The Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Arabic and Persian Research Institute (APRI) Rajasthan, Tonk is situated in the valley of two historical hills of Rasiya and Annapoorna. The Institute is 100 kms away at the southern side from the state capital, Jaipur. The climate of the area is almost dry. Only bus service is available to approach to Tonk from Jaipur. The area of the Institute's premises is 1,26,000 Sq.Ft., main building 7,173 Sq.Ft., and Scholar's Guest House is 6,315 Sq.Ft. There are 8 furnished rooms at the Scholar's Guest House. This Institute was established by the Government of Rajasthan. The Institute has a collection of 8.087 manuscripts, 28,188 printed books, 674 Faramin, 12,957 old magazines and 65,000 judgement files of the Shariat Records of the erstwhile Tonk State, in addition to the historical documents belonging to the old Munshi Khana Huzuri of the said State along with Asnad, Tughrajat and the exhibits of decorative calligraphic art.
This literary treasure of Arabic and Persian as well as Urdu, belongs to the 5th century of the Hijra era and onwards. This consists of the original works including edited and translated manuscripts and publications on the subjects relating to the Qur'an, Hadith, Fiqh, Tasawwuf, Philosophy, Sirat, History, Medicine, Astrology, Literature and the versions of the holy saints.
This invaluable literary collection owes its initial establishment to Wazir ul Mulk, late Nawwab Muhammad Ali Khan - the third ruler of erstwhile Tonk State in the year 1867. In the year 1946, Saeed ud Daulah, late Nawwab Saadat Ali Khan transferred it to the newly established Saeediyah Library which was known as the District Library, Tonk after the formation of Rajasthan.
The manuscripts of the District Library were transferred in 1961 to Rajasthan Oriental Research Institute, Jodhpur by opening its branch at Tonk. Subsequently in 1973, the State Government established a separate institute in the name of Arabic and Persian Research Centre which was further enriched by a decision of the government through which important Arabic and Persian collections were transferred from various libraries and museums to this Institute. These collections were preserved in this Institute as Alwar Collection, Bharatpur Collection, Jaipur Collection and Jhalawar Collection etc. Ultimately an epoch making decision was taken by the Government of Rajasthan to create an independent Directorate in 1978 appointing Sahib zadah Shaukat Ali Khan as its first Director. The Institute is now situated in its newly constructed building. During the Maulana Azad Centenary Celebrations in 1989, this Directorate was named as Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Arabic and Persian Research Institute Rajasthan. Tonk.
The government has constructed a Scholars Guest House adjacent to the Directorate's new building to provide lodging facilities and amenities to the research scholars.
Apart from the transferred collections from the government institutions and libraries, there is a big collection also purchased by the Institute. The collection which was donated to the Institute from the private and personal libraries, by the donors is preserved in the name of the donor as Maulana Shaghil Collection, Jaipur; Jauhar Collection, Tonk; Pandit Ram Niwas Nadeem Collection,Tonk; Maulana Ubaid Arab Collection, Bhopal; Hafiz Quamar Asif Collection, Ajmer; Chand Bihari Lal 'Saba' Collection, Jaipur; Maulawi Hakim Muhammad Ahmad Collection, Tonk; Capt. Sahib zadah M. Shamsher Khan 'Shaheen' Collection, Tonk; Mufti Akhtar Husain Collection, Kota; Mr. Manzoor Alam Advocate, Collection, Tonk and Mohd. Umar Saifi Collection, Tonk etc.
Apart from organising national and international seminars, the Institute releases a Research Journal based on the papers. The Institute has up to now brought out 59 publications including in Hindi, English, Urdu, Persian and Arabic.
The catalogues published by the APRI include, Arabic Manuscripts : Volume I (English), 1980, Arabic Manuscripts : Volume II (English), 1983, .Catalogue of the Arabic Manuscripts : Volume III (English), 1991.).Descriptive Catalogue of the Persian Manuscripts of History : Volume I (English), 1987, Descriptive Catalogue of the Persian manuscripts of History : Volume II (English), 1996. Khazinat ul Makhtutat : Volume I (Urdu), 1981.).Khazinat ul Makhtutat : Volume II (Urdu), 1983,Khazinat ul Makhtutat : Volume III (Urdu), 1984. Khazinat ul Makhtutat : Volume IV (Urdu), 1998-99. Khazinat ul Makhtutat : Volume V (Part-I) (Urdu), 2001. . Kitabush-Shatranj (Urdu) 1996 An Urdu rendition of a rare Arabic Manuscript on the Chess game with diagrams. (Translated by Maulana Abdul Hai-“Faiz”) . Mujamul Musannifin (Urdu) 1997 An Urdu rendition of a rare Arabic book. It covers the details of the prominent Arabic writers. (Translated by Mohd. Amir Khan) Tarikh-i-Tonk (Hindi) 1997 A Hindi rendition of an Urdu book. It is a history of erstwhile Tonk State from 1817 to independence. Aina-i-Ayyam (Urdu) 1997-98A versified rendering of Rubaiyat-i-Umar Khayyam (Persian) in Urdu with the original text.
While this is the rosy picture of the valuable collection preserved in the APRI, there is an inside story too! The maintenance of the building itself and the rooms within is horrifying. The rooms where the staff officers are supposed to be sitting is deserted. While lunch time was past over when this writer visited, there was no sign of the rest of the staff. The writer spotted two women, supposedly staff at the APRI, taking their afternoon nap outside. One youngster working at the “computer cell” doubled up as the guide for the visitors. Piles and piles of papers are stacked untidily on the tables. There is a huge almirah with cobwebs and dust covering bundles of papers packed in a dirty red cloth. The bathrooms are dingy and not washed for years, actually centuries!
While the Director's chamber has a fancy “in-out” glow sign on the door, his reception towards visitors to the APRI was certainly not glowing. When this writer and her companion stepped inside his chamber, he hurriedly and rudely summoned his assistant to “show-us around.” We expected a more detailed discussion with him on an intellectual level about the history of APRI as he was supposed to be related to the Nawwab. Our attempt to appraise him about the pathetic state of the APRI interiors failed too as he was not available around 3 pm which is certainly not the lunch hour. “Though the APRI comes under the government of Rajasthan, the day to day working is in the hands of Muslims. I think Muslims simply cannot manage an organization and do a good job of it. Its better the APRI is handed over to a private company, look what a mess this place is in,” remarked a visitor there.
Muslims scramble and scream about not being in the mainstream, but when they are handed over a responsibility of managing their own cultural heritage, they cannot do it. The APRI badly needs a complete overhaul.
The writer can be reached at nigs3@yahoo.co.in
