By / Hosni Abdel Hafez
From its paths the scent of history emanates, and the eyes are captured by the beauty of architectural arts. The American traveler Eugene Schuyler, who visited it in 1879 AD, said of it: "No city matches it in its rich diversity".. From here, from Tashkent, the conquering armies set out east and west, kings and princes lived in it, minarets of science rose in it, it was a destination for many celebrities and figures who came to it from many areas in the Islamic world, which extended from the shores of the Atlantic in the west to the borders of India and China in the east.. Rano bin Umar Khojayeva, Director of the Near East Department at the Abu Rayhan Al-Biruni Institute of Oriental Studies, says: "After independence, we returned to our Islamic identity, and moved towards the Arab and Islamic world, so the demand for learning Arabic increased, the number of mosques increased, and the College of Oriental Studies in Tashkent turned into a university comprising many departments, the most important and largest of which is the Arabic Department." She adds, "We seek to revive the ancient Islamic civilization heritage that arose in this region for a long time, and among the evidences that confirm this antiquity are those remaining monuments, and the large amount of manuscripts, among which are a not insignificant number of rarities and precious items that the Tashkent Library still retains."

So what about the Arabic manuscripts in the Tashkent Library..?

And what are its most important rarities and precious items..?

And what about cataloging efforts?

Historical sources indicate that the first collection of manuscript scientific and literary heritage, which represents the first brick in the Tashkent library, dates back to the seventies of the nineteenth century.. In the year 1889 AD, a catalog of this collection was issued under the name "Manuscripts of the Turkestan General Library," in Persian, Arabic, and Turkish, prepared by the orientalist Y. K. Kalym. This catalog included brief explanations for 87 volumes, in addition to 126 manuscript book titles, mostly talking about the history of Turkestan, Persia and India, and their distribution was as follows: 78 manuscripts in Persian, 19 manuscripts in Arabic, 29 manuscripts in the old Uzbek language, written in Arabic script. (Before the Uzbek language moved to the Latin script, then to the Russian script, then to the Latin script gradually after independence).

In 1895 AD, what is known as the (Turkestan Archeology Lovers Club) was established in Tashkent, which in 1898 AD received the contents of the private library of Muhammad Ali Khalifa (Dukchi Ishan), after its owner was executed by the Russian occupation authorities. It contained 194 manuscripts, later deposited in the Turkestan General Library. The numbers of manuscripts obtained by the library increased over the following decades, which came to it in different ways, the most important of which are: Purchase: where a special budget was allocated to search for manuscripts and provide offers to buy them from their owners. Gift: as the library obtained many of its precious items from public figures, celebrities and scholars, who donated their private libraries, fearing they would be lost after their death. Collecting fragments of manuscripts that were in Sufi corners, mosques and Islamic schools.

In April 1933 AD, a decree was issued restricting the receiving bodies for acquired or confiscated Islamic manuscripts to a single body, the General Library. Since this date, an extensive process began to inventory and collect manuscripts from all over the country and preserve them in the General Library in Tashkent. A large number of manuscripts arrived from Bukhara, which were owned by Muhammad Baris before his death. In 1934 AD, the library received 148 manuscripts, the total manuscripts owned by Rahmanov, and the A. Fitrat collection, which contained 150 manuscript volumes. In the same year, the library received 40 manuscript volumes owned by K. Zaripov, and after his death in 1935 AD the library received a valuable collection, many of which are precious, estimated at about 700 volumes, from the heirs of the Bukhara bookseller Sharaf Jan Makhdum.

When the old building became crowded with manuscripts, the library was moved to its new building, whose construction dates back to 1943 AD, coinciding with the establishment of the Institute of Oriental Studies, located in the city's main square (Hast Imam Square), increasing interest not only in collecting, preserving and cataloging manuscripts, but also in restoring and maintaining them using modern techniques at the time.

Manuscript Catalogs: Only one year after moving to the new building, serious research work began in the scientific description of the library's manuscript contents. Indeed, a series of catalogs was issued, the first volume was printed in 1952 AD, the fourth in 1957 AD, then seven other volumes appeared. In 1987 AD, the eleventh and final volume was issued, including descriptive studies prepared by a large group of specialists in Arabic, Persian and Turkish studies. The "Indexed Dictionary of Arabic Islamic Manuscripts in Tashkent," capital of the Republic of Uzbekistan, is the latest fruitful effort, located in 11 volumes, translated and printed in Beirut with support from the Kallu Holding Foundation. It includes descriptions of each manuscript: title, author, content summary, date of recording, scribe name. The first volume contained manuscripts on history, genealogy, travel, diaries, correspondence, medicine and astronomy.. while the second contained literature and poetry.. the third for philosophy and Sufism.. the fourth for biographies, invasions, the Quran, interpretation, hadith and explanation.. the fifth history of India and Central Asia.. the sixth general history, geography and education.. the seventh history of Khwarazm.. the eighth drawing, calligraphy and calendars.. the ninth biographies, fiction and physics.. the tenth general history and dictionaries.. and the final eleventh volume split in two, the first for stories and Turkish history and the second for Islamic schools of thought and religious rituals.

Rarities and Precious Items: More than thirty thousand volumes, in each one or more manuscripts, this is the written treasure held by the Tashkent library in well-equipped cabinets. According to Uzbek historian Qiwam al-Din Munirov, most of the old manuscripts date back more than a thousand years. They are priceless sources for history, written in Uzbek, Arabic, Tajik, Urdu, Afghan Pashto, Azerbaijani, Turkish, Turkmen and Uyghur, covering history, literature, philosophy, law, astronomy, physics, chemistry, medicine, geography, agriculture, music and fine arts. The library has more than 3000 original manuscripts: 20% Turkish, 40% Arabic, 40% Persian. Rare items include: A manuscript of the Holy Quran dating back to the first century of the Hijra. A manuscript titled "Khamsa" by Amir Khusrow Dehlavi. Al-Hariri's Maqamat from 662 AH. Al-Ghazali's letters from 545 AH. Al-Razi's Book of Secrets. Qasim bin Salam's Garib al-Hadith (the oldest after the Quran). Original copies of Tabari's History, and its Persian and Uzbek translations. Ibn Miskawayh's Tajarib al-Umam from 595 AH. Ibn al-Athir's Al-Kamil. Original manuscripts of Narshakhi's History of Bukhara, Mas'udi's Muruj al-Dhahab, and rare copies of Juvayni's Tarikh-i Jahan-gusha and Rashid al-Din's Jami' al-Tawarikh.