KARNATAKA

Archaeological Museum

Bijapur 587138

Introduction: This museum contains artifacts relating to the Adil Shahi dynasty that ruled Bijpaur from 1518-1686.

Catalog (s): Muhammad Abd Allah Chughtai, “ Makhtutat-i Ajaib khanah-yi Bijapur ki mukhtasir fihrist,” Burhan (September 1941)) 201-216; (October 1941): 293-303. See also V.S. Sukthankar, Descriptive Catalogue of the Bijapur Museum of Archaeology, (Bombay: Government Central Press, 1928).

Oriental Research Institute

University of Mysore Campus

Mysore 570001

Introduction: Besides the introduction in the catalog noted below, see “Oriental Reseach Institute: Urdu, Farsi aur Arabi Makhtutat ka Zakhira,” pp. 22-27, in Azkar-i Maysur, by Ikram Kawish, (Mysore, 1992). The Institute contains 936 manuscripts.

Catalog (s): A Catalogue of Persian Manuscripts in Oriental Research Institute, Mysore, edited by Mir Mehmood Husine, (Delhi: Anjuman-e-Farsi, 1980)

Other Collections: The Adil Shahi dynasty’s royal library was located in Bijapur’s Athar Mahal, which is still extant. When the city came under the British rule in the late 18^th century and became part of the Bombay Presidency, the library came to the attention of the colonial authorities, see Selections from the Records of the Bombay Government, no. XLI (New Series) 1856, pp. 213-242. P.M. Joshi’s “Ali Adil Shah…and His Royal Librarian: Two Ruqas,” Journal of the Bombay Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society 31-32 (1956-57): 97-107, is related to this library, as is K.S.K. Swamy’s “The Royal Library of Bijapur,” Islamic Culture 8 (1934): 115-119. Finally, Salim al-Din Qureshi wrote an informative article about the library’s relocation to London in his “The Royal Library of Bijapur,” in Handbook of Libraries and Information System in India, vol. 9, pp. 165-173, edited by B.M. Gupta, (Delhi: Aditya Prakashan, 1991). Qureshi’s article was previously published in Pakistan Library Bulletin 11, 3-4 (September-December 1980): 83-93. It was also reproduced in Timeless Fellowship (Dharwad) 13/14 (1979-81): 83-93. Evidently fragments of this library survived in Hyderabad, see “Haydarabad men…Bijapur…ka Bimithal Kutubkhanah,” p. 414, in Muhammad Fadil’s Jashn-i Uthmani, (Hyderabad, 1936?).

The library of Tipu Sultan, (1753-99), the ruler of Mysore met a fate similar as that of the Adil Shahi library. See Charles Stewart, A Descriptive Catalogue of the Oriental Library of the late Tipoo, Sultan of Mysore, (Cambridge, 1809); Hidayat Hosain, “The Library of Tipu Sultan,” Islamic Culture 15 (1940): 139-167; and S.C. Sutton, Guide to the India Office Library, (London: India Office Library, 1967). However, some portions of Tipu’s library was moved to Calcutta’s Asiatic Society of Bengal in 1808, see the Asiatic Society’s website http://www.indev.nic.in/asiatic/Library/index.htm

The well-known biographer of Tipu Sultan, Mahmud Khan Bangalori, d. 1958, wrote a book in Urdu entitled Tipu Sultan maa fihrist-i kutub khanah-yi Tipu Sultan, (Lahore: Gosha-yi Adab, 1959). See also, A.K. Shastry, “The Letters of Tipu Sultan in the Archives of the Sringeri Matha,” Indian Historical Records Commission Proceedings 55 (1995): 71-74.

Libraries in dargahs, Islamic shrines are a special category, and should be looked at. A barest hint at what is available in the dargahs is given in Annemarie Schimmel, “Impressions from a Journey to the Deccan,” Die Welt des Islams 20, 1-2 (1980): 104-107; and Mohamed Taher, Amin Ahmed Khan, and Muhammed Burhanuddin, “Dargah Libraries in India: A Comparative Study,” International Library Review 18 (1986): 337-345.