Islamic lands Library

inside qur anic library in chinguetti, mauritania

by 8th century, first iranians , arabs had imported craft of papermaking china, paper mill @ work in baghdad in 794. paper called bagdatikos, meaning baghdad , because introduced west city. 9th century, public libraries started appear in many islamic cities. called house of knowledge or dar al- ilm. each endowed islamic sects purpose of representing tenets promoting dissemination of secular knowledge. 9th-century abbasid caliph al-mutawakkil of iraq, ordered construction of zawiyat qurra  – enclosure readers lavishly furnished , equipped . in shiraz, adhud al-daula (d. 983) set library, described medieval historian, al-muqaddasi, complex of buildings surrounded gardens lakes , waterways. buildings topped domes, , comprised upper , lower story total, according chief official, of 360 rooms.... in each department, catalogues placed on shelf... rooms furnished carpets . libraries employed translators , copyists in large numbers, in order render arabic bulk of available persian, greek, roman , sanskrit non-fiction , classics of literature.

organization strength of islamic libraries during golden age (7th -14th century). in period, books organized subject. within subject, materials further organized when libraries gained item, not last name of author or title of book. also, islamic libraries may first have implemented catalogue of owned materials. content of bookshelf recorded on paper , attached end of shelf. arab-islamic people favorable of public knowledge. public libraries popular along mosque, private, , academic libraries. instead of societies elite, such caliphs , princes, information offered everyone. of libraries said let patrons check out 200 items. these buildings made comfort of readers , information seekers. said rooms had carpets sitting , reading comfortably. also, openings such doors , windows secured closed protect patrons against cold drafts.

this flowering of islamic learning ceased centuries later when learning began declining in islamic world, after many of these libraries destroyed mongol invasions. others victim of wars , religious strife in islamic world. however, few examples of these medieval libraries, such libraries of chinguetti in west africa, remain intact , relatively unchanged. ancient library period still operational , expanding central library of astan quds razavi in iranian city of mashhad, has been operating more 6 centuries.

the contents of these islamic libraries copied christian monks in muslim/christian border areas, particularly spain , sicily. there made way other parts of christian europe. these copies joined works had been preserved directly christian monks greek , roman originals, copies western christian monks made of byzantine works. resulting conglomerate libraries basis of every modern library today.

buddhist scriptures, educational materials, , histories stored in libraries in pre-modern southeast asia. in burma, royal library called pitakataik legendarily founded king anawrahta; in 18th century, british envoy michael symes, on visiting library, wrote not improbable birman majesty may possess more numerous library potentate, banks of danube borders of china . in thailand, libraries called ho trai built throughout country, on stilts above pond prevent bugs eating @ books.

islam

qur manuscript on display @ bibliotheca alexandrina

the centrality of qurʾān prototype of written word in islam bears on role of books within intellectual tradition , educational system. impulse in islam manage reports of events, key figures , sayings , actions. thus, onus of being last people of book engendered ethos of [librarianship] on , establishment of important book repositories throughout muslim world has occurred ever since.

upon spread of islam, libraries in newly islamic lands knew brief period of expansion in middle east, north africa, sicily, , spain. christian libraries, contained books made of paper, , took codex or modern form instead of scrolls; found in mosques, private homes, , universities, timbuktu afghanistan , modern day pakistan. in aleppo, example, largest , oldest mosque library, sufiya, located @ city s grand umayyad mosque, contained large book collection of 10,000 volumes reportedly bequeathed city s famous ruler, prince sayf al-dawla. ibn al-nadim s bibliography fihrist demonstrates devotion of medieval muslim scholars books , reliable sources; contains description of thousands of books circulating in islamic world circa 1000, including entire section books doctrines of other religions. modern islamic libraries part not hold these antique books; many lost, destroyed mongols, or removed european libraries , museums during colonial period.