Page 14 - DLIS406_ACADEMIC_LIBRARY_SYSTEM

Unit 2: Colleges and Universities Libraries

2.2 Development of University Libraries Notes

2.2.1 University Libraries in Ancient India

In the Vedic age instructions were imparted “orally, without the medium of books.” Taxila
from 700 B.C. to 300 A.D. was considered to be the most respected seat of higher learning and
education in India but still there is no evidence found so far in the archaeological excavations
at Taxila that there had been a good library system in the Taxila University. Fa-Hien noticed
such libraries at Jetavana monastery at Sravasti (U.P). In 400 A.D., there came into being one
of the biggest known universities, the Nalanda University, which by 450 A.D. became a renowned
seat of learning, its fame spreading beyond the boundaries of India. Nalanda near Patna grew
to be the foremost Buddhist monastery and an educational centre. Most of what we know of
the Nalanda University during the 6th and the 7th centuries A.D. is due to the accounts left
by Hiuen-tsang, who lived in the institution for three years in the first half of the 7th century,
and I-tsing who also stayed there for ten years towards the latter part of the same century.
Information on the Nalanda University Library is also found in the Tibetan accounts, from
which we understand that the library was situated in a special area known by the poetical
name the Dharmaganja, (Piety Mart) which comprised three huge buildings, called the Ratnasagara,
the Ratnodadhi and the Ratnaranjaka of which the Ratnasagara was a nine storied building
and housed the collection of manuscripts and rare sacred works like Prajnaparamita Sutra etc.
The library at Nalanda had a rich stock of manuscripts on philosophy and religion and contained
texts relating to grammar, logic, literature, the Vedas, the Vedanta, and the Samkhya philosophy,
the Dharmasastras, the Puranas, Astronomy, Astrology and Medicine. (Mukherjee, 1966).

Did u know? The University of Nalanda and its library flourished down to the 12th
century A.D. (Ibid.) until Bakhtiyar Khalji sacked it in 1197–1203 A.D.7
and set fire to the establishment of Nalanda.

2.2.2 University Libraries in Medieval India

The existence of academic libraries during the medieval period of Indian history is not known,
though the Muslim rulers did patronize libraries in their own palaces. A lone exception,
however, was a library attached to a college at Bidar, (Gawan, 1463–82) having a collection of
3000 books on different subjects. (Mukherjee) Aurangzeb got this Library transferred to Delhi
to merge it with his palace library. (Keay, 1918). During the medieval period, due to Muslim
invasions and political troubles, the powerful empires and kingdoms of Indian rulers fell one
by one. This affected higher education and the development of academic libraries as well.

2.2.3 Libraries in Modern India (1757–1947)
During the British rule in India, numbers of academic institutions were established by the East
India Company, and by the Christan missionaries. Some of the worth mentioning events
which led to the growth and development of higher education in India during this period
were the establishment of the Calcutta College in 1781, Jonathan Duncan, then a British agent,
founded the Benaras Sanskrit College in 1792. The Calcutta Fort William College was founded
in 1800. All these colleges were having their own libraries. The Charter Act of 1813, the
foundation of Fort William and Serampore Colleges, Calcutta, Madras and Bombay universities
and their libraries, Hunter, Raleigh and Calcutta University Commissions, library training
programmes, the establishment of Inter University Board, Sargent Report and appointment of

LOVELY PROFESSIONAL UNIVERSITY 9