The unprecedented
floods that swept Kashmir Valley last
month, have inflicted heavy damage to cultural and archival treasures
representing 2,000 yea the
historic Sri Pratap Singh Museum in Srinagar have been lost forever. Sources
told DNA that the important document, the Gilgit manuscripts, the only
surviving testimony to the Buddhist classic knowledge, has been lost forever.
Historians across the world were awaiting with
bated breath news about the fate of these documents, only to hear that they have been declared 100% damaged with no chances of
recovery. Suspecting that tribal raiders may damage these documents
in 1947, India's first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru had prevailed upon then
government in Jammu and Kashmir
to shift them to National Archives in Delhi. On two other occasions, to protect them from
aerial bombings during war in 1965 and 1971 they were again flown to Delhi for
protection. Ironically, some of the
documents placed at the Central Asian Studies Department of Kashmir University
were returned to the Museum authorities just a week before the floods. Member
of National Monument Authority and former director of INTACH Salim Beg, who has
just returned from Srinagar after inspecting the loss said that not only
manuscripts but other significant treasures like paintings, shawls, historic
textiles, and wood carvings have been damaged. He was aghast that even when the waters receded, no action had been taken to rescue
the artefacts. He lamented that state authorities lack expertise or even basic
understanding to rescue the objects. Tracing the history of their discovery,
Beg says a shepherd had found them in 1931 accidentally and by the orders of
then Maharaja Hari Singh, they were placed in the museum. Since then scholars
from all over world arrive Srinagar to see these documents. Known as the oldest
manuscripts in the world, the Gilgit documents have an unmatched significance
in the area of Buddhist studies.
They help trace the evolution of Sanskrit, Chinese, Korean, Japanese and
Tibetan religio-philosophical literature. They were named Gilgit manuscripts as
they were discovered in three instalments in the Gilgit region, now part of
Pakistan occupied Kashmir. Fragments of these manuscripts are placed in the British Museum and
the Department of Archaeology in Karachi.
From DNA, 3 Oct. 20014
5 comments:
Were there any accurate copies or visual records of these manuscripts made?
Dear Brahmavihara, all the Gilgit manuscripts were edited by N. Dutt and published in three volumes and if you can read Sanskrit most are available on line; see https://archive.org/details/gilgitmanuscript014822mbp The paintings on the wooden covers were all photographed and have been published in numerous books. But of course its always best to have the originals.
Hmmm... this illustrates impermanence.
Apparently, according to this source, they have survived.
https://buddhistartnews.wordpress.com/2014/10/13/rare-buddhist-relics-survive-j-k-deluge/
Dear William, yes! There seems to be mixed messages about the fate of the manuscripts, all emanating from Indian news reports – all destroyed, some destroyed some saved, and all saved. Time will tell.
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