Khuda Bakhsh Oriental Library

Following in the footsteps of his father as a collector of manuscripts, HDJ Sir Khan Bahadur Khuda Bakhsh appointed an Arab named Muhammad Maki to acquire books and manuscripts for a monthly income of Rs. 50. Muhammad Makhi worked for Bakhsh for 18 years, visiting numerous cities in Egypt, Iran, Syria, and other locations to acquire rare manuscripts. The library opened in 1888[8] with Bakhsh as the first director until 1895 when he left to serve as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Nizam's Kingdom.[9][13] After a successful career in law in Hyderabad State for almost 3 years, he returned to Patna as the director of the library. Soon after his return, Bakhsh suffered an illness that caused paralysis and his activity was limited to the library.[17] Bakhsh donated the library to the people of India by a deed of trust. Due to his generous donation, he was given Rs.8,000 to liquidate his debt from the Government of Bengal.[11][12][9]

He was awarded O.I.E in 1903 for his generous act.[9] The library became Bakhsh's life-long achievement to which he was devoted and committed, until his death on the 3rd of August 1908.[9]

Official Logo of Khuda Bakhsh Oriental Library. It is inspired by the Coat of Arms of House of Bakhsh.

The library originated in the private collection of a bibliophile, Muhammad Bakhsh Khan, a famous advocate and zamindar of Patna.[9] Muhammad Bakhsh Khan belonged to the House of Bakhsh, a noble family formerly affiliated with the Mughal Empire that still exists today.[12] Before his imprisonment after the 1st war of India's Independence movement, the 1857 rebellion, he inherited about 1,400 manuscripts[8][9] and 20,000 books from his family who were historically responsible for writing and keeping the records of the Mughal Empire.[12] Muhammad Bakhsh established a private library called Muhammadiya Library in 1848 which was name after him.[18] He bequeathed his collection to his son Khuda Bakhsh in the last days of his life. Muhammad Bakhsh told his son to establish a public library dedicated to the people of India, stating on his death bed, "If you do this, my soul will be at peace."[19] Following his father's will, Khuda Bakhsh spent all his money on expanding the collection and in 1880 had increased the number of manuscripts and books to 4,000.[12][8][20][13] The Bankipur Oriental Library was formally inaugurated by the Governor of Bengal, Sir Charles Alfred Elliott, Governor of Bengal[12] on the 5th of October 1891.[13][10] During World War 2, the Indian National Army (Azad Hind Fauj) led by Subhas Chandra Bose started attacking British occupied Burma from the Eastern Front. The Indian National Army conducted air raids on the Bengal Presidency to cut the Military logistics support of the British Indian Army. Since the colour of the library's building was red, it was bombed multiple times. Khan Bahadur Abdul Gafoor Khan shifted all the collections of the library to an Underground Bunkers in Patna before they bombings. While the majority of the buildings were destroyed, the collections were safe. After World War 2, the Government of India built multiple new buildings for the library and all the collections were returned. For this generous act of bravery, Abdul Gafoor Khan was awarded the honorary title of "Khan Bahadur". After the partition in 1947, Dr. S.V. Sohoni and Khan Bahadur Abdul Gafoor played a key role to ensure the collections were retained in India.[21] In 1969 through federal legislation the Khuda Bakhsh Oriental Public Library Act, an act of Parliament, the Government of India declared Khuda Bakhsh Oriental Public Library a center of national importance dedicating funding, maintenance, and development of the library.[4][8][13] Today it continues to attract scholars from all over the world.[22][8][12]

The past directors and members of the library include the family descendants of Khan Bahadur Khuda Bakhsh as well as renowned historians appointed by the Government of India like Dr. Sachidanand Sinda, Shahabuddin Bakhsh, Salahuddin Bakhsh, Anees Fatima, Khan Bahadur Abdul Gafur Khan (son of Khan Bahadur Khuda Bakhsh).[23] When the library was recognized as Institute of National Importance by the Government of India a board committee was established where a new post of a director was created by an act of parliament passed in 1969.[24] Dr. Abid Reza Badger, former Director of the Raza Library, became the library 1st director in 1972 and remained there for more than 25 years.[10] Reza Bedar did some important work towards reviving the library along with his successors Dr. Habibur Rehman Chighani and Dr. Imtiaz Ahmed. Since April 2019, the director of the library has been Dr. Shayesta Bedar (daughter of Abid Reza Bedar).[25][10]