Libraries and Librarianship of Ancient and Medieval India (Upto 1850 A.D.)
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LIBRARIES & LIBRARIANSfflP OF ANCIENT AND MEDIEVAL INDIA By DR BIMAL KUMAR DATTA 1960 ATMA RAM & SONS DELHI . NEW DELHI . CHANDIGARH . XAIPDR . LUCKNOW Published by Ram Lai Pury of ATMA RAM & SONS Kashmere Gate. Delhi-6 Branches Hauz Khas, NEW DELHI University Enclave, CHANDIGARH Chawra Rasta, JAIPUR 17, Ashok Marg, LUCKNOW Printed by S. P. Dhawan at The Central Electric Presfs 80-D, Kamla Nagar, Delhi-7 My Wife SieiiH Datta Contents Chap. Page Introduction 1 I. Early Monastic and Other Institutional Libraries 12 11(a). Libraries of Western and Southern India 36 n(A). Archives of Ancient India 48 III. Royal and Important Private Libraries of the Sultanate Period 50 IV. Libraries of the Mughals, The Minor Muslim Kingdoms, The Marathas and the Contem- porary Hindu Centres of Learning 60 V. The Libraries of the Early European Settlers of South India and Bengal and the Library of Tipu Sultan 88 VI. Writing Materials Through the Ages and Introduction of Paper 104 VII. Binding of Manuscripts and Books Through the Ages 133 VIII. Illumination and Illustration of Manuscript and Books 144 IX. Library Techniques and Administration 166 X. History of Printing in India 197 Bibliography 225 Index 237 Errata 248 Introduction 1 . OLD AND MODERN DEFINITION OF A LIBRARY. 2. SCOPE OF THE PRESENT WORK. 3. SOURCES AND SOURCE MATERIALS. 1. OLD AND MODERN DEFINITION OF A LIBRARY 'pHE phenomenal spread of literacy and formal education through books in Europe from about the middle of the nine- teenth century and social changes brought about by the indus- trial revolution have changed the entire conception, organisation and administration of libraries, whether institutional or public, all over the western world. Even in countries that were for centuries economically backward, social, political and economic changes have been taking place in a quickened tempo from about the beginning of the century, and with the spread of literacy and formal education through books libraries in the oriental world too have come to mean quite a different institution than they had been through centuries. Through a process of evolution libraries of the contemporary world have reached a stage where they have more or less a common attitude and approach, common aims and objectives and more or less uniform systems of organisation and administration. It is perhaps necessary to know what libraries in the ancient and medieval world were like, what were their aims and objects and how they were organised and administered, so as to enable us to get a clearer perspective of the library situation in the contemporary world. It is with a view to this as well as to satisfy modern man’s curiosity in respect of human achievements of the past that serious studies have been made in the field of the libraries of ancient civilizations, for example, of Egypt and Babylon, of Greece and Rome and of the medieval Christian world. These studies have revealed that some of the tools, techniques and methods of ancient and medieval libraries, borne by tradition and practice, have 2 LIBRARIES IN ANCIENT AND MEDIEVAL INDIA continued in those of modern libraries and they have profited by them. Besides, enquiries into the methods, practices and organisation of ancient and medieval libraries of the Western world have given us a better insight into the social and cultural life of the people of those days. It is common knowledge that in ancient and medieval India, indeed right upto the end of the eighteenth century, libraries were considered as important centres of learning and a most significant medium of education and wisdom. Emperors, kings and nobles therefore reared up and maintained libraries of their own and so did the various religious and monastic organisations. In recent years, with growing interest in modern libraries and librarianship, we are increasingly becoming interested to know what these libraries were like, how they were organised and administered and what were their aims and purposes. Our interest has naturally resulted in stray ex- cursions into the field of ancient and medieval libraries and here and there a few papers have been published or incidental references have also been creeping into chapters of books on libraries and librarianship or history of Indian education. But, unfortunately, no serious and systematic attempts have so far been made to give a more or less integrated picture of libraries of ancient and medieval India. This volume purports to be an attempt in this direction and it aims at serving the same purpose in India as similar attempts have done in respect of libraries and librarianship of the Western world. The modern definition of “a library (from Latin *‘Liber*" L e, book) is a collection of printed or written material arran- ged and organised for the purpose of study and research or of general reading or both. The organisation ranges from a system of great complexity with catalogues and indexes and other records, a binding department, a secretariat and a large staif,* to the simple arrangement with perhaps a list of books, which suflSce for the owner of the smaller private library.