Rampur Raza Library

The Rampur Raza Library located in Rampur, Uttar Pradesh, India is a treasure house of knowledge and an Indo-Islamic cultural heritage built up by Nawab Faizullah Khan in 1774. It is one of the biggest libraries in Asia.

It contains very rare and valuable collection of 15000 manuscripts, historical documents, specimens of Islamic calligraphy, 205 miniature paintings on the Palm-Leaf – popularly called Bhoj Patra, astronomical instruments and rare illustrated works in Arabic and Persian. Rampur’s Raza Library also contains printed works in Sanskrit, Hindi, Urdu, Tamil and Turkish, and approximately 50,000 printed books (including periodicals) in various other languages.

The Nawab invited well-known calligraphers, illuminators and binders from Kashmir and other parts of India.

The Nawab also got a seal with the following Persian inscription.

“Hast in muhr bar kutub Khana Waali-i-Rampur Farzana”
This is the seal of the library by the wise ruler of Rampur.

Some of the remarkable collection of Raza Library :
Ramayana: It is a unique illustration of a Translation of Ramayana into Persian by Sumer Chand, illustrated during the reign of Farrukh Siyar, dated 1715 AD. The great Hindu epic Ramayana written in Grantha script is another highlight of this library.

Urdu Collection: Urdu collection of the library possesses the Diwan of Shah Hatim, Kulliyar-e-Mir Taqi Mir, Jurrat, Diwani-Soz and manuscript of Diwan-e-Ghalib with corrections in the poet’s own handwriting.

Turkish Collection: The Turkish language influenced Indian languages considerably. The word Urdu is of Turkish origin meaning ‘Lashkar’ (Camp). Babur’s ‘Tozak’ is the highlight of the library. Similarly, the Holy Quran is there in the library in Pushto.