Central Idea

India’s rich heritage of ancient manuscripts, ranging from mathematical texts to religious scriptures, holds invaluable historical and cultural significance.
The proposed National Manuscripts Bill, 2023, aims to safeguard and document this wealth, ensuring accurate records, accessibility, and conservation.

Unveiling the National Manuscripts Bill

Bill Objectives: The forthcoming National Manuscripts Bill, 2023, plans to document, catalog, and preserve Indian heritage texts. It is set to be introduced in the Winter Session of Parliament.
NMA Composition: The bill proposes the formation of a 10-member National Manuscripts Authority (NMA) with representatives from Culture, Finance, and Education ministries, Central Sanskrit University, State representatives, and private agencies.
Apex Policy Making Body: NMA will oversee digitization, conservation, preservation, editing, and publication of manuscripts. It will function as the apex policy-making body in these areas.

Historic Significance: The Bakhshali manuscript, with its early use of zero, symbolizes the intellectual and mathematical achievements of ancient India. Numerous such manuscripts in various scripts exist in libraries worldwide.
Vast Manuscript Collection: India boasts around 10 million manuscripts in 80 ancient scripts, encompassing themes like history, religion, literature, and more.
Cultural Diversity: Manuscripts are written on diverse materials and span themes in Sanskrit as well as regional languages.
Preservation Challenge: The National Mission for Manuscripts (NMM) is tasked with preserving this treasure, an essential endeavor to safeguard cultural and historical identity.

Regulation and Investigation: NMA will possess the powers of a civil court to manage manuscript access. It will also have an investigative arm to probe theft and desecration incidents.
Collaboration: NMA can partner with educational institutions for scholarships and fellowships related to manuscript studies.
Digital Portal: The NMA will establish a dedicated digital portal for indexing, cataloguing, and sharing manuscript copies.
Private Ownership: The authority can acquire manuscripts from private owners if their uniqueness and content’s significance warrants it. Compensation would be determined by experts.

Linking Manuscripts with Livelihood: There is a need to intertwine manuscript studies with livelihood, fostering renewed cultural engagement.
Global Interest: The proposed survey and documentation of Indian manuscripts abroad are expected to elevate global interest in these texts.

Digitization Efforts: The National Mission for Manuscripts has digitized a substantial number of manuscripts, totaling around 3.3 lakh manuscripts and 3.1 crore folios.
Online Access: While over 1.18 lakh manuscripts have been uploaded, approximately 70,000 are accessible to the public online.
Other Cultural Institutions: Manuscripts are housed in esteemed institutions like the Sarasvati Mahal Library in Thanjavur, Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute in Pune, Sampurnanand Sanskrit University in Varanasi, and the Oriental Research Institute in Jammu and Kashmir.

The proposed National Manuscripts Bill seeks to bridge the past with the present, ensuring the preservation and accessibility of India’s diverse manuscript legacy.
By establishing the National Manuscripts Authority and promoting digital initiatives, India aims to share its invaluable cultural wealth with the world, fostering a deeper understanding of its historical and intellectual heritage.

The Bakhshali Manuscript is an ancient mathematical document. It was discovered in 1881, buried in a field in Bakhshali village near Peshawar (Pakistan).
It is written in Sharda Script.
It predates the work of Brahmagupta, a 7th-century mathematician, and an inscription in the 9th-century Gwalior’s Chaturbhuj Temple.
The manuscript is composed of 70 fragile leaves made of birch bark.
It contains hundreds of mathematical notations, including the use of zero as a placeholder.
Zeros in the manuscript are represented by dots that serve as placeholders for different place values.
In 1902, the manuscript was presented to the University of Oxford’s Bodleian Library, where it has been preserved since.
The manuscript is a compilation of mathematical material from multiple periods. Some pages date as far back as the 3rd to 4th century, while others are from the 8th and 10th centuries.

Influence on Modern Mathematics

The manuscript is a compendium of rules and illustrative examples.
Each example is stated as a problem, the solution is described, and it is verified that the problem has been solved.
The sample problems are in verse and the commentary is in prose associated with calculations.
The topics covered include fractions, square roots, arithmetic and geometric progressions, solutions of simple equations, simultaneous linear equations, quadratic equations and indeterminate equations of the second degree.