The participants of the forum “Cultural Heritage of Uzbekistan – the Foundation of the New Renaissance” got acquainted with the activities of the Abu Rayhan Biruni Institute of Oriental Studies.

The documentary film shown and the new museum made a great impression on foreign guests.

According to the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Uzbekistan, the Abu Rayhan Biruni Institute of Oriental Studies was founded in 1943 based on the Eastern Department of the State Public Library (now the National Library of Uzbekistan, named after Alisher Navoi). Until 1950, it was called the Institute for the Study of Oriental Manuscripts, and then, considering the coverage of scientific areas, it was renamed the Institute of Oriental Studies.

The collection of oriental manuscripts of Institute is one of the richest and most famous repositories of oriental manuscripts in the world in terms of scientific value. Some of the works in the fund have a history of over a thousand years (for example, a list of the Quran of the 9th century, rewritten in Kufi handwriting).

Now there are about 26,000 volumes in the Institute’s manuscript fund. Many of them are collections of several works. And the fund for lithographed and printed books contains about 40,000 volumes. These manuscripts and books are of great importance for studying the history of Central Asia and the countries of the foreign East.

The institute also has a large collection of historical documents that cover thousand years. The oldest record dates back to the 10th century and the latest to the beginning of the 20th century.

In 2000, the Institute’s manuscript fund was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List as one of the richest manuscript repositories in the world.

Nazokat Usmanova, UzA