A manuscript is a handwritten composition on paper, bark, cloth, metal, palm leaf or any other material dating back at least seventy-five years that has significant scientific, historical or aesthetic value
The Bakhshali manuscript is an ancient Indian mathematical text written on birch bark that was found in 1881 in the village of Bakhshali, Mardan (near Peshawar in present-day Pakistan, historical Gandhara).
It is perhaps "the oldest extant manuscript in Indian mathematics"
National Mission for Manuscripts (NMM)
The National Mission for Manuscripts is an autonomous organisation under Ministry of Culture, Government of India, established to survey, locate and conserve Indian manuscripts, with an aim to create national resource base for manuscripts, for enhancing their access, awareness and use for educational purposes.
The NMM was established in 2003 by the Ministry of Culture, Government of India.
NMM Significance
Manuscripts are important since they provide a lot of information which are essential for the study of history, culture and languages of the past of a region or country.
Manuscripts hold the historical, intellectual, and cultural heritage of a country.
Valuable Indian manuscripts are spread across the nation and even abroad, often without proper documentation or care.
Manuscripts are a crucial component of India's documentary heritage.
They capture Indian people's thoughts, experiences, achievements, and historical lessons.
Locating manuscripts via national level surveys and post-survey activities.
Documenting every manuscript and manuscript repository, for a National Electronic Database.
Conserving manuscripts through both traditional and modern methods of conservation. Also, training manuscript conservators.
Training the next generation of scholars in various aspects of manuscript studies such as script, language, critical editing, cataloguing and conserving.
Boosting access to manuscripts through digitisation of the rarest and the most endangered pieces.
Promoting access to manuscripts through publication of critical editions of unpublished manuscripts and catalogues.
Enabling public engagement with manuscripts through seminars, lectures, publications, etc.
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