Astrolabe, by Muhammad Muqim, Lahore, c. 1650

Inventory Number:

37530

Object Type:

Object

Persons:

Muhammad Muqim (Maker (Signed by))

Date Created:

c. 1650s CE

Place Created:

Lahore Pakistan Asia

Subject Classification(s):

Astrolabes

Accession Number:

1957-84/3

Brief Description:

This astrolabe belongs to the production of the famous Lahore workshop of which we know only through the signatures on a group of objects, of which this belongs. The workshop was established by Allahdad in the mid-1500s CE, and who signs a couple of astrolabes (47376). This astrolabe is signed by one of his grandsons. He gives his name on this astrolabe as "Muhammad Muqim ibn Mulla `Isa ibn Shaikh Alhdad, Humayun's astrolabist of Lahore", with some very slight variations from the other signatures of the same maker (43704). Like his brother Qa'im Muhammad, Muhammad Muqim used the phrase "Asturlabi Humayuni Lahuri" to describe his grandfather. The phrase might mean no more than that Allahdad worked in the time of the emperor Humayun, but the family may have intended and would certainly have preferred the more prestigious interpretation that Allahdad was the emperor's own astrolabist. Humayun was certainly reported to have "an extraordinary interest and proficiency in the astrolabe".

Primary Inscriptions:

عمل أضعف العباد محمد مقيم ابن ملا عيسى ابن شيخ الهداد ،اسطرلابي همايوني لاهوري "The work of the weakest of the servants Muhammad Muqim ibn Mulla `Isa ibn Shaikh Alhdad, Humayun's astrolabist of Lahore". Engraved below the shadow-square.

Provenance:

Presented by J. A. Billmeir.

Collection Group:

Billmeir Collection

Material(s):

Brass

Dimensions: