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. ...

Bihar Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
'' Hindi Hindi ( Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been ...

Kashmiri Kashmiri may refer to: * People or things related to the Kashmir Valley or the broader region of Kashmir * Kashmiris, an ethnic group native to the Kashmir Valley * Kashmiri language, their language People with the name * Kashmiri Saikia Baruah ...

manuscript A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand – or, once practical typewriters became available, typewritten – as opposed to mechanically printed or reproduced in ...

art Art is a diverse range of human activity, and resulting product, that involves creative or imaginative talent expressive of technical proficiency, beauty, emotional power, or conceptual ideas. There is no generally agreed definition of wha ...

manuscript A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand – or, once practical typewriters became available, typewritten – as opposed to mechanically printed or reproduced in ...

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
'' Turkish,

Pushto Pashto (,; , ) is an Eastern Iranian language in the Indo-European language family. It is known in historical Persian literature as Afghani (). Spoken as a native language mostly by ethnic Pashtuns, it is one of the two official languages ...

,

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...

,

Hindi Hindi ( Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been ...

, Punjabi,

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

, French,

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

,

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

, and

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

. It also curates more than 2,000 paintings made during the

Rajput Rajput (from Sanskrit ''raja-putra'' 'son of a king') is a large multi-component cluster of castes, kin bodies, and local groups, sharing social status and ideology of genealogical descent originating from the Indian subcontinent. The term Ra ...

and Mughal eras of

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. The library has about 5,000,000 items in total. It is an autonomous organization under the

Ministry of Culture Ministry of Culture may refer to: *Ministry of Tourism, Cultural Affairs, Youth and Sports (Albania) * Ministry of Culture (Algeria) *Ministry of Culture (Argentina) *Minister for the Arts (Australia) *Ministry of Culture (Azerbaijan) * Ministry of ...

,

Government of India The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, ...

, and is governed by a board with the

governor of Bihar The governor of Bihar is a nominal head and representative of the President of India in the state of Bihar. The Governor is appointed by the President for a term of 5 years. Phagu Chauhan is the current governor of Bihar. Former President Zaki ...

as its ''ex officio'' chairman. Day-to-day responsibility falls to the library director. The library is also a designated Manuscript Conservation Centre (MCC) under the

National Mission for Manuscripts The National Mission for Manuscripts (NAMAMI) is an autonomous organisation under Ministry of Culture, Government of India, established to survey, locate and conserve Indian manuscripts, with an aim to create national resource base for manuscri ...

.

History

The Founder

Following in the footsteps of his father as a collector of manuscripts, HMJ Sir Khan Bahadur Khuda Bakhsh appointed an Arab named Muhammad Maki to acquire books and manuscripts for a monthly income of Rs. 50. Muhammad Makki worked for Bakhsh for 18 years, visiting numerous cities in

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...

,

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

, Syria, and other locations to acquire rare manuscripts. The Library opened in 1888 with Bakhsh as the first director until 1895 when he left to serve as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court 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 ...

's

Kingdom Kingdom commonly refers to: * A monarchy ruled by a king or queen * Kingdom (biology), a category in biological taxonomy Kingdom may also refer to: Arts and media Television * ''Kingdom'' (British TV series), a 2007 British television drama s ...

. After a successful career in law in

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 ...

for almost 3 years, he returned to Patna as the director of the library. Soon after his return, Bakhsh suffered an illness that caused paralysis and his activity was limited to the library. Bakhsh donated the library to the people of India by a deed of trust. Due to his generous donation, he was given Rs.8,000 to liquidate his debt from the Government of Bengal. He was awarded C.I.E in 1903 for his generous act. The library became Bakhsh's life-long achievement to which he was devoted and committed, until his death on the 3rd of August 1908.

History of the library

The library originated in the private collection of a

bibliophile Bibliophilia or bibliophilism is the love of books. A bibliophile or bookworm is an individual who loves and frequently reads and/or collects books. Profile The classic bibliophile is one who loves to read, admire and collect books, often ama ...

, Muhammad Bakhsh Khan, 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 ...

of Patna. Muhammad Bakhsh Khan belonged to the House of Bakhsh, a noble family formerly affiliated with 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 ...

that still exists today. Before his imprisonment after the 1st war of India's Independence movement, the

1857 rebellion The Indian Rebellion of 1857 was a major uprising in India in 1857–58 against Company rule in India, the rule of the East India Company, British East India Company, which functioned as a sovereign power on behalf of the The Crown, British ...

, he inherited about 1,400 manuscripts and 20,000 books from his family who were historically responsible for writing and keeping the records of 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 ...

