Friday, September 30, 2011
The Salarjung Museum -Third Largest Museum in INDIA
The Salar Jung Museum was established in 1951. The major portion of the collection of the museum was acquired by Mir Yousuf Ali Khan, popularly known as Salar Jung III. In the absence of any direct descendants of Salar Jung III, the Government of India appointed a Committee to administer the Salar Jung Estate. Later on with the idea of perpetuating his name, the Salar
Library
Salar Jung Museum Library opened to the public in 1961 by an Act of Parliament. The manuscripts collection in the library, which possesses unique specimens, is one of the richest in the world in terms of its quality. It contains many gems of calligraphic art and ornate embellishment; items with gorgeous decoration and an artistic blending of colours with a profuse use of gold, mineral colours that lavishly used lapis lazuli for blue, pearl for white, shangraf for red and Zabarjad for green. Calligraphers, artists and book binders all did their best in showing their respective arts and have thus paid their tributes to the written word.
Manuscripts Collection
The collection of manuscripts includes various media like parchment, textile, palm leaf, paper, glass, wood, and stone, different languages such as Arabic, Persian, Urdu, a few of Turkish, Dakhni, Pushtu, Hindi, Sanskrit, Telugu and Oriya and addresses more than eighty four subjects. The collection also includes more than one thousand five hundreds calligraphic panels and albums of miniature paintings of different schools.
The range of subjects is very wide and includes Medicine, Science, Logic, Agriculture, Calligraphy, Lexicography, Mathematics, Physics, Astronomy, Games, Art, Syntax, Music, History, Poetry, Biography, Rhetoric, Philosophy, Etymology, Ethics, Politics, Travels, Divinations, Ouranic sciences, Theology, Sufism, Law, Dictionaries, Magic and Archery etc.
The manuscripts are related to an array of Indian religions including Islam, Hinduism, Christianity, Zoroastrianism etc. These manuscripts are in various shapes, sizes and forms. It may be noted that there are only two miniature manuscripts copies of the Holy Ouran in the world, and while one of these in the Iran, the other is in the Salar Jung Museum and its size is 2.4 cms. The museum also has a large Ouran which measures 60x30 cms. Some calligraphic panels are incised on glass, and the museum has manuscripts with excellent nail work. The other calligraphic works are in many scripts, like Kufi, Thulth, Naskh, Ta'liq, Nasta'aliq, Gubar, Raihan, Shikasta, Diwani, Riqa', Bahar, Tughra, Ma'akus and in styles differing from the bold and archaic to the minute.
ARABIC MANUSCRIPTS
The library has a collection of more than 2,500 manuscripts in Arabic, its highlight being that rare work on mathematics entitled Sharhu Mukhtasar al Mukhtasar on Algebra (847 A.D) In astronomy, the earliest work in on the preparation and use of globe (16th cent). In the field of Medicine, the library boasts of manuscripts of Kilabul Qanun by Avicenna (Ibn Sina). In natural history the noted works are Hayatul Haiwan. In the field of Philosophy, an encyclopedic work in the library is Rasiallkhwanus Safa (16th century). AI Tajrid fil Mantiq is well known work on logic written by Nasiruddin Tusi (1628 AD) and manuscripts of Ala Sharhil Malali is a copy from the imperial library of Emperor Jahangir. Manuscripts on Islamic theology that deal with Adiyah (Prayers) of Shiites and Sunnites, jurisprudence and Sufism also form a part of the collection. Ta'arruf Ii Madhabit tasawwuf is a rare work on introduction to the Principles of Sufism (Delhi-1675 A.D). The earliest codex of lexicon is Sahah by Abu Nasr (1218 A.D). Jaiul Qawayed is a rare codex in the subject of Syntax (1576 A.D) and on the subject of etymology a commentary on As Shafia written during the period of Nizam II in one of the prized possessions of library.
PERSIAN MANUSCRIPTS
There are about 4,700 Persian language manuscripts. The most outstanding of these is Rauzatul Muhibbin, which contains twenty illustrations belonging to the Bukhara tradition and' was transcribed by the famous calligrapher Mir Ali Harvi. The oldest manuscript on Sunnite commentary is A'I Basair fil Wujuh wan Nazir, written in 1207 A.D, in Arabic Naskh. On Tasawwuf (Sufism), the most valuable and useful treatise is attributed to Bayazid Bustami, who transcribed it in 1588 AD. There are manuscripts on the subjects of art, science, divination, astrology, magic and archery. There is one codex on agriculture and a number of codices on precious and semi-precious stones. On the art of calligraphy the Museum has a number of manuscripts, in cookery there are two manuscripts entitled Dastur-e-Pukhtan-el Atamaah written for Shahjahan. There is a codex on the preparation of perfumes too.
In medicine the oldest Arabic translation in Persian is Tarjuma-e-Minhajul Mayan written for Shahjahan by Muhammad ar-Radi. The Museum also has the oldest medical encyclopedia transcribed in India. In veterinary sciences, the codex Mualaja-e-Janwaran is the earliest available manuscripts on the treatment of animals and is dedicated to Firuz Shah (1281 A.D)
URDU, TURKISH, PUSHTU, HINDI AND ORIYA MANUSCRIPTS
The Salar Jung museum Library has more than 1,200 Urdu manuscripts on different subjects in which, Diwan-e-Quli Qutb Shah by King Muhammad Quli and Nurus by Ibrahim Adil Shah and a rare manuscript entitled 'Lilawati , on Mathematics and more than 25 manuscripts in Turkish and some Hindi manuscripts are in Persian script and some folios of Jaina Kalpasutra and a few palm leaf manuscripts in Oriya, Sanskrit and Telugu on the subject of History, Medicine, Tantra and Poetry are also present.
PRINTEB BOOK COLLECTION
ENGLISH SECTION
The English Section consists of nearly 40,000 books and is also having rare book collections. It covers a variety of subjects ranging History, Philosophy, Engineering, Biology, Literature and Biography. The oldest book in the library is General historie of the Turkes by Richard Knolles, 1631 A.D. There are certain autographed titles in the collection. One of them is a book presented to Sir Salar Jung I by Queen Victoria titled Leaves from the journal of our life in the Highlands from 1848 to 1861. The library also has a biography of Guru Nanak Janam Sakhi. The collection also has translations of important literary works For example, "The Ocean of Stories" is an English translation of Katha Sarit Sagara The library has a huge collection of books on history of the entire world.
ORIENTAL SECTION
This section contains around 19,000 printed books. Around 13,000 are in Urdu, 2,500 in Arabic, 3,500 in Persian and 160 in Turkish. It covers a wide range of books on subjects including Islam, Literature, History, Medicine from different countries like Iran, Iraq, Syria, India, Pakistan etc. Many books are available on the history of the Deccan. Literary works of the classical poets of Urdu are available in the library in this section.
RESEARCH AND PUBLICATION
Salar Jung Museum has published 19 descriptive catalogues of manuscript details, each having title, author, chronology, illustrations, seals and autographs. The Museum has also published a rare copy of the Holy Quran which consists of only 30 folios with each line beginning with the first alphabet of Arabic, the alif. Research on parchment is also being conducted by the Museum's Manuscripts section.
The Salar Jung Museum (Urdu: سالار جنك ميوزيم,Telugu: సాలార్జంగ్ సందర్శనశాల) is an art museum located at Darushifa, on the southern bank of the Musi river in the city of Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India. It is one of the three National Museums of India.It has a collection of sculptures, paintings, carvings, textiles, manuscripts, ceramics, metallic artefacts, carpets, clocks, and furniture from Japan, China, Burma, Nepal, India, Persia, Egypt, Europe, and North America. The museum's collection was sourced from the property of theSalar Jung family.
The Salar Jung Museum was established in 1951. The major portion of the collection of the museum was acquired by Mir Yousuf Ali Khan, popularly known as Salar Jung III. In the absence of any direct descendants of Salar Jung III, the Government of India appointed a Committee to administer the Salar Jung Estate. Later on with the idea of perpetuating his name, the Salar
Jung Museum was brought into existence on 16th December, 1951 in Diwan Deodi, the residential palace of Salar Jung III and opened to the public by Pandit Jawarharlal Nehru, the then Prime Minister of India. In 1958, the Government of India took over the museum through a compromise deed. Till 1958 this museum was administered by the Salar Jung Estate Committee. Thereafter the Museum continued to be administered by the Ministry of Scientific Research and Cultural Affairs, Government of India till 1961. In 1961, through an Act of Parliament, the Salar Jung Museum along with its library was declared as an “Institution of National Importance”.
The family of Salar Jungs had assumed such great importance that five of its family members served as Prime Ministers to the Nizams, who were the erstwhile rulers of Hyderabad.
When Mir Yousuf Ali Khan became 10 years old, the then Nizam bestowed upon him the family title of Salar Jung Bahadur and restored his Mansab and other titles.
The administration of the museum was transferred to an Autonomous Board, having the Governor of A.P. as its Chairman. The museum was transferred to its present building in the year 1968.
The family of Salar Jungs had assumed such great importance that five of its family members served as Prime Ministers to the Nizams, who were the erstwhile rulers of Hyderabad.
Mir Turab Ali Khan - Salar Jung I, was awarded the title of Salar Jung Bahadur at the age of 13 years. At the age of 24 years he was appointed as Prime Minister by the then Nizam, Nasir-ud- Daulah. He was a great administrator, known for his reforms and also a connoisseur of art. He died in the year 1882.
His eldest son, Mir Laiq Ali Khan was appointed as first Secretary to the Council of Regency and later on as a member of the Council of State. He was appointed as Prime Minister in 1884 A.D. by the then Nizam, Mir Mehboob Ali Khan. He spent most of his time in continuing the social reforms which were discontinued by his father Mir Turab Ali Khan, Salar Jung I. When he was only 26 years old he died at Poona, leaving behind an infant of 24 days, Abul Qasim Mir Yousuf Ali Khan.When Mir Yousuf Ali Khan became 10 years old, the then Nizam bestowed upon him the family title of Salar Jung Bahadur and restored his Mansab and other titles.
Mir Osman Ali Khan, Nizam VII, selected Mir Yousuf Ali Khan, Salar Jung III as his Prime Minister. Due to some difference of opinion, Salar Jung III relinquished the post of Prime Minister in November 1914. Thereafter his entire life he devoted in enriching histreasures of art.
Mir Yousuf Ali Khan was not only a collector of antiques but he also patronized poets, writers and artists, encouraging literary and cultural activities. He continued with his zeal as an art connoisseur till the very end of his life enriching his art collections and died as a bachelor on 2nd March,1949 at the age of 60.Salar Jung Museum is one of the national museums of India and it has an excellent library with a rare collection of 8,000 manuscripts and 60,000 printed books. 40,000 of these books were collected by Mir Yousuf Ali Khan, Salar Jung III, and his ancestors. Salar Jung III was a great connoisseur and a bibliophile, a passion which persisted with him till the last. The present Salar Jung Museum and library are a living testimony of his life long interest and devotion.
Salar Jung Museum Library opened to the public in 1961 by an Act of Parliament. The manuscripts collection in the library, which possesses unique specimens, is one of the richest in the world in terms of its quality. It contains many gems of calligraphic art and ornate embellishment; items with gorgeous decoration and an artistic blending of colours with a profuse use of gold, mineral colours that lavishly used lapis lazuli for blue, pearl for white, shangraf for red and Zabarjad for green. Calligraphers, artists and book binders all did their best in showing their respective arts and have thus paid their tributes to the written word.
Manuscripts Collection
The collection of manuscripts includes various media like parchment, textile, palm leaf, paper, glass, wood, and stone, different languages such as Arabic, Persian, Urdu, a few of Turkish, Dakhni, Pushtu, Hindi, Sanskrit, Telugu and Oriya and addresses more than eighty four subjects. The collection also includes more than one thousand five hundreds calligraphic panels and albums of miniature paintings of different schools.
The range of subjects is very wide and includes Medicine, Science, Logic, Agriculture, Calligraphy, Lexicography, Mathematics, Physics, Astronomy, Games, Art, Syntax, Music, History, Poetry, Biography, Rhetoric, Philosophy, Etymology, Ethics, Politics, Travels, Divinations, Ouranic sciences, Theology, Sufism, Law, Dictionaries, Magic and Archery etc.
The manuscripts are related to an array of Indian religions including Islam, Hinduism, Christianity, Zoroastrianism etc. These manuscripts are in various shapes, sizes and forms. It may be noted that there are only two miniature manuscripts copies of the Holy Ouran in the world, and while one of these in the Iran, the other is in the Salar Jung Museum and its size is 2.4 cms. The museum also has a large Ouran which measures 60x30 cms. Some calligraphic panels are incised on glass, and the museum has manuscripts with excellent nail work. The other calligraphic works are in many scripts, like Kufi, Thulth, Naskh, Ta'liq, Nasta'aliq, Gubar, Raihan, Shikasta, Diwani, Riqa', Bahar, Tughra, Ma'akus and in styles differing from the bold and archaic to the minute.
ARABIC MANUSCRIPTS
The library has a collection of more than 2,500 manuscripts in Arabic, its highlight being that rare work on mathematics entitled Sharhu Mukhtasar al Mukhtasar on Algebra (847 A.D) In astronomy, the earliest work in on the preparation and use of globe (16th cent). In the field of Medicine, the library boasts of manuscripts of Kilabul Qanun by Avicenna (Ibn Sina). In natural history the noted works are Hayatul Haiwan. In the field of Philosophy, an encyclopedic work in the library is Rasiallkhwanus Safa (16th century). AI Tajrid fil Mantiq is well known work on logic written by Nasiruddin Tusi (1628 AD) and manuscripts of Ala Sharhil Malali is a copy from the imperial library of Emperor Jahangir. Manuscripts on Islamic theology that deal with Adiyah (Prayers) of Shiites and Sunnites, jurisprudence and Sufism also form a part of the collection. Ta'arruf Ii Madhabit tasawwuf is a rare work on introduction to the Principles of Sufism (Delhi-1675 A.D). The earliest codex of lexicon is Sahah by Abu Nasr (1218 A.D). Jaiul Qawayed is a rare codex in the subject of Syntax (1576 A.D) and on the subject of etymology a commentary on As Shafia written during the period of Nizam II in one of the prized possessions of library.
PERSIAN MANUSCRIPTS
There are about 4,700 Persian language manuscripts. The most outstanding of these is Rauzatul Muhibbin, which contains twenty illustrations belonging to the Bukhara tradition and' was transcribed by the famous calligrapher Mir Ali Harvi. The oldest manuscript on Sunnite commentary is A'I Basair fil Wujuh wan Nazir, written in 1207 A.D, in Arabic Naskh. On Tasawwuf (Sufism), the most valuable and useful treatise is attributed to Bayazid Bustami, who transcribed it in 1588 AD. There are manuscripts on the subjects of art, science, divination, astrology, magic and archery. There is one codex on agriculture and a number of codices on precious and semi-precious stones. On the art of calligraphy the Museum has a number of manuscripts, in cookery there are two manuscripts entitled Dastur-e-Pukhtan-el Atamaah written for Shahjahan. There is a codex on the preparation of perfumes too.
In medicine the oldest Arabic translation in Persian is Tarjuma-e-Minhajul Mayan written for Shahjahan by Muhammad ar-Radi. The Museum also has the oldest medical encyclopedia transcribed in India. In veterinary sciences, the codex Mualaja-e-Janwaran is the earliest available manuscripts on the treatment of animals and is dedicated to Firuz Shah (1281 A.D)
URDU, TURKISH, PUSHTU, HINDI AND ORIYA MANUSCRIPTS
The Salar Jung museum Library has more than 1,200 Urdu manuscripts on different subjects in which, Diwan-e-Quli Qutb Shah by King Muhammad Quli and Nurus by Ibrahim Adil Shah and a rare manuscript entitled 'Lilawati , on Mathematics and more than 25 manuscripts in Turkish and some Hindi manuscripts are in Persian script and some folios of Jaina Kalpasutra and a few palm leaf manuscripts in Oriya, Sanskrit and Telugu on the subject of History, Medicine, Tantra and Poetry are also present.
PRINTEB BOOK COLLECTION
ENGLISH SECTION
The English Section consists of nearly 40,000 books and is also having rare book collections. It covers a variety of subjects ranging History, Philosophy, Engineering, Biology, Literature and Biography. The oldest book in the library is General historie of the Turkes by Richard Knolles, 1631 A.D. There are certain autographed titles in the collection. One of them is a book presented to Sir Salar Jung I by Queen Victoria titled Leaves from the journal of our life in the Highlands from 1848 to 1861. The library also has a biography of Guru Nanak Janam Sakhi. The collection also has translations of important literary works For example, "The Ocean of Stories" is an English translation of Katha Sarit Sagara The library has a huge collection of books on history of the entire world.
ORIENTAL SECTION
This section contains around 19,000 printed books. Around 13,000 are in Urdu, 2,500 in Arabic, 3,500 in Persian and 160 in Turkish. It covers a wide range of books on subjects including Islam, Literature, History, Medicine from different countries like Iran, Iraq, Syria, India, Pakistan etc. Many books are available on the history of the Deccan. Literary works of the classical poets of Urdu are available in the library in this section.
RESEARCH AND PUBLICATION
Salar Jung Museum has published 19 descriptive catalogues of manuscript details, each having title, author, chronology, illustrations, seals and autographs. The Museum has also published a rare copy of the Holy Quran which consists of only 30 folios with each line beginning with the first alphabet of Arabic, the alif. Research on parchment is also being conducted by the Museum's Manuscripts section.
Charminar... Symbol of Hyderabad..
Charminar (Telugu: చార్మినార్, Hindi: चारमीनार, Urdu: چار مینار) (English: Four Towers) is an iconic structure located in Hyderabad, India. Built in 1591 AD, with four ornate minarets supported by four grand arches, it has become the global icon of Hyderabad and is listed among the most recognized structures of India. The Charminar, is located on the east bank of Musi river,in the North East lies the Laad Bazaar and in the west end lies the granite made richly ornamented Mecca Masjid.
Sultan Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah, the 5th ruler of the Qutb Shahi dynasty built Charminar in 1591 AD,shortly after he had shifted his capital from Golkonda to what is now known as Hyderabad. He built this famous structure to commemorate the elimination of a plague epidemic from this city. He is said to have prayed for the end of a plague that was ravaging his city and vowed to build a masjid(Islamic mosque) at the very place where he was praying. In 1591 while laying the foundation of Charminar, Quli Qutb shah prayed: "OhAllah, bestow unto this city peace and prosperity. Let millions of men of all castes, creeds and religions make it their abode, like fish in the water." Charminar was given to a contractor in the 16th century named Sanamvenkata Balaya to construct/renovate it and today one can see the Mosque has continued to represent the city with its uniqueness.The Mosque became popularly known as Charminar because of its four (Persian/Hindi char = four) minarets (Minar (Arabic manara) = spire/tower).
The structure is made of granite, limestone, mortar and pulverised marble. Initially the monument with its four arches was so proportionately planned that when the fort was opened one could catch a glimpse of the bustling Hyderabad city as these Charminar arches were facing the most active royal ancestral streets. There is also a legend of an underground tunnel connecting the Golkonda to Charminar, possibly intended as an escape route for the Qutb Shahi rulers in case of a siege, though the exact location of the tunnel is unknown.
The Charminar is a square edifice each side with 20 meters, with four grand arches each facing a cardinal point that open into four streets. At each corner stands an exquisitely shaped minaret, 56 meters high with a double balcony. Each minaret is crowned by a bulbous dome with dainty petal like designs at the base. A beautiful mosque is located at the western end of the open roof and the remaining part of the roof served as a court during the Qutb Shahi times. There are 149 winding steps to reach the upper floor. Once atop, the solitude and serenity of the beautiful interior is refreshing. The space in the upper floor between the minarets was meant for Friday prayers. There are forty-five prayer spaces
It is said that, during the Mughal Governorship between Qutb Shahi and Asaf Jahi rule, the south western minaret "fell to pieces" after being struck by lightning, but "was forthwith repaired" at a cost of Rs 60,000. In 1824, the monument was replastered at a cost of Rs 100,000.
There is also a legend of an underground tunnel connecting the Golkonda to Charminar, possibly intended as an escape route for the Qutb Shahi rulers in case of a siege, though the exact location of the tunnel is unknown.
The great monument is a synonym for Hyderabad and the pivot around which the glory and history of the city have developed. To imagine this 400-year-old city without Charminar is to imagine New York without the Statue of Liberty or Moscow without the Kremlin.
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