Manuscripts at Khalsa College to be preserved

According to the Tribune “With a view to restore and preserve the old manuscripts and documents at the Sikh History Research Centre, Khalsa College, a month-long workshop is under way on the historic campus.

A six-member team of experts, led by Mohammad Ali, former curator, Satarjung Museum, Hyderabad, and Sajjan Singh, convenor, Sikh Heritage Foundation, Hyderabad, is undertaking the task to preserve the heritage.

The research centre, which has been revamped recently, houses 6,274 books, which include rare books in English and Punjabi. There are hundreds of manuscripts and documents in Urdu, Sanskrit and Persian languages apart from newspapers and magazines as old as 1904. Some of the books available here are said to be rare that no other institution in the world has.

“It is a treasure house of Sikh history and culture. Hundreds of students use the documents for their research activities,” said Khalsa College Governing Council (KCGC ) honorary secretary Rajinder Mohan Singh Chhina.

KCGC finance secretary and Dalbir Foundation head Gunbir Singh said that in the next phase, the museum’s photographs would also be preserved through digitisation. The other team members of the conservation team include Sana Ahmed, Ali Usman, Abdul Azeem and Gulafsha Khan.

KCA Principal Dr Mehal Singh, who is overall in-charge of the new project, along with Dr Kuldip Singh, head of the department, said the heritage significance of the old documents, books and manuscripts here left the delegates enthused.