The ''Ni'matnāmah Naṣir al-Dīn Shāhī'' ( Naskh: ; ) (c. 1500) is a

medieval India Medieval India refers to a long period of Post-classical history of the Indian subcontinent between the "ancient period" and "modern period". It is usually regarded as running approximately from the breakup of the Gupta Empire in the 6th cen ...

n cookbook, written in

Persian language Persian (), also known by its endonym Farsi (, ', ), is a Western Iranian language belonging to the Iranian branch of the Indo-Iranian subdivision of the Indo-European languages. Persian is a pluricentric language predominantly spoken a ...

using Naskh script, of delicacies and recipes, and some accompanying paintings illustrating the preparation of the recipes. It was started for Ghiyath Shah (r. 1469–1500), the ruler of the

Malwa Sultanate The Malwa Sultanate ( fa, ) (Pashto: ; ''lit: Mālwā Salṭanat'') was a late medieval Islamic sultanate in the Malwa region, covering the present day Indian states of Madhya Pradesh and south-eastern Rajasthan from 1392 to 1562. It was fo ...

in central India. After he was forced to abdicate, it was completed for his son 'Abd al-Muzaffar Nasir Shah. (r. 1500–10). Some of the illustrations have women painted wearing men's various types of Persian and Indian garments and turbans, including a specific style of turban which is also featured in Turkman style paintings of 1470s. The style of the surrounding landscape are influenced by the Turkmen style of the last third of the 15th century. The Manuscript is in the

British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and is one of the largest libraries in the world. It is estimated to contain between 170 and 200 million items from many countries. As a legal deposit library, the British ...

, London. It was first written about by Robert Skelton, museum curator and scholar of Indian art (1929–2022), in 1959. At least two artists collaborated in illustrating the Ni'mat nāmā. These artists emphasized different features of Turkmen style of Shirazi painting that was contemporary at that time. The illustrations also introduced representations of indigenous costumes of Malwa and Indian facial types. Such stylistic innovations are also seen in paintings from the Cāurāpāncāsika (Chaurapanchasika) series. This suggests that reciprocal influences were at work between centers of painting of Muslim and Hindu patronage. File:Nimmatnama-i Nasiruddin-Shahi 283.jpg, A page from ''Nimatnama-i-Nasiruddin-Shahi'' which documents the fine art of making

kheer Kheer, also known as payasam, is a sweet dish and a type of wet pudding popular in the Indian subcontinent, usually made by boiling milk, sugar or jaggery, and rice, although rice may be substituted with one of the following: daals, bulgur w ...

. File:Sweets 1.jpg, A page from Nimatnama-i-Nasiruddin-Shahi showing

samosa A samosa () or singara is a fried Indian pastry with a savory filling, including ingredients such as spiced potatoes, onions, and peas. It may take different forms, including triangular, cone, or half-moon shapes, depending on the region. Sam ...

s being served.

References

Further reading