rajasthan. Although the scribe (according to the colophon) was a Jain monk called Subhasagara Gani, the illustrations to the work – including depictions of Ganesha, Sita and Krishna – fall squarely within the Hindu tradition. Jains were famous not only for their skill as copyists, but also for the expert divinatory knowledge of the kind manifested in this manuscript. The colophon also states that the work was completed in Samvat 1775/1718 CE in ‘Bhoika in Phalavada,’ probably Phalodhi in Bikaner state. Bikaner was one of the main centres of Jainism in Rajasthan, and as in the other Rathor states (Marwar, Kishingarh), Jainism was allowed to flourish there freely.The work appears to have originally belonged to a compendium of works on astrology, divinations and veterinary medicine (see no. 1). The contents of the work are as follows:Folios 1r-2v: Two leaves from a divinatory work giving ten possible answers to questions posed to an oracle. The upper borders are charmingly decorated with colourful floral scrolls and birds.Folio 3: A single leaf concerning the sixteen velas, divisions of the day, with an illustration of an eight-armed goddess seated on a lotus, on the verso.Folios 4r-5r: Three folios from a divinatory text by a certain Pragadasa of Udaipur. The reverse of the folio 6 contains a colophon giving the date ‘Vikram Samvat 1775 (1718 CE)’, the name of the scribe ‘Subhasagara Gani’, resident of ‘Bhoika in Phalavada’.Folios 5v-6v: Three from a work called Sitavela by a certain Vajiu. The first folio contains an illustration of the elephant-god Ganesha, the second consisting of a colophon reiterating the scribe, date and place of production. The final folio is a depiction of Ram and Sita enthroned, with Lakshmana and Hanuman standing in attendance.Folios 7r-11v: Five further leaves, each illustrated, relating to the seven days of the week, the fifteen days of the lunar fortnight, lists of lagana (horoscopes) and naksatra (constellations). One folio also contains a full-page depiction of Krishna stealing the clothes of the bathing Gopi girls, who are seen naked in a stream teeming with fish and tortoises.

ARTISTS
Name: Subhasagara Gani
Type: Scribe

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