Rare manuscripts linked to Azerbaijani literary, scientific figures found in Hungary

Valuable manuscripts related to prominent figures in Azerbaijani literature and the history of science have been discovered at the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Report informs.

The manuscripts were identified during research conducted in Budapest by academician Rafael Huseynov, Director of the Nizami Ganjavi National Museum of Azerbaijani Literature.

The findings in the academy's Oriental Manuscripts collection include rare sources related to the works of Nizami Ganjavi, Khagani Shirvani, Mahmud Shabustari, Nasir al-Din Tusi, Sam Mirza, Saib Tabrizi and other Azerbaijani literary and scientific figures.

One of the manuscripts identified during the research is a notable example of medieval book culture. Alongside various literary texts, it contains a number of valuable works of miniature art from the Safavid period. The miniatures are believed to be associated with artists from the school of Sultan Muhammad.

Researchers also discovered an early 18th-century Turkic translation of a treatise by the scholar Nasir al-Din Tusi that had not previously been known among existing sources.

The manuscript also contains a chronicle on the history of Shirvan, two Turkic translations of Nizami Ganjavi's "Khosrow and Shirin," and other valuable texts.

Huseynov thanked Anna Stumpf and Judit Jablonkay of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences' Oriental Manuscripts collection for their assistance in preparing digital copies of the manuscripts identified during the research.

The Hungarian Academy of Sciences, which is marking its 200th anniversary, holds a rich collection in its Department of Manuscripts and Rare Books, comprising numerous sources reflecting centuries of Hungary's scientific, cultural and intellectual history.