Abu al-Fatḥ Manuchihr Khan (; died 1636), was a Safavid official and gholam of Armenian origin. Like his father Qarachaqay Khan, Manuchihr was established at Mashhad as the general and governor of Khorasan under the shahs (kings) Abbas I (r. 1588âÂÂ1629) and á¹¢ÃÂfi (r. 1629âÂÂ1642). His brother Ali Quli Khan became prefect of Qom and head of Abbas I's library. Manuchihr Khan's son, Qarachaqay Khan II (d. 1668), also became a governor of Mashhad. All of them were among the Safavid cultural and intellectual elite, known as âÂÂmen of knowledge and integrityâ (ahl-e fazl o kamÃÂl) and âÂÂof illustrious acts and deedsâ (á¹£ÃÂheb-e mu'ÃÂá¹£ir o asrÃÂr).
Manuchihr Khan was a leading art patron, with a strong curiosity and interest in astronomy. He commissioned one of the finest illustrated manuscripts of the period, a Persian translation of 'Abd al-RahmÃÂn ibn 'Umar al-á¹¢à «fëâÂÂs á¹¢uwar al-KawÃÂkib al-ThÃÂbitah ("the description of the fixed stars"), copied between 1630 and 1633 and conserved in the New York Public Library collection (Spencer, Pers. Ms. 6), see: Schmitz, 1992, p. 122.
In 1632âÂÂ1633, Manuchihr Khan commissioned Hasan ibn SaâÂÂd al-QaâÂÂënë, Master MÃÂlik Husayn NaqqÃÂsh IsfahÃÂnë, and Rezvan Beg Zarneshan to produce a celestial globe later known as the Manuchihr Globe.
In 1636, Muhammad Qasim completed an illustrated copy of Vahshi Bafqi's Farhad and Shirin for the library collection of Abu al-Fath Manuchihr Khan. Muhammad Qasim drew four paintings for this particular copy.