Islamonweb

The Khuda Bakhsh Oriental Public Library in Patna, Bihar, is once again in focus as it approaches its 135th year, preserving one of India's most valuable collections of Islamic and Oriental manuscripts.

Among its rarest treasures is a Qur'an manuscript written on deer skin, believed to date back nearly 1,000 years. The library also holds around 21,000 rare manuscripts in Arabic, Persian, Urdu and Turkish, along with nearly 250,000 printed books.

Preservation remains central to the library's mission. According to a recent report published by Times of India, around 18 lakh folios have already been digitised, making nearly 4,000 manuscripts accessible to readers. Conservation experts have also treated 15,579 folios, fumigated 52,000 others, and rebound 336 ageing books.

The library's director, Md Zahidul Haque, said that out of its 21,000 manuscripts, 76 have been declared national treasures by the Government of India, including four extremely rare manuscripts believed to have no other surviving copies anywhere in the world.

Established in 1891 by Khuda Bakhsh Khan, the institution has long served as a centre of manuscript conservation, Islamic scholarship and Indo-Persian literary heritage. Khuda Bakhsh Khan, inherited around 1,400 Arabic and Persian manuscripts from his father, Maulvi Mohammed Bakhsh, himself a scholar and bibliophile. Rather than keeping the collection private, Khuda Bakhsh dedicated his wealth and energy to expanding it and making it accessible to the public.

Khuda Bakhsh employed a dedicated agent whose sole responsibility was to travel extensively in search of rare manuscripts. Through these efforts, the library's collection grew from a few thousand manuscripts to one of the richest repositories of Islamic and Oriental knowledge in South Asia. Today, the library houses more than 2 million items, including books, paintings, calligraphy, and 21,136 manuscripts, approximately half of which are in Arabic.

Its collections include Qur'anic manuscripts, works of ḥadīth, fiqh, history, medicine, astronomy, calligraphy and illustrated manuscripts from different parts of the Muslim world. The collection also includes illuminated Qur'ans, Persian miniatures, Ottoman and Mughal manuscripts, and rare Arabic works that trace the intellectual journey of Muslim civilisation across centuries.

Among the library's most precious treasures is Kitāb al-Taṣrīf, the celebrated medical encyclopedia written around the year 1000 by the Andalusian Muslim physician Abu al-Qasim al-Zahrawi, widely regarded as the father of operative surgery. The work documents numerous surgical procedures and instruments that influenced medical practice for centuries. Another remarkable manuscript is Kitāb al-Ḥashāʾish (Book of Herbs), the Arabic translation of the classical botanical and medical work of Dioscorides, enriched through the scholarly contributions of Muslim physicians and translators.

The library also safeguards some manuscripts that are believed to be unique in the world. Its Persian collections include the original manuscript of Tarikh-e Khandan-e Timuriyah, commissioned by Akbar, as well as copies of the Divan of Hafez bearing marginal notes attributed to Mughal rulers themselves.

The library's holdings extend beyond the Indian subcontinent, encompassing manuscripts from Arabia, Persia, Central Asia, and the Ottoman world. These collections illustrate the historical interconnectedness of Muslim societies and the vibrant exchange of knowledge that characterised Islamic civilisation.

Sources:

• Arab News. India's Khuda Bakhsh library preserves rare Islamic manuscripts and global heritage. Published January 25, 2025. Available at:
  Arab News Report
• The Times of India. KBOPL preserves 1,000-year-old Quran, 21,000 manuscripts as it nears 135th year. Published June 2026. Available at:
  Times of India Report
• Khuda Bakhsh Oriental Public Library. Official Website. Available at:
  Khuda Bakhsh Oriental Public Library Official Website