. Muhammad Bakhsh established a private library called Muhammadiyya Library and bequeathed it to his son

Khuda Bakhsh HMJ Sir Khan Bahadur Khuda Bakhsh OIE (2 August 1842 - 3 August 1908) was an Indian advocate, judge, philosopher, explorer and historian from Patna, Bihar. He was the founder of Khuda Bakhsh Oriental Library and Chief Justice of Nizam's Su ...

in the last days of his life. Muhammad Bakhsh told his son to establish a public library dedicated to the people of India, stating on his death bed, "If you do this, my soul will be at peace." Following his father's will, Khuda Bakhsh spent all his money on expanding the collection and in 1880 had increased the number of manuscripts and books to 4,000. The Bankipur Oriental Library was formally inaugurated by the Governor of Bengal, Sir

Charles Alfred Elliott Sir Charles Alfred Elliott (8 December 1835 – 28 May 1911) was a Lieutenant Governor of Bengal. Life He was born on 8 December 1835 at Brighton, was son of Henry Venn Elliott, vicar of St. Mary's, Brighton, by his wife Julia, daughter of Joh ...

, Governor of Bengal on the 5th of October 1891. During

World War 2 World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, the Indian National Army (Azad Hind Fauj) led by Subhas Chandra Bose started attacking British occupied Burma from the Eastern Front. The Indian National Army conducted air raids on the

Bengal Presidency The Bengal Presidency, officially the Presidency of Fort William and later Bengal Province, was a subdivision of the British Empire in India. At the height of its territorial jurisdiction, it covered large parts of what is now South Asia and ...

to cut the Military logistics support of the British Indian Army. Since the colour of the library's building was red, it was bombed multiple times. Khan Bahadur Abdul Gafoor Khan shifted all the collections of the library to an Underground Bunkers in Patna before they bombings. While the majority of the buildings were destroyed, the collections were safe. After World War 2, the Government of India built multiple new buildings for the library and all the collections were returned. For this generous act of bravery, Abdul Gafoor Khan was awarded the honorary title of " Khan Bahadur". After the partition in 1947, Dr. S.V. Sohoni and Khan Bahadur Abdul Gafoor played a key role to ensure the collections were retained in India. In 1969 through federal legislation the Khuda Bakhsh Oriental Public Library Act, an act of Parliament, the

Government of India The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, ...

declared Khuda Bakhsh Oriental Public Library a center of national importance dedicating funding, maintenance, and development of the library. Today it continues to attract scholars from all over the world. The past directors of the library include the family descendants of Khan Bahadur Khuda Bakhsh as well as renowned historians appointed by the Government of India. The second director was Mr. Salahuddin Khuda Bakhsh (son of Khan Bahadur Khuda Bakhsh) and the third director was Khan Bahadur Abdul Ghafoor khan (son of Khan Bahadur Khuda Bakhsh). Dr. Abid Reza Bedar, former Director of the

Raza Library The Rampur Raza Library (''Rāmpur Razā Kitāb Khāna'') located in Rampur, Uttar Pradesh, Rampur, Uttar Pradesh, India is a repository of Indo-Islamic cultural heritage and a treasure-house of knowledge established in the last decades of the 1 ...

, became the library director in 1972 and remained there for more than 25 years. Reza Bedar did some important work towards reviving the library along with his successors Habibur Rehman Chighani and Dr.Imtiaz Ahmed. Since April 2019, the director of the library has been Dr. Shayesta Bedar (daughter of Abid Reza Bedar).

Collection

The Khuda Bakhsh Library consists of a rare collection of the records of the Timurid family, or “history of the Timurid family”, which is not found in any other library or museum around the world. Some of the notable manuscripts include ''

Timur Timur ; chg, ''Aqsaq Temür'', 'Timur the Lame') or as ''Sahib-i-Qiran'' ( 'Lord of the Auspicious Conjunction'), his epithet. ( chg, ''Temür'', 'Iron'; 9 April 133617–19 February 1405), later Timūr Gurkānī ( chg, ''Temür Kü ...

Nama'' (''Khandan--Timuria''), ''Shah Nama'', ''

Padshah Nama Padshahnama or ''Badshah Nama'' ( fa, پادشاهنامه or پادشاه‌نامه) (Chronicle of the Emperor Shah Jahan) is a group of works written as the official history of the reign of the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan. Unillustrated texts ...

'', ''Diwan-e- Hafiz'' and ''Safinatul Auliya'', carrying the autograph of

Mughal Emperor 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 ...

s and princes, and the book of Military Accounts of

Maharaja Ranjit Singh Ranjit Singh (13 November 1780 – 27 June 1839), popularly known as Sher-e-Punjab or "Lion of Punjab", was the first Maharaja of the Sikh Empire, which ruled the northwest Indian subcontinent in the early half of the 19th century. He s ...

