Surveys of Manuscript Collections

Three works cite catalogs and related information on libraries worldwide, including India. These are, beginning with the most recent, World Survey of Islamic Manuscripts, Vol. 1, edited by Geoffrey Roper, (Leiden: Brill, 1992). In Arabic a similar work is by Kurkis Awwad, Faharis Makhtutat al-Arabiyyah fi al-Alam, 2 vols., (Kuwait: Maahad al-Makhtut al-Arabiyyah, 1984). In French see A.J.W. Huisman, Les manuscripts arabes dans le monde: une bibliographie des catalogues, (Leiden: Brill, 1967), pp.33-39; Fuat Sezgin, Geschichte des Arabischen Schrifttums, (Leiden: Brill,), vol. 6 (published 1978), pp. 350-359, and vol. 8 (published 1982), p. 300. While all of these works are useful, some of these union catalogs suffer from many inaccuracies. Instead of pin pointing each of the errors, presented here is an account of each library or collection. The account includes an introduction, citations of the published catalogs, number of manuscripts, citations on works published about the history or individual manuscripts of the library, and press citations to the present conditions. In addition to the literature cited here about each library, interested scholars should consult recent issues of the periodicals noted below.

Key Periodicals

Manuscripts of the Middle East is a periodical that should be consulted for the latest research on the subject of Arabic-script manuscripts everywhere, as well as the publications of Maahad al-Makhtut al-Arabiyyah; Cairo; Majid al-Jumaa Center in Dubai’s Afaq al-thaqafah wa al-turath; Al-Furqan Heritage Foundation in London is also involved in similar activities. See its wesbite :http://www.alfurqan.org

General Works on Manuscript Collecting

There are a number of articles focusing on libraries within India. See in chronological order: Edward Dennison Ross, “Report on the Search for Arabic and Persian Manuscripts for the Official Year 1904-1905,” Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal n.s. 2 (1906): xx11-xxiv; 4 (1908):xxii-xxiv; A. Suhrawardy and Hafiz Nazir Ahmad, “Notes on Important Arabic and Persian Manuscripts Found in Various Libraries in India,” Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal n.s. 13 (1917): lxxxix-cxxxix; 14 (1918):cc-ccclvi; Fazal Ahmad Khan, “A Note on Persian, Turkish and Arabic Mss,” B.C.Law Volume 2 (1946):334-337; H.E. Stapleton, “Further Notes on the Arabic Alchemical Manuscripts in the Libraries of India,” Isis 24 (1936):127-131; Abd al-Aziz al-Jawahiri, Bazdid-i Kitabkhanah’ ha-yi Hindustan, (Tehran, 1947); Ghulam Husayn Siddiqi, Guzarish-i safar-i Hind, (Tehran: University of Tehran, publications no. 36, dated 1947); Philip Tarrazi, Khazayin Kutub al-Hind, pp. 173-76, in his “Khazayin al-kutub al-Arabiyyah fi al-khafiqin,” vol.1, (Beirut, 1947); Otto Spies, “Arabische Neuscheinungen in Indien Wahrend der Kriegsjahre,” Der Islam 28 (1948):106-10; Said Nafisi, “Nafayis-i kitabkhanah’ha-yi Islami-i Hindustan,” Payam-i nau (Tehran, no.5 1950): 57-61; “Manuscripts from the Indian Collections,” pp. 75-85, in Descriptive Catalogue of an Exhibition of Selected Manuscripts in the Indian National Museum, (New Delhi: National Museum, 1964). For manuscripts focusing on music, see Henry George Farmer, The Sources of Arabian Musica: An Annotated Bibliography of Arabic Manuscripts, (Leiden: Brill, 1965) which deals with the theory, practice, and history of Arabian music from the eighth to the seventeenth century, including manuscripts in libraries of Hyderabad and Tonk. Similarly, Zakaria Yusuf, Makhtutat al-musiqi al-Arabiyah fi al-alam, (Baghdad, 1967), Vol. III pp. 91-4, describes 56 manuscripts in various Indian collections. Fihrist-i nuskhah-ha-yi khatti-i Farsi, edited by Ahmad Munzawi, 6 vols. (Tehran: Regional Cultural Institute, 1969) is a major work; Hans Daiber, “New Manuscript Findings from Indian Libraries,” Manuscripts of the Middle East 1 (1986), pp. 26-48 deals with libraries in Aligarh, Delhi, Jaipur, Lucknow, Rampur and Tonk. Sayyid Arif Nawshahi, Bharat men makhtutat ki fihristen, (Lahore: Maghribi Pakistan Urdu Academy, 1988), is based on the author’s trip to Aligarh and Delhi in 1988; M. Mahfuzul Haq, “Earliest Illustrated Copy of Omar [Khayyam]’s Quartrains,” Asia 31 (1931): 272; Jalaluddin, “ Two Most Authentic & Complete Copies of Babur namah in the Indian Museums.” Indo-Iranica 49, I-iv (1996/1998): 35-39.

Indexes of Urdu periodicals such as Aaj Kal (Delhi) Burhan, (Delhi), Maarif (Azamgarh), Nawa-yi Adab (Bombay), Sabras (Hyderabad) as well as journals specializing in Indian history and culture are likely to reveal articles on individual manuscripts.