The asiatic society and its role in collection and publishing of Arabic Manuscripts

Kolkata has always been a great hub of education for ages, not only in West Bengal but in the entire country. The history of Kolkata is reflected by its rich heritage sites as obviously. It was also the birthplace of modern Indian literary and artistic thoughts many Institutions have emerged in this Kolkata city. Among the various Institutes that arose in Kolkata is “Kolkata Asiatic Society”. It was established on 15 January, 1784 by the efforts of Sir William Jhones. He was a famous orientalist, poet and a judge of the Supreme Court at Kolkata. He studied several European languages, knew several Asiatic languages, and had a great curiosity about Asiatic civilizations. The aims of this society are research in history, antiquities, civilization, nature, arts, science and Asian literature. The manuscripts preserved in the Asiatic Society are of special importance because of their antiquity and richness. The manuscript collection has four sections. One of them is Perso-Arabic Section. The Perso-Arabic and Urdu collection of the Asiatic Society is one the best in the country. Some of the manuscripts, it may be recalled, belonged to the Mughal Imperial Library, Tipu Sultan’s Library and the Library of the Fort William College. Some of them are indeed very rare, rich and varied in their textual contents and contain beautiful specimens of calligraphy.