English: A letter from Qa'im Maqam, chancellor to Prince Muhammad, later Prime Minister to Muhammad Shah Qajar, in reply to his sister

Qajar Persia, circa 1820s-early 1830s, marginal note dated AH 1310/AD 1892-93

Persian manuscript on paper, 15 lines written diagonally in shikasteh script in black ink on a green ground within cloudbands, against a gold ground, upper and right-hand margins with illuminated stylised floral motifs in colours and gold, inner floral border, inner margins ruled in gold and blue, inscription in a freer hand in nasta'liq script in lower outer margin 225 x 150 mm.

According to the note in the lower margin written by Mirza Aqa Khan Qa'im Maqami in AH 1310/AD 1892-93 (who must be one of Abu'l-Qasim Qa'im Maqam II's grandsons), the letter is from Qa'im Maqam to his sister (named Taj Mah Baygum), who had sent a letter complaining at his lack of communication. He explains the reason as scarcity of paper and that Mulla Muhammad Sahhaf Tabrizi has now provided him with fine paper and ink. Numerous names are mentioned as either having not heard from them for some time or having complained for lack of communication between her and them. In reply to her question on the Crown Prince ('Abbas Mirza Mirza), he writes all is well and that he is involved with royal affairs. At the end, he says there have been burst pipes due to extreme cold and snow.

Mirza Abu'l-Qasim Farahani Qa'im Maqam, known as Qa'im Maqam II, was minister to 'Abbas Mirza Na'ib al-Saltanah, chancellor to Prince Muhammad, then his Prime Minister after he became Shah. He was later murdered by the order of the Shah in 1835. (See M. Bamdad, Dictionary of National Biography of Iran, 1700-1900, vol.1, Tehran, 1966, pp. 60-65).