Memory of the World; 2012 - unesdoc - Unesco

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The collection of the Al-Biruni
Institute of Oriental Studies
Inscribed 1997
What is it
This unique collection of works by the great scholars,
poets and thinkers of Central Asia contains many original
manuscripts and rare copies of major works on history,
literature, philosophy, law, mathematics, the sciences and
the fine arts.
Why was it inscribed
These manuscripts are of great significance in the
development of Islamic science and culture as well as
for the study of the history and culture of the peoples of
Central Asia, India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran and the
Arab world, and of the political, diplomatic and cultural
relations between them.
Where is it
Al-Biruni Institute of Oriental Studies, the Academy
of Sciences of the Republic of Uzbekistan,
Tashkent, Uzbekistan
The collection of around 18,000 manuscripts is one of the
richest depositories of Central Asian manuscripts in the
world and reflects the importance of this region at the
heart of the cultural exchange that took place along the Silk
Road from China to the Mediterranean.
Many of the great medieval scholars, poets and
thinkers of Central Asia and the Near and Middle
East are represented in this collection. Their work has
greatly enriched our spiritual life and contributed to
the advancement of science, whether in geography and
mathematics (the works of al-Biruni), astronomy (Ulugh
Bey’s comprehensive Star Charts), philosophy (for example
in the works of al-Farabi), medicine (Ibn Sina’s Canon)
and in works of great literature (including the writings of
Ferdowsi, Rumi and Khayyam). In addition, many works
are invaluable for the study of Central Asian history, such
as the 10th-century Takhkiki Viloyat’ and Bukharo Tarikhi’
by Ibn Jaffar Narshani, which describes the great trading
city and Islamic intellectual centre of Bukhara, now in
Uzbekistan. A number of historical works relate to the
Mughal dynasty including the Tabakati Akbarshahi’ by
60 The collection of the Al-Biruni Institute of Oriental Studies
� A diagram showing the phases of the moon from al-Biruni’s
Tafkhim li Availi Sinaat al-Tandjim (‘The Book of Teaching of the
Fundamentals of Astrology’). The Collection contains one of the
oldest copies of this very important astronomical work.
al-Kharavi, dating from 1595, which serves as the main
source for the history of India during that period.
The collection as a whole reflects the remarkable
flowering of Islamic science and culture during the Middle
Ages which was later to exercise a profound influence
on Renaissance scholars in Europe. One of the oldest
manuscripts (by Ibn Salam) is from AD 837.
Among the rare works in the collection are one of the
oldest known copies of al-Biruni’s Tafkhim li Availi Sinaat
al-Tandjim (‘The Book of Teaching of the Fundamentals
of Astrology’); fragments of poems by Ibn Sina, better
known as philosopher and physician, and the only known
copy of his book Salman and Ibsal; the Haft Awrang
(‘Seven Colours’) and other works by Jami in the author’s
own hand; one of the only three known copies in the
world of the Kitab-e-Sindibad (‘The Book of Sindbad’).
Many of the manuscripts contain exceptional examples
of calligraphy, while others contain wonderful miniatures
and elaborate contemporary bindings.
The collection was started with the founding of the
Department of Oriental Studies at the Uzbekistan Public
Library in 1870. The collections of the Scientific Research
Institute of Samarkand, the Ibn Sina Library of Bukhara,
the libraries of the Khans of Khiva and many others were
added, and in 1943 the Al-Biruni Institute of Oriental
Studies became the home of these collections.