“Khuda Bakhsh Oriental Public Library was established by Khan Bahadur Khuda Bakhsh with 4,000 manuscripts, of which he inherited 1,400 from his father Maulvi Mohammed Bakhsh. The library also has the Book of Military Accounts of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, along with specimens of Mughal paintings, calligraphy, and book decoration. They have a total of 21,136 manuscripts in Arabic, Persian, Urdu, Turkish, and Pashto; the library is a key resource for scholars of these languages. They hold a manuscript of Sahih al-Bukhari, hand-transcribed by Shaykh Muhammad ibn Yazdan Bakhsh Bengali in Ekdala, Eastern Bengal, and gifted to the Sultan of Bengal, Alauddin Husain Shah. The library's collection includes 800 coins, 2,195 microfilms, and 14,000 small manuscripts, making it a valuable resource for researchers and history enthusiasts. Their reading room offers a wide range of English, Urdu, and Hindi newspapers and magazines. Khuda Bakhsh Oriental Public Library also offers researchers access to microfilm printouts upon request. The library now provides reference assistance through fax, phone, and email for those who cannot visit in person.”
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