. The library also has specimens of Mughal paintings, calligraphy and book decoration, and Arabic and Urdu manuscripts, including a page of

Quran The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , s ...

written on deer skin. It has a good collection of rare manuscripts including a page of the Holy Qur'an on parchment in Kufic script belonging to the 9th century AD, in addition to a collection of about forty Sanskrit manuscripts, written on palm leaf. There are 35,000 manuscripts(21,000 Rare Manuscripts, 14,000 Small Manuscripts) in the library of Arabic, Persian, Urdu, Turkish and Pashto languages. The library also has a manuscript of Sahih al-Bukhari hand-transcribed by Shaykh Muhammad ibn Yazdan Bakhsh Bengali in Ekdala, eastern Bengal. The manuscript was a gift to the

Sultan of Bengal The Sultanate of Bengal ( Middle Bengali: শাহী বাঙ্গালা ''Shahī Baṅgala'', Classical Persian: ''Saltanat-e-Bangālah'') was an empire based in Bengal for much of the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries. It was the domina ...

Alauddin Husain Shah Ala-ud-din Husain Shah ( bn, আলাউদ্দিন হোসেন শাহ (1494–1519)Majumdar, R.C. (ed.) (2006). ''The Delhi Sultanate'', Mumbai: Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, pp.215-20 was an independent late medieval Sultan of Bengal, who ...

. It has emerged as an notable research library embracing a big range of rare manuscripts. The library's collection includes the best original manuscript known within the international community of the "Tarik-e-Khandan-e-Timuriya". It also contains thee writing of

Jehangir Nur-ud-Din Muhammad Salim (30 August 1569 – 28 October 1627), known by his imperial name Jahangir (; ), was the fourth Mughal Emperor, who ruled from 1605 until he died in 1627. He was named after the Indian Sufi saint, Salim Chishti. Ear ...

, the Jahangir Namah written in 1611, with the signature and royal seal of Prince Sultan Muhammad, son of

Aurangzeb Alamgir 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 ...

. According to historians, the Mughal emperor Jahangir wrote the 'Jahangir Namah' from his court secretary and gave it as a present to Sultan Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah of Golkonda. However, in 1687, during the reign of Aurangzeb when the Mughals invaded and conquered Golkonda, the Jahangir Nama got into the hands of his son, Prince Sultan Muhammad. The Divān of Hafez from which Emperor Humayun used to solid fortune-tellers all through his stay in Iran is also an adornment of this library. Other records in the collection include a copy of the King's Letter signed by

King George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936. Born during the reign of his grandmother Qu ...

, the entire records of the reign of

Mughal Emperor 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 ...

Shah Jahan with 25 stunning images (the remaining picture indicates Shah Jahan's funeral going to the Taj Mahal), and 132 paintings by a docket of well-known artists of Akbar the great

Future

Khuda Bakhsh Library is on its way to become India's first library to computerize it's handwritten collection for dissemination online. Honoring the desires of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru which he expressed in the library's visitor book on the 1st of November 1953 writing "I would like to see them reproduced by the contemporary strategies so that others can see them and share this marvelous knowledge". The library is dedicated to ongoing efforts to accumulate and preserve manuscripts and books, and disseminate widely. Scholarly workshops, symposia, talks, lectures, and seminars are organized to create research-primarily based awareness of expertise both on countrywide and global levels. The library promotes research activities in particular areas which include Islamic studies, Arabic, Persian and Urdu Literature, Comparative Religion, Tibb or Unani medicinal drug,

Tasawwuf Sufism ( ar, ''aṣ-ṣūfiyya''), also known as Tasawwuf ( ''at-taṣawwuf''), is a mystic body of religious practice, found mainly within Sunni Islam but also within Shia Islam, which is characterized by a focus on Islamic spirituality, ...

of Mysticism, history of the Islamic land, Medieval Indian history and culture and the country wide movement. On a larger scale, the library has been publishing its rarities, research, and work in digital platforms. A quarterly research magazine is also being published. Khuda Bakhsh Library is one of the richest repositories of the intellectual and cultural heritage of South and

Central Asia Central Asia, also known as Middle Asia, is a subregion, region of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to western China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. It includes t ...

. At the same time it is a major center for dissemination of knowledge all over the world. Indeed, the library has a glorious past, a splendid present and a brilliant future.

References

External links

*
Official Publication Website
{{Authority control 1891 establishments in India Libraries in Patna Research libraries Education in Patna Tourist attractions in Patna Buildings and structures in Patna Museums in Patna Deposit libraries Libraries established in 1891 Library buildings completed in 1891