A Descriptive Catalogue of Manuscripts: History & Development

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First part gives the background of the subject. First and Second Chapters inform us about the initial efforts for collection of the manuscripts and Origin of the Catalogue. Third Chapter Contains Contribution of Westerns Scholars to the field of Manuscriptology. Chapter Four continues the further progress in India. Fifth Chapter includes the scheme of the Central Education Ministry. Sixth Chapter proceeds with the further development in the latter half of the 20th Century. Chapter Seven contains some observations about the activity of preparing a Descriptive Catalogue of manuscripts.

Chapter Eight summarizes all the earlier efforts and scope for future developments. Second part ends with three appendices providing a list of catalogues prepared over the past two centuries.

Manuscripts are handwritten documents that convey historical information. Manuscripts written in Sanskrit have long been a valuable repository of Indian history. The numerous Sanskrit manuscripts that are at our disposal in the form of texts, commentary, and other literary works offer us a glimpse into the civilization's hidden knowledge.

A new, enlightened interest in the study of manuscripts emerged with the founding of research-focused contemporary institutions in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and even earlier. Eventually, editing texts based on manuscripts developed into a significant area of study. It was crucial to catalogue the manuscripts in order to facilitate access to them, rather than merely gathering, keeping and preserving them.

Western academics who went above and beyond their regular responsibilities as government employees to look for manuscripts around the nation started the descriptive catalogue's voyage. Some continued this work over the course of the following century. But just a few unique institutions are now carrying out this effort.

The information acquired throughout this procedure makes it clear how necessary it is to have training in Ccataloguing, a crucial aspect of the field of Manuscriptology. The awareness that cataloguing is a specialized area has to be developed among Manuscriptology trainees. Manuscriptology training institutions need to develop curricula that will prepare the next generation of catalogers, as a shortage of skilled Labour is severely hampering the academic field.

In 1990, Dr. Bhagyashree Bhagwat began working as a Research Assistant at the institution. She has been an Editor since 1994 and has authored or edited seven books on her own and three books with another editor. When necessary, she has taken on the role of Director in Charge. Even after retirement she is working as consultant Editor for last seven years. She is second signatory for financial matter since 1997. She has worked hard to finish the assignment in the allotted time. I therefore want to express my gratitude and congrats to Dr. Bhagwat madam for her work, and I hope she will continue to contribute to the organisation.

I express my gratitude to the Vice-chancellor, Registrar, Director of Central Schemes, and other officials of Central Sanskrit University, New Delhi. Furthermore, I express my gratitude to Prof. Ved Prakash Upadhyaya, the Chairman of the Management Committee of Adarsha Sanskrit Shodha Samstha, and Prof. Saroja Bhate Madam, the Chairman of the Managing Committee of Vaidika Samshodhana Mandala, for their invaluable support in the reorganisation of the institution.

During the early days of the East India Company's rule, the promotion of Education was not recognized as a duty of the Government in India, or in England.

In India, Vedas were preserved by rote. It is believed that then next phase started with written communication. From the earliest times, Brāhmaņas in India have preserved by Oral tradition as well as in manuscripts, a literature unrivalled in its antiquity and intellectual subtlety.

When the art of writing was discovered, various types of materials were used for the purpose and the writing was done by manual process. This led to the development of various kinds of manuscripts which record and communicate knowledge of ancient times. The meaning 'something written by hand' is the generally accepted meaning of the word Manuscript.

Chambers Dictionary defines manuscript as 'Manuscript is a book or document written by hand before the invention of printing'.'

Webster's Dictionary (1973) defines it as 'Manuscript is something which is written with or by hand and not printed.'

The word Manuscriptology simply means 'A Science of Manuscripts'. Manuscripts are our legitimate heritage and constitute a basic and essential raw material, an unprinted source for much of our research.

Manuscriptology has created a new era since the beginning of the 10th Century of understanding the whole tradition of the history and growth of literature. Manuscript studies had become most significant emerging areas and many scholars have devoted themselves to this study. However, another activity of the then Bombay Government, which in the long run, proved to be highly beneficial to Sanskrit learning, deserves to be mentioned here.

From about 1866 onwards, efforts seem to be instituted under the government auspices and with the scholars like Buhller, Kielhorn, Bhandarkar etc. to make a survey of the Sanskrit manuscript material scattered all over Western India to acquire for government as many manuscripts as possible and to organize them. These efforts ended in well-formed libraries at the end.

The need for search of Manuscripts has been felt since long back and the search has been carried out by individuals and institutions later on. It is difficult to say, who has done the job for the first time. It appears that Sir Robert Chamber was the first to collect the manuscripts in India in 1774.

The search began with exploring the places where manuscripts were likely to be available. One had to find out the locations, owners of the mss. Some persons prepared mss for their own use. We have ample mss in religious places, with Pandits, individuals and institutions. The strength of mss found in the existing repositories and libraries is not enough to have complete information of mss. It seems that a large number of manuscripts are still lying scattered with families, individuals and religious institutions, which are quite unknown. It has been estimated that about one hundred million of Indian mss are available while the information of only sixty million can be made available through finding aids. Thus, the procurement poses a big challenge before the collectors of mss.

The act of procuring mss differs to that of printed materials. It is easy to procure a book. In case of mss the sources are rarely known. The absence of proper and established channel makes it difficult to know the whereabouts of manuscripts. Preparation of mss was a regular feature in India. Before the Christian era, the Mss were written without space between the words. Thus, the ancient knowledge came to be preserved in the form of Mss. prepared and scribed under the patronage of temples, Math etc.

Various Catalogues are the only medium of finding out the location of the unknown mss. Catalogues have an important role for a researcher.