Hamid Ansari
The Vice President, Mohd. Hamid Ansari (2nd from left) during the release of the Descriptive Catalogue of Manuscripts; Descriptive Catalogue of Manuscripts of Fort William College; and Fascimile copies of Rozmnama, Tarikh–i-Alfi and Ilajut Tuyur, brought by the National Archives of India, at a function, in New Delhi on February 16, 2012.PIB

The Vice President of India, M. Hamid Ansari, released the "Descriptive Catalogue of Manuscripts", "Descriptive Catalogue of Manuscripts of Fort William College" and "Fascimile copies of Rozmnama, Tarikh - i-Alfi and Ilajut Tuyur", bought by the National Archives of India, at a function in New Delhi, on Thursday.

These catalogues have been translated from Persian and published in English as well as in Persian.

Ansari congratulated the National Archives of India for having accepted and completed the task of preparing manuscripts of these treasured catalogues, for the use of academicians and scholars.

The "Descriptive Catalogue of Manuscripts" comprises more than 190 Manuscripts and classified in five groups i.e. Religion, History, Language, Literature and general for the convenience of the users.

The "Descriptive catalogue of Manuscripts of Fort William College", comprises several rich manuscripts, including a large number of valuable books and rare manuscripts from the plunder of a huge collection of Tipu Sultan's rich library.

The "Fascimile copy of Rozmnama" is the Persian translation of the Mahabharata, prepared by the order of Emperor Akbar under the supervision of Abul Fazl in the year 1582.

The "Fascimile copy of Tarikh-i-Alfi" was compiled on the order of Emperor Akbar by Mulla Ahmad Thattawi and after his assassination by another important courier, Jafar Beg Khan, on the occasion of completion of first millennium of Hijra.

The "Fascimile copy of Ilajut Tuyur" is a unique manuscript which was written by Firoz Shah Tughluq's order in 780 hijri (probably corresponding to 1378-79 AD) by a board of physicians (hakiman).