Rare Quran inscribed by Aurangzeb to be auctioned

Taken from Gulf News, By Samihah Zaman, Published: September 3, 2010

Abu Dhabi: A 300-year-old manuscript of the Quran, parts of which were inscribed by the son of the Mughal emperor who built the Taj Mahal, will soon be auctioned by its Emirati owner in Germany.


The 14.5x24cm manuscript has lavish golden insets and consists of sheets of paper, handcrafted from rice and natural materials, and inlaid with ruby, lapis lazuli and garnet.

The 14.5x24cm manuscript was part of the collection of the Mughal emperors of India, and was made during the rule of Emperor Aurangzeb (1658-1707), son of Emperor Shah Jahan who built the Taj Mahal.

It will be auctioned at the Auktionshaus Sebök (Seboek aution house) in the German city of Bamberg by its current Emirati owner, who wished to remain anonymous.

The manuscript has lavish golden insets and consists of sheets of paper, handcrafted from rice and natural materials. The script is written in ink made from valuable minerals, and it is inlaid with ruby, lapis lazuli and garnet.

Emperor Aurungzeb is known to have inscribed several passages of the manuscript himself, and he had reserved a special section of his palace for the artists who completed it.

Starting price

Stefan Sebök, an auctioneer at the auction house, told Gulf News that the starting price for the item has been set at 900 euros (Dh 4,221).

"The manuscript is extremely rare and was passed down to the last of the Mughal emperors by Emperor Aurangzeb. So we expect it to receive one of the highest bids at our art and antique auction in October," Sebök said.

Sebök also said that a comparable manuscript was sold to the Sultan of Brunei in 2006 for $10 million (Dh36.7 million), and a similar item went to an anonymous bidder for $4.3 million (Dh 15.781 million).

According to Sebök, the current owner of the manuscript acquired the ancient copy of the Quran from his great-grandfather. The owner's great-grandfather had been governor to Oudh, a northern region in India, and had served the Mughal dynasty.

Before the British Raj had dismissed the last Mughal emperor, the emperor had asked his loyal confidants to select gifts from his collection for themselves.

The great-grandfather of the current owner has personally selected the manuscript, and it has since been passed down through generations of the family.

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