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Jijñāsā
43. Pothikhānā of Jaipur: Khās-Muhar
Late Pt. Gopal Narayan Bahura *
The Pothikhānā of Jaipur is a repository of important and valuable manuscripts written in Sanskrit, Hindi, Rajasthani, Arabic, Persian and Urdu during the last seven centuries. They deal with a variety of subjects and some of them contain excellent specimens of calligraphy and illustrations of high class paintings. The collection had its beginning long before the city of Jaipur was founded by Sawai Jai Singh in 1727 A.D. The literary endeavours, patronage to poets, scholars and artists and efforts made by the rulers to accumulate and preserve these embodiments of human knowledge as national wealth are highly praiseworthy.
Though the manuscript, collected by his ancestors, were none the less important but proper care to access, to put seals on and to preserve them appears to have been taken for the first time during the reign of Mirza Raja Jai Singh (1621-67) and his son Ram Singh (1667-88). It was Sawai Jai Singh (1699-1743) who established a regular department for this end in his new capital Jainagar. His fondness for collecting rare and important manuscripts is evident from the efforts made to acquire a copy of Bhuśundi Rāmāyana through Kalyandas, pupil of Swami Vālmīki and the purchases made through Chaturbhuja Kashmiri, Abdulla Najumi and Hakim Mir Jaman Khan of Jhusi between 1728 and 1738 A.D.' It is known from the bahis account books) and other archival papers dating 1737 to 1754 A.D. that the kārkhānās (departments) established by Sawai Jai Singh were named griha (house) Pustakagriha and Chitra-griha were two of them which afterwards came to be known as Khāsa Pothikhānā (the Royal Library) and Sürat-khānā (painting department) from the time of Sawai Madho Singh I. To the usual staff for the upkeep of the stores a number of skilled calligraphists, painters, poets and scholars were attached to these departments who added to the stock with their accomplishments. In most cases employees were hereditary. Whenever a talented person came to a ruler, he employed him either on a vacant post or by creating a new job.
With such arrangements the collections continued to increase due to new purchases, additions by the employed and attached poets, scholars and artists and occasional presents received by the rulers. The queen-mothers, mahārānīs and other inmates of the seraglio also maintained their own collections. Some of them wrote books in their leisure. Their belongings were called āmvali and after their death, the same were taken over by the respective departments and Kärkhänäs. A note āmvāli scāvi, (received from the āmvāli) is noticed for such articles in the registers or on the first and the last leaf of manuscript.
The most valuable and important assets were kept under-Khās-muhar or the personal seal of the ruler which was opened and put back only under his orders by the Khas-muhar officers. A proper record of the articles taken out or placed in was kept by the storekeeper of the department. A counterentry was made by the Khās-muhar officers also. The muhar (seal) remained in the custody of the
