HMJ

Sir ''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "Sieur" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as ...

Khan Bahadur Khan Bahadur – a compound of khan ('leader') and bahadur ('brave') – was a formal title of respect and honor, which was conferred exclusively on Muslim and other non-Hindu natives of British India. It was one degree higher than the title of K ...

Khuda Bakhsh

OIE The World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH), formerly the (OIE), is an intergovernmental organization coordinating, supporting and promoting animal disease control. Mission and status The main objective of the WOAH is to control epizoo ...

(2 August 1842 - 3 August 1908) was an

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

advocate, judge, philosopher, explorer and historian from

Patna, Bihar Patna ( ), historically known as Pataliputra, is the capital and largest city of the state of Bihar in India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Patna had a population of 2.35 million, making it the 19th largest city in India. ...

. He was the founder of

Khuda Bakhsh Oriental Library Khuda Bakhsh Oriental Library, in Patna, Bihar, is one of the national libraries of India. It was opened to the public on the 29th of October in 1891 by HMJ Sir Khan Bahadur Khuda Bakhsh. Its collection started with 4,000 of Bakhsh's own manus ...

and Chief Justice of

Nizam The Nizams were the rulers of Hyderabad from the 18th through the 20th century. Nizam of Hyderabad (Niẓām ul-Mulk, also known as Asaf Jah) was the title of the monarch of the Hyderabad State ( divided between the state of Telangana, Mar ...

Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

Hyderabad Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part ...

from 1892 to 1895.

Life and family

HMJ Sir Khuda Bakhsh was born into a prominent Nobel family in

Patna Patna ( ), historically known as Pataliputra, is the capital and largest city of the state of Bihar in India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Patna had a population of 2.35 million, making it the 19th largest city in India. ...

and was brought up under the guidance of his father, Sir Muhammed Bakhsh, a famous advocate and

Zamindar A zamindar ( Hindustani: Devanagari: , ; Persian: , ) in the Indian subcontinent was an autonomous or semiautonomous ruler of a province. The term itself came into use during the reign of Mughals and later the British had begun using it as a ...

from Patna, Bihar. He started his career as a ''Peshkar'' in 1868. He later on became the Government pleader of Patna in 1880. At the same time, his father became very ill. In his dying breath, he requested his son to open a public library. He inherited 1,400 manuscripts from his father and opened the library to the public in 1891, expanding the collection to 4,000 manuscripts and 80,000 books. He became the first director of the library and remained in that position until his death, except for a brief period from 1892 to 1895 when he was serving as Chief Justice of the

. He gave the responsibility of running the library to his student Dr. Sachchidananda Sinha. Khuda Bakhsh's Son, Sir Salahuddin Khuda Bakhsh, later became good friends with Sinha and work together in establishing his own library known as

Sinha Library Sinha Library is a public library in Patna, India. History The library was established in 1924 by Dr. Sachchidananda Sinha academician,writer and the president of the constituent assembly that drafted the Indian Constitution, its inaugural funct ...

. Sir Khuda Bakhsh had a great relationship with his four sons. All of them continued their father's legacy. Historically, the House of Bakhsh is a family of poets, lawyers, administrators, and most notably as judges and scholars. It included

Qadi A qāḍī ( ar, قاضي, Qāḍī; otherwise transliterated as qazi, cadi, kadi, or kazi) is the magistrate or judge of a '' sharīʿa'' court, who also exercises extrajudicial functions such as mediation, guardianship over orphans and mino ...

Hibstullah, who worked along with

Emperor Aurangzeb Muhi al-Din Muhammad (; – 3 March 1707), commonly known as ( fa, , lit=Ornament of the Throne) and by his regnal title Alamgir ( fa, , translit=ʿĀlamgīr, lit=Conqueror of the World), was the sixth emperor of the Mughal Empire, ruling ...

to compile the Fatwa-i-Alamgiri. The House of Bakhsh were the official record keepers who were given the responsibility by the

Mughal Emperors The Mughal emperors ( fa, , Pādishāhān) were the supreme heads of state of the Mughal Empire on the Indian subcontinent, mainly corresponding to the modern countries of India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh. The Mughal rulers styled t ...

to write day-to-day activities across the

Mughal Empire The Mughal Empire was an early-modern empire that controlled much of South Asia between the 16th and 19th centuries. Quote: "Although the first two Timurid emperors and many of their noblemen were recent migrants to the subcontinent, the d ...

Foundation of Oriental Public Library

Sir Khuda Bakhsh inherited the private library of his father Muhammad Bakhsh and hired Muhammad Maki to acquire books and manuscripts for a monthly income of Rs. 50. In 1890 Bakhsh built a two-story library for Rs. 80,000 which was inaugurated in 1891 by the former Lieutenant-Governor of Bengal, Sir Charles Elliott. He donated his manuscripts and books to the public on 14 January 1891. The library was designated as an institution of national importance on 26 December 1969. By an act of Parliament.

Death

Khuda Bakhsh was a very simple man with great vision and commitment. He died on 3 August 1908 and was buried in the library primase.

Legacy and recognition

Sir Khuda Bakhsh was given the title of "

" in 1881. He was

knight A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the Gr ...

ed with the

Order of the Indian Empire The Most Eminent Order of the Indian Empire is an order of chivalry founded by Queen Victoria on 1 January 1878. The Order includes members of three classes: #Knight Grand Commander (GCIE) #Knight Commander ( KCIE) #Companion ( CIE) No appoi ...

in 1903. The Khuda Bakhsh Award for scholars for their lifetime achievements in the fields in which the library specializes was created in his honor in 1992.

Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...

commented on the legacy of Bakhsh: "I heard about this beautiful library nine years ago and I've been looking forward to seeing it ever since. I was very happy to see the priceless treasure of rare books here. I pay tribute to the great founder of this library who has spent every penny to give this invaluable treasure to India."

References

External links

Khuda Bakhsh Oriental Library official website

Official Ministry of Culture, Govt of India Page for Khuda Bakhsh Oriental Library
{{DEFAULTSORT:Baksh, Khuda 1842 births 1908 deaths Historians of India Chief Justices of Hyderabad