6 days ago
Inside Bihar's forgotten manuscript treasures
Patna: The fading ink of ancient manuscripts still speaks of empires, philosophies, sciences and dreams scribbled across centuries. These fragile carriers of wisdom, carefully stacked in libraries and research institutions across Bihar, are bridges between antiquity and modernity, between the spoken wisdom of sages and the scientific pursuits of today.
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According to the National Mission for Manuscripts (NMM), India boasts 3,851 manuscript repositories, of which 127 are located in Bihar. These hold over 50,000 documented manuscripts, many of them undergoing digitisation to ensure their stories endure.
Among the crown jewels of Bihar's manuscript treasure troves is the Khuda Bakhsh Oriental Public Library (KBOPL) in Patna. Home to nearly 28,000 manuscripts, it is a global magnet for scholars.
Four manuscripts from KBOPL have earned the rare honour of being listed among the 45 'manuscript treasures of India' by NMM, each a masterpiece in ink and parchment.
One such gem is the Kitab al-Tasrif, an Arabic medical encyclopaedia written around 1000 AD by Andalusian physician Abu Al-Qasim Al-Zahrawi. Titled The Method of Medicine in English, it remains a cornerstone in the study of medieval Islamic medical science.
Another marvel, the Kitab al-Hashaish, or Book of Herbs, is an Arabic translation of a Greek text by 1st-century botanist Dioscorides, an elegant fusion of civilisations in manuscript form.
Then there is the magnificent Tarikh-e Khandan-e Timuriyah-Chronicle of the Descendants of Timur, commissioned by Mughal Emperor Akbar in the 16th century, tracing a royal lineage through Babur, Humayun and Akbar himself.
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And perhaps the most poetic of all: the Divan of Hafez, a collection by the 14th-century Sufi mystic. "This volume was used by Mughal emperors to take out the omens and the writings of these Mughal kings – notes, marks, thoughts – are still visible on the margins," said Shayesta Bedar, librarian of KBOPL.
But KBOPL is not alone in guarding the whispers of history.
The Bihar Research Society (BRS), founded in 1915 in Patna under the stewardship of Sir Charles S.
Bayley, houses over 10,000 Sanskrit and Tibetan manuscripts. Its Tibetan collection, known as the Rahul Collection, comprises translations of Sanskrit texts created by Buddhist monks between the 7th and 13th centuries. These texts are preserved as woodblock prints on handmade paper, handwritten scripts on coarse parchment, and even ancient Sanskrit scrolls on talapatra leaves in Maithili script.
Shiv Kumar Mishra, a long-serving scholar at BRS, described the collection as "a unique blend of cultural synthesis between Indian and Tibetan traditions."
Sixty kilometres from Patna, in Bharatpura, the Gopal Narayan Public Library, established in 1912, preserves more than 5,800 rare manuscripts written in Sanskrit, Arabic, Persian, Urdu and other languages – a treasure trove of polyglot history.
At Patna University, 5,763 manuscripts of international significance lie in quiet slumber, written on bhojpatra, palm leaves, animal hide, gold-and-silver-lined parchment and even leather.
"Some manuscripts date back to the 13th century," said Jayadeo Mishra, former head of ancient Indian history and archaeology at PU. Among them are the Saroj Kalika, Malti Madhvan (14th century), Tolinama, Risala Sifat Jaruriya (15th century), Jahangirnama, Brihad Jatak, Khatmaye Ferhanse (16th century) and Laila Majnu by Amir Khusrau (17th century).
In the cultural heartland of Mithila, the Mithila Snatkottar Shodh Sansthan in Darbhanga stands as a beacon of Maithili heritage.
Established in 1951 at the initiative of President Rajendra Prasad, it holds 11,000 manuscripts, some over 1,100 years old, etched on tree bark and deer skin.
Sanjay Jha, head of the history department at L N Mithila University, said, "We have a manuscript of Vishnupuran on palm leaves, Durga Saptashi on ivory, written with a blend of buffalo blood and spinach liquid and Panji Prabandh on deer skin. Each carries its own mystique."
Also in Darbhanga, the Kameshwar Singh Darbhanga Sanskrit University (KSD) library shelters over 5,500 manuscripts, including ancient palm-leaf scrolls dating back more than 1,200 years. "Our collection spans the Vedas, Upanishads, Puranas, and other ancient treatises," added Jha.