*’* Generally, modern libraries include many books, a whole separate building and librarian but even if the books are few and even it is only the owner who is at the same time the introduction 3 keeper, it is still recognised to be a library, if the books are kept for use and not for sale. In the western world the two terms “Library” and '“Bibliotheka” are used to denote the place where books and manuscripts are kept. The former is derived from the Latin root “Liber”, i. e. book whence the term “Librarium” /. e. a place where to keep manuscripts and books. The word ‘‘Bibliotheka” is derived from the Greek word “Biblos” or “Byblos” whence the word “Biblion”, /. e. a book and “Theka” means a case or cabinet; hence “Bibliotheka” is literally a book-case or a collection of books. In ancient and medieval India the following terms were generally used to denote a collection of granthas or Pustakas (manuscripts generally, and since the introduction of printing, also books). Nibandha-Pustaka-Sthana* Dharma-ganja® Grantha-Kuthi® JSana Bhandar® Pustaka Bhand3r® Saraswati BhandSr* Bharatl Bhandagaras® Saraswati Mahal® Kitab Khana* Punthi Khana*® vidyasaia®® Gata Ghar“ 1. Arthaiastra. Ed. ShamaiSstry, p. 62. 2. History of Indian Logic, Vidya Bhusan, p. S16. 3. Trikanda : (Vi$va>Ko$ha, p. 603). 4. Jain Chitra Kalpadrum : Sarabhi Nawab. 5. Annual Report of the South Indian Epigraphy, 1936-37, pp. 81-82. 6. Annual Report of the South Indian Epigraphy, 1938-39 No. 139 and Hyderabad Archaeological Series No. 8. 7. Indian Paleography, Buhler, p. 93. 8. A descriptive catalogue of the Sanskrit Mss. in the Tanjore Maharaja Serfoji’s Saraswati Mahal Library. Tanjore, P.P.S. Sastry, Vol. I. 9. Administration of the Sultanate of Delhi, I.H. Qureshi. 10. J.O R, Vol. XXVII, p. 143. 11. Studies in Indian Literacy History, Vol. II, p. 122-36. 12. Chitipatre Sam^j Chitra, Viiva-Bharati, Vol. 2, p. 483. 4 UBRARIBS in ancient and medieval INDIA The Artha£3stra mentions among others a public institution named Ak$apatala which included the officers of accounts (GSnaniky*adhikara) and in which an officer (Adhyak$ha) held the charge of a depository of chief books (Nibandha Pustaka-sthSna). The terms “Dharma-gafija” means a “mart of religion” and it was used to denote the Ubrary>quarter of NalandS Uni- versity. “Dharma-gafija” consisted of three splendid buildings by the names of Ratna-sSgara, Ratna-dadhi and Ratna-ratljaka. “Orantha-Kuthi” literally means “the book house”. The Sanskrit root “Grantha” means to keep things together binding through a chord. In India the term was used for manuscripts as the leaves of the manuscripts were usually kept tied by stringing them with a chord. In South and Western India Jfiana, Pustaka and Saraswatl Bhand&r or Mahal were used to denote a library. “Jhina” means “knowledge” and “Saraswatl” means “the goddess of learning” and when these terms are combined with “Bhandar” or “Mahal” i.e. “Store- house”, they stand as the store-house of knowledge or the abode of the goddess of learning. The other term “Pustaka”' is derived from Avestan. It is derived from “Post” which stands for things piled up one upon another and sewn and bound together. In India “Pustaka” means “Book” and ‘‘Pus- taka-Bhandar” or “Pustaka Sthana” means “Store-house of books”. The other name used for library is Bharatl-Bhanda- garas, which means Treasury (Bhandagaras) of the goddess of speech (Bharatl). During the time of the Delhi Sultanate and the Imperial Mughals central administration was organised into several departments and each department was known as Karkhana (workshop). Among the various departments “Kitab-khana” was one. Kitab-khana literally means the department (Khana) of books (Kitab). Hindu rulers of the late medieval period did not like the Arabic word ‘Kitab’ and in its place used “Punthi”^ i.e. manuscripts. Punthi-Khana therefore means the depart- ment of manuscripts. The Akaiabhairava Kalpa manuscript which depicts an account of the Vijayanagar dynasty is housed in the Saraswatl Mahal manuscript library of Tanjore and may be dated in the introduction 5 fifteenth century. In Patala 32 of the said manuscript, we find detailed descri* ption regarding construction of the inner apartments of the royal palace. One of these apartments was known as Vidyi- §alS or manuscript-room which generally housed the royal collection of manuscripts and books. During eighteenth and nineteenth centuries libraries of Bengal were known as Gata Ghar. The term “Gata” comes from “Grantha” and “Ghar” from “Gfha” or room. 2. SCOPE OF THE PRESENT WORK In ancient and medieval India literacy or formal education through books was the privilege of the very few.