English: An official copy of the treaty of Erzurum, Persia, Qajar, 19th Century

Ink on paper, leather binding 19.7 by 13.4cm.

Persian manuscript on paper, 21 leaves plus 2 flyleaves, 11 lines to the page, written in nasta'liq script in black ink, keywords picked out in red, catchwords, margins ruled in gold, camel-coloured leather binding and outer hard cover with ribbon

This is an account of the peace treaty made between Persia and the Ottoman Empire, related by the deputy sent to the peace talks in Erzurum in 1823.

As mentioned by name in the text, this is known to have been Mirza Muhammad 'Ali, who was a chief secretary and private steward to Crown Prince 'Abbas Mirza (see lot 109) in Azarbaijan (see M. Bamdad, Dictionary of National Biography of Iran 1700-1900, vol.III, Tehran, 1966, p.458.). The author recounts how he was sent on authority of both Fath 'Ali Shah and 'Abbas Mirza to meet his Ottoman counterpart Mehmed Emin Rauf Pasha. This is followed by an account of the seven conditions upon which peace was agreed. At the end of the document the author states that he was ordered to write the account for the Amir-e Nezam Mahmud Khan Zangana, the commander in chief of the Qajar army on “Wednesday, the seventh day of the second tenth of the eleventh month of the tenth year of the fifth decade of the third century of the second millenium” (17th Dhu'l-Qa'da 1249 AH/28 March 1834 AD).