On October 23, the Adviser to the Minister for Waqf and Religious Affairs of the Sultanate of Oman, Muhammad Said al-Mamari, within the framework of his participation in an exhibition organized by the Embassy of the Sultanate of Oman in Tashkent: "Tolerance, Understanding, Solidarity and Peace: Omani Islamic Treatise" (October 18–26) visited the Al-Biruni Institute of Oriental Studies of Uzbek Academy of Sciences. 

During the visit, the distinguished guest met with the leadership of the Institute headed by director Bahrom Abdukhalimov. The Director informed the high guest about the scientific activities of the Institute. He shared some of his thoughts on future scientific cooperation between the two countries. The guest welcomed all his suggestions.

The meeting was fruitful and held in a friendly atmosphere.

Uktambek Sultanov, a leading researcher at the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Uzbekistan in the period of October 28 to November 1, 2019, conducts a academic-practical seminar-lectures on Central Asian law acts and office letters of the XVI - beginning of the XX centuries documents for masters of the Tashkent State Institute of Oriental Studies, the International Islamic Academy of Uzbekistan, the National University of Uzbekistan and young researchers of the Institute.

The seminar-lectures will be organized in cooperation with the Council of Young Scholars of the Institute and will contribute to further strengthening the interaction between the Academy of Sciences and the higher education system. The event will allow young researchers to get acquainted with the activities of the Central Asian khanates administration and related documentation on the example of the office of the Bukharian Emirate. During the seminar-lecture hall it is planned to read and analyze the system of documents and correspondences.

On July 8, 2019, the delegation of the Sultanate of Oman led by the Head of the National Bureau of Oman for the Preservation of Archives and Documents (Status of Minister) Mr. Al-Dhawuani Hamed Mohammed Dhuwaihi and members of the delegation (Deputy Head of the International Cooperation Department - Al-Hijri Paradise Amir Mohammed, the head of the department - Al-Sheqaili Hamid Soif Mohammed and others) visited the Al-Biruni Institute of Oriental Studies of the Uzbek Academy of Sciences. The guests got acquainted with the activities and the new building of the Institute and outlined the forthcoming horizons of cooperation.

At the end of the visit, taking into account the excellent relations between the Republic of Uzbekistan and the Sultanate of Oman in the field of scientific research and preservation of manuscripts and historical documents, a Memorandum of Cooperation was signed between the Al-Biruni Institute of Oriental Studies of the Uzbek Academy of Sciences and the the National Bureau of Oman for the Preservation of Archives and Documents. A documentary film was shown about the works done in the Sultanate of Oman in the field of preserving historical documents and archives.
Guests will be in Uzbekistan until July 12 of this year. Tomorrow, July 10, members of the delegation will visit the International Islamic Academy of Uzbekistan and the Center of Islamic Civilization in Uzbekistan to discuss prospects for mutual cooperation.

Sanjar Golomov is a senior scholar at the Al-Biruni Institute in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. In Leiden he will deliver two lectures and one masterclass for MA and PhD students as part of the Erasmus Mobility Plus project between Leiden University and the Al-Biruni Institute. The project is coordinated and hosted by the Central Asia Initiative at Leiden University.

Sanjar Gulomov

Sanjar Golomov is a senior scholar at the Al-BiruniInstitute in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. He has supervised the creation of an electronic catalogue of the manuscript fund of the Institute, a project funded by the Gerda Henkel Foundation, Germany. Sanjar Gulomov studied Persian and has published several translations and editions of Persian manuscripts from the Al-Biruni collection.

 

 

Lecture on Monday, 10 December: Central Asian historical documents: types and peculiarities

Time: 15:15-17:00 hrs
Venue: M. de Vrieshof 4, Room 007

The manuscript collection of the Al-Biruni Institute of Oriental Studies in Tashkent, Uzbekistan contains a large quantity of historical documents in Persian, Turkic and Arabic drafted on the territory of the Central Asian khanates. These include legislative documents (decrees, orders, and instructions), private legal documents (documents concerning sales, wills, marriage certificates, deeds of gift, leases, mortgages, waqf promissory notes), clerical documents (orders, notices, and petitions), and other legal documents.

 

 

Masterclass on Wednesday, 12 December: Manuscripts of mixed content - Miscellany, Varia: who were their customers and why were they created?

Time: 9:30-12:00 hrs
Venue: Lipsius, Room 001

Manuscripts containing large and small fragments from various works are usually recorded in catalogues in the sections «Miscellany», «Miscellanea» or “Manuscripts of mixed content”. In the manuscript catalogues published in the Soviet period, the term «Varia was preferred. In general, western catalogues provide a more detailed description of all contents of such collections. As a result, even small fragments and author names are reflected in the indexes. On the contrary, in many Central Asian catalogues, the structure of the collections is described shortly, frequently superficially in the section «Varia». Thus titles and author names have been omitted. It is clear that the description of such collections (identification of their compositions, author information, copies of epistolary sources, various records, etc.) requires a lot of time and effort on behalf of the cataloger. Yet, these collections can contain valuable information, which cannot be found in other sources.

Registration
If you would like to attend the masterclass, please register with Elena Paskaleva at: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

 

 

Lecture on Thursday, 13 December: On a type of administrative documents of the Bukharan Emirate issued by the late Manghit rulers: letters – orders. What changes have occurred in the external attributes and in the internal form of the documents?

Time: 13:15-15:00 hrs
Venue: M. de Vrieshof 2, Room 002

Orders and decrees of governors (khans, emirs) are of great value within the Central Asian archival materials. Traditionally, these types of documents are known as yarliq. The majority of the yarliqs have an extraordinary external form and were written eloquently. But there are also exceptions, which offer new research possibilities. In the decrees and orders of the Bukharan emirs issued in the 19^th and at the beginning of the 20^th centuries, we can observe changes both in the external and in the internal form of the documents. Therefore, certain Bukharan decrees have been referred to as "Letter -order" instead of "yarliq". The governor’s seal has an important place on the yarliq.Usually, they were imprinted in the top right corner of the document, near the initial lines of the text. In the orders of the Bukharan Emirate, issued by late Manghit rulers, the seals were imprinted on the verso side of the document.