Nujum al-Ulum (Stars of the Sciences)

The Nujum al-Ulum is a manuscript in the Chester Beatty Library, Dublin, which Mark Zebrowski describes as a compilation on astronomy, magic, animals and weapons with 876 illustrations, some full-page, others marginal decoration. It is the most important work attributable to the reign of Ali Adil Shah I of Bijapur. ¹

The pictures follow the chapters: the heavens, angels, the zodiac, talismans and sorcerers; magic diagrams; processions; demonesses, some terrifying and others resembling Hindu deities; animals; and weapons — duelling being a passion among young Muslims at Bijapur and Ahmadnagar, which Firishta deplored. ^{1 2} The museum describes the contents without endorsing or judging them.

The date 978 AH/1570–71 appears twice in the text and in a simplified colophon, and a former owner's note says it was in the library of Ibrahim Adil Shah II, which suggests a Bijapuri origin. The author calls it a compendium of the motifs of Deccani painting in the following century; its male figures show the influence of Mughal painting of the late 1560s, while its women follow a southern canon of beauty. ²