A RARE AFSHARID PTOLEMAIC PLANETARY MODEL, MADE FOR MIRZA MEHDI KHAN ASTARABADI, SIGNED MUHAMMAD HUSAYN MUNAJJIM, IRAN, DATED 1155 AH/1743-44 AD

Papier mâché, comprising six nesting globes of graduating size. Each formed of two hemispheres and inscribed in black and red, each carrying circles and epicycles to mark the motions of their planetary body through the sky, globes of the movements of Mars, the Sun, Venus, Mercury, the Moon and Earth, the largest (Mars) with cusped medallion with details of the maker, patron and date. Largest globe 20 cm diam. Inscriptions In the red medallion on the largest globe: bi-rasm-i kitabhaneyi navvab-i-mustatab mirza mehdi khan astrabadi adamants allah ayyamahu ‘amal-i-mulla muhammad husayn munajjim 1155, ‘On the order of the library of the His Gracious Highness, Mirza Mehdi Khan Astarabadi, may God prolong his days’. Work of Mulla Muhammad Husayn Munajjim 1155 AH/1742-43 AD.

The person who commissioned this rare planetary model was Mirza Mehdi Khan Astarabadi - the court secretary and historiographer to Nadir Shah Afshar (r.1736-47). Though little is known of his early life, it seems he lived in Isfahan where he was appointed to a sinecure in the royal household. He served under Nadir Shah from the time the Shah conquered the capital until his death. His first post was head of the secretariat and he then served as official biographer and historiographer during which time he was responsible for composing victory dispatches, preambles to treaties and other state documents. It is during this period the this planetary model was made. Although little is known of the life of Mehdi Khan Astarabadi after the death of Nadir Shah, it is thought he may have gone on pilgrimage to Mecca before returning to Mashhad, Mazandaran or Tabirz where completed the historical and philological works he was compiling during his service with Nadir. Amongst his most famous books are a Persian guide to the Turkish language and two histories of Nadir Shah, the Dareh-i Nadereh and Tarikh-i Jahangoshay-i Naderi.

The ptolemaic model of planetary motion, which placed the earth at the centre of the universe, was the alternative world view to Nicolaus Copernicus’s Sun-centred theory of 1543. To account for the non-uniform motion of the planets in the night sky. Epicycles (circular orbits on circles) were required. This rare planetary model follows this Ptolemaic system with the Earth at the centre, followed (in order) by the Moon, Mercury, Venus, the Sun and Mars.