Arabian Persian Research Institute Tonk Rajasthan

                                      !!! Coincidence !!!
Coincidence is a recognised element in "real life" all of us have anecdotes about those times when by mere coincidence we stumbled on to some wonderful experiences. I visualised a game of cricket played some sixty years ago was then barely eleven years of age watching my school St Xavier's playing an exciting game where our only expectation a sterling all around performance from Samsher Khan, most boys enjoyed surrounding him during break sessions minutely observing his cricket attire and expression. This was put to practice thoroughly at our colony street cricket.Samsher for me was similar to a matinee idol, its impact and presence can never fade.
Internet search engines of the present era to gather with application of web browsers and print media reconnected me to Shamsher early this year and met him a fortnight ago after exactly " SIXTY YEARS " at Banasthali - Newai railway station about seventy miles from Jaipur. Senior then in school days by eight years no chance of recognising each other both turned septuagenarians embarrassing warmly on equal terms, grateful that we made this far and optimistic about future. Times have changed most of us are living decades longer than once we did, staying fitter, healthier , sharpening our wisdom years than ever before; the most pleasing observation which I instantly noticed the transformation with the changing trends over decades. We both carried screen touch smart mobiles, adored stylish motor sport caps, my stuff packed securely in the rolling carbon suitcase unlike the steel trunk and hold baggage of the past. Developing social connections and further taking chances on reaching out to old acquaintances years after school certainly boosts emotional well being. Services like internet search engines with application for instance web browser, print media allow to stay connected. Miracle did happen when my blog " Student days in Jaipur " got posted in the columns of indiaofthepast.org, and Samsher from his ancestral home town Tonk in State of Rajasthan called me for the first time we could establish contact almost 60 years later. Tonk a native place of Shamsher Khan was a princely state of India at the time of British Raj, situated about 100 km south of Jaipur. The first ruler of Tonk was Nawab Mohammad Amirkhan from the Tarkani tribe its origin near today Afghanistan.He was a military general in the service of Yashwantrao Holkar of Maratha Empire. Amirkhan received State of Tonk from Maratha empire. Shamsher Khan is the direct descendant of the first Khan ruler; his father Sahibzada Sardar Muhammad Khan was an ICS officer served during his civil service career as Collector and District Magistrate in 1931 of Junagadh and also was Diwan ,President of State council of Junagadh later he was also collector of Ratnagiri now in Maharashtra State. The third ruler of Tonk state Nawab Muhammad
was exiled by the Britishers to Benaras who being academic took with him Thirty Nine scholars and Fifteen scribes, efficiently used his days in collecting valuable Arabic and Persian manuscripts during twenty years of exile. This outstanding experience laid an indirect foundation of renowned " Institute of Maulana Abdul Kalam Azad Arabic Persian Research " in Tonk. The state government of Rajasthan in 1978 created a special status of  independent Directorate granting adequate funds to preserve priceless manuscripts and encourage research. The objectivity of the Arabic
Persian institute of Tonk is to preserve the original documents and providing such manuscripts to the scholars who come here to further research. Starting with very little science, philosophy or literature of his own the Arabian muslim who brought with him from desert a keen sense of intellectual curiosity a voracious appetite for learning from Hellenic, Persian, Aramaic and Indian for wisdom,literature and science. The Arabs rose out of semi barbarous land and touched the heights of intellectual and spiritual glory world wide. For almost five to six centuries upto 1300AD in every walk of life the Arabs were on forefront of world civilisation; their taste of living, in standards of conduct,in commerce were exemplary . They took to learning from everywhere, made the rich heritage of Egypt ,Syria , Greece, Persia, Spain and India their own possession. The light shed at Kuffa and Basra in Iraq reached the corners of the world. It is significant to mention here the initial intellectual contributions from Al Kindi an Arab, Al FarabI a Turk and

Ibn Sina a Persian . Since Arabs not only assimilated the ancient lore of Persia and classic heritage of Greece but could adapt and add further by study and research in medicine, astronomy, mathematics, law, geography, theology and various sciences; for had the researches of Aristotle , Galen and Ptolemy been lost the world would have never seen the treasure of immense value and knowledge. Over the years this Research institute of Tonk has been encouraging , naturing and furthering the cause of advancement of arabic and Persian studies by acting as a repository of invaluable manuscripts and ancient reference material .These delicate priceless possessions I saw were meticulously updated and preserved scientifically. Manuscripts at APRI ( Maulana Abdul Kalam Azad Arabic Persian Research Institute ) are believed to be the original treatises stands out for a very high quality of its illustrated manuscripts scripted in Arabic, Persian and Urdu languages . It consists of over 8000 manuscripts, 28188 printed books , 674 farmans and 65000 judgements files of shariat court of Tonk state; assortments of other objects coins , weights , calligraphic art of which an exceptional specimen work is named " Khat- i - Nakhoon " or the letter crafted by finger nails. The world largest size Quran is exhibited at APRI whose page length is 10 feet 5 inches, width 7 feet and 6 inches , written with pen width of 3mm; it's each page has 41 lines contains 64 pages and weighs 250 kg binding decorated with silver corners. I was fortunate to meet Sz Abdul Moid Khan former Director of APRI a scholar of immense international repute whose vision and efforts revitalised this art of preservation of historical documents at APRI . I am also grateful to the Director of APRI Sahibzada Dr Saulat Ali Khan a distinguish scholar of Arabian and Persian literature who is possessed with intellectual curiosity, zeal for learning with the sole motive to support and develop intellectual growth of researchers at APRI to explain in detail personally historic documents. This to me was truly a matter of " Coincidence " that I happen to visit Tonk for the first time despite being a resident of Jaipur initially for 38 years I owe this wonderful experience to Capt ( Para trooper ) Sahibzada M . Samsher Khan.