National Day of Pakistan

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14th August: National Day of Pakistan

A brief about Pakistan’s Islamic written heritage

The Badshahi Mosque was constructed by the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb between 1671 and 1673 and was the largest mosque in the world from 1673 to 1986. Photo by Jawad via Wikimedia Commons

Among the 106 countries included in the “World Survey of Islamic Manuscripts” (the flagship project undertaken by Al-Furqan Islamic Heritage Foundation between the years 1989 – 1994) was Pakistan.

Pakistan’s Islamic written heritage was surveyed in 1989, by Muhammad Suheyl ʿUmar.

This survey brought to light a wealth of information about the Country’s collections of Islamic manuscripts, by indicating: the cities and libraries that hold these manuscripts, the approximate number of manuscripts within each collection, the subjects and languages in which they are written, the conditions in which they are and whether they have been catalogued and studied, the particular significant manuscripts which they contain, etc.

According to this Survey, Pakistan has just over 85,200 manuscripts, held in 276 libraries (private and institutional). These libraries have mostly been established between 900 – 1999, and their collections vary between 900 and 10,000 manuscripts.

Sindhi Culture, women in Sindhi cultural clothing, wearing Sindhi Libas and Peshani Patti. Photo by FD productions via Wikimedia Commons
Source note:
This information was published in the following book:
“World Survey of Islamic Manuscripts” (English version), 1997-2002, Al-Furqan Islamic Heritage Foundation, London, UK, Vol. 2, pp. 449-560.

Please note that some of the images used in this online version might not be part of the published version of this article within the respective book.

Disclaimer:
The data figures, the names, and other details are overall reflecting those of the time when the Survey was conducted.

Important note:
The Foundation is striving to update these details in progress; and, Your help in this regard would be much appreciated.

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