Two stolen old manuscripts of “Devalrāni Khīzr Khān” poem transcribed by Darvish Mohammad b. Ali

Of Devalrāni Khīzr Khān’s Collection, one of Amir Khosrow Dehlavi’s significant works, 4200 couplets were composed in 715 H./ 1315 and 319 couplets during 720-721 H./ 1320-1321. There are two manuscripts of this collection that were transcribed by a scribe named Darvish Mohammad b. Ali and were taken out of Iran during the Iran-Ottoman war. They are now kept at the Hakim-Oghlu and Hagia Sophia Libraries. The MS number 903 has Safavid Shah Abbas’s donation note and stamp; and MS 917 bears Safavid Shah Tahmāsb’s stamp. Of the Devalrāni’s Collection there exist two unfinished copies belonging to the years 720 H./1320 and 894 H./1489. However, MS 917 is counted as the oldest complete copy of this work by now. The distinct feature of the manuscript 917 is it’s a scholarly introduction in the initial pages of the manuscript by the person who commissioned the transcription.
The present article attempts to examine and reveal the codicological aspects of these two manuscripts.