Reading between the eras - Mughal libraries
“Contrary to popular opinion, the grandeur of the Mughal Empire consisted not only of fabulous wealth and worldly riches but also great libraries and seats of learning,” notes Smith in the book. The Sultans of Delhi and their nobles, who preceded the Mughals, had rich literary tastes and established a large number of public and private libraries, Jalauddin Khilji founded the Imperial Library in Delhi and appointed the famous scholar and poet, Amir Khusrau, its librarian. But it was Babar, the founder of the Mughal dynasty in India, who really did augment the Delhi library. “Soldier of fortune as he was,” writes H.C. Rawlinson. “Babar was nonetheless a man of fine literary taste and fastidious critical perception.” He was an accomplished poet and musician, and master of a pure style in prose and verse.
“His son, Humayun, inherited the legacy and added to the library, seven halls, each named after a planet. He was so fond of books that he carried them to the battlefields. On one such occasion in fact he lost several rare ones. At Agra, he raised a set of magnificent buildings called Khana-i-Tilism (house of magic), the first floor of which housed the library. There is, unfortunately, no trace of the complex now, although some of his other buildings are intact. Towards the end of his adventurous life, he converted the pleasure house of Sher Shah in Delhi’s Purana Qila into a library and spent a good part of the day there. It was from the staircase of his library that he tripped and died after a short time in 1556.”
Humayun’s son, Akbar, although illiterate, turned out to be the greatest patron of arts, especially writing, painting, and illustration and translation of books, for each of which he maintained a separate cell.
The largest of the several libraries was the Imperial Library in Agra Fort, compared to which no rival is said to have then existed in the world. According to Abul Fazal, the library was divided into several parts: some of the books were even kept inside the harem. “Experienced people bring them daily and read them before His Majesty who hears (sic) every book from beginning to end,” Smith observed.
Akbar personal interest greatly enriched the library. He had books brought from distant places and also encouraged scholars to write treatises, calligraphists to copy them and painters to illustrate them; books were also presented to nobles and distinguished courtiers. He bought a richly-illustrated version of the manuscript of Razm-Nama (the Mahabharat translated into Persian) for £ 40,000. There were more than 24,000 books in the Imperial Library alone and they kept increasing. Faizi’s collection of 4,300 manuscripts was added to the library and the library of Itimad Khan was acquired after the conquest of Gujarat.
But even if many of these libraries and their possessions were intact today, how many people, with the decline in the love for learning for its own sake, would cherish them? However, the ASI library is the proverbial silver lining in the dark clouds as it continues to perpetuate the Mughal legacy.
No comments:
Post a Comment