More that 40, 000 manuscripts from the archives of Bharat
Ithihaas Samshodak Mandal, including those dating back to the 14th century AD,
have been digitized and will be digitally available at national libraries for
academic research. Rare documents in Persian, Kannada, Tamil, Marathi and
Sanskrit are part of the archives of Bharat Ithihaas Samshodak Mandal.
Bharat Itihas Sanshodhak Mandal, popularly known as Itihas
Sanshodhak Mandal or just ‘Mandal’, is an Indian institute providing resources
and training for historical researchers. It is located
at Pune in Maharashtra .
Indian Express reports
A team from the NMM worked at the Mandal for the past few months to ensure that these bundles are preserved for posterity. Each bundle contains 10-1,000 documents.
The manuscripts contribute significantly towards research for scriptures and literature in the country. The documents contain texts from the Mahabharata, Ramayana, Puranas and Rig Veda along with the stotras and yagnas they contain. One of the oldest bundles, belonging to 1490, is a Persian poetic composition called ‘Gullistan.’ There are also commentaries on subjects such as ayurveda, krishi shastra, science, horoscope, viman shashtra and so on.
“Some of the manuscripts also have paintings in colour. Interestingly, gold has been used in a few of them for preservation,” said Rachna Thakur, researcher, Bharat Ithihaas Samshodak Mandal.