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The Qurans of Kotri Does the world's biggest collection of Quran manuscripts really lie in Sindh? The ancient settlement of Kotri Muhammad Kabir in the Noshehro Feroz district is said to have been a hub of religious and cultural activity up until the 10th century Hijri. Makhdoom Muhammad Kabir, who belonged to the Naqshbandi Suhrawardi school of thought, was the pioneer of this township. During its heyday, sufi saints like Hazrat Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai visited it frequently, and it became a meeting ground of sorts for others seeking metaphysical rather than material enlightenment. Before Makhdoom Mohammad Kabir came on the scene and transformed it into a township of worth, Kotri was called "Sogandh", a Persian word meaning one lakh twenty five thousand. It was the most densely populated township on the left side of the Indus river in that period, and some of the objects found in its ruins still speak of its beauty and grandeur. With the dawn of the 21st century, the currents of
urbanisation and apathy towards historic monuments have become stronger
and now threaten the preservation of our cultural heritage. The fear is
that the significant town of Kotri Kabir will soon be relegated to the
footnotes of history. Kotri is centred around an ancient shrine, the
dargah of the incumbent or the Sajjada Nashin. The current
incumbent, Makhdoom Ghaus Muhammad Gohar has, however, done a wonderful
job of collecting, preserving and conserving ancient manuscripts of the
Quran as well as religious tomes which were used in religious instruction
in the days of yore. The learned Pir of Kotri Kabir is a direct descendant
of the first Makhdoom, Mohammed Kabir, and he has lived up to his
illustrious forefather's reputation as a devoted man of religion and of
letters. Today, the Quran collection of the Kabir family lies preserved in
the small library besides the Makhdoom's grand Haveli.
The next pleasant surprise was that the Kabir family have not chosen to hog their treasure but to share it with the public. The library was opened for researchers in 1984 after it was formally named the Al-Kabir Academy. Makhdoom Sahib pointed his finger towards a row of four cupboards along the wall, which contained as many 400 Quranic manuscripts of various periods, sizes, shapes and layouts. The oldest amongst them was one which was inscribed with the name of its calligrapher, Faqir Sujawal Solhan (202 Hijri). The writer was a Sindhi scholar from the same area and Makhdoom Ghaus claimed it was Asia's oldest Quranic manuscript. I chose to sit on the floor in the middle of the library
and Makhdoom Sahib, along with a few of his retainers, started placing
ancient copies of the Quran on a wooden platform before me. A 10x4 inch
manuscript, which was the smallest in the lot, was again obviously the
work of a master calligrapher and consisted of 552 pages. Another copy,
hardly 2 inches shorter then the above was 534 pages, but didn't contain
the exact date or the name of the calligrapher. Though uncertain, Makhdoom
Ghaus was of the view that both of these copies belonged to Sindh and had
been written by a Sindhi Scholar.
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