Institute of Oriental Manuscripts

Institute of Oriental Manuscripts
Name	Institute of Oriental Manuscripts
Native name	Институт восточных рукописей
Formed	1930
Headquarters	Saint Petersburg, Russia
Coordinates	59°56′N 30°18′E
Parent organization	Russian Academy of Sciences

Institute of Oriental Manuscripts The Institute of Oriental Manuscripts is a research institution based in Saint Petersburg within the Russian Academy of Sciences focused on manuscripts and texts from Asia, Africa, and the Near East. It traces roots to collections assembled by the Russian Empire and Soviet-era expeditions and operates as a center for philology, codicology, paleography, and history, serving specialists in Buddhology, Iranology, Sinology, Turkology, and Tibetology. The institute collaborates with museums, universities, and libraries across Eurasia and engages with projects in comparative manuscript studies, diplomatic archival research, and digital humanities.

History

The institute originated from imperial collections accumulated by figures such as Peter the Great, Catherine the Great, and collectors like Count Nikolai Muravyov-Amursky and Vasily Perovsky, later consolidated under the Russian Academy of Sciences and the Russian Geographical Society. Early scholars connected to its collections include Nicholas Marr, Fyodor Shcherbatskoy, Vasily Bartold, Vasily Radlov, and Aleksei Ivanovich Ivanov. During the 19th century, expeditions led by Afanasii Ivanovich Belsky and travelers like Vasily Pashutin and Pyotr Kozlov augmented holdings alongside acquisitions from Tashkent, Samarkand, and Bukhara. In the 20th century, the institute expanded through work by Soviet-era researchers such as Mikhail Artamonov, Aleksei Losev, and Vladimir Toporov, and later linked to projects with Moscow State University, Leningrad State University, The Hermitage Museum, and the State Historical Museum. International exchanges involved partners such as University of Tokyo, School of Oriental and African Studies, Heidelberg University, Leiden University, Harvard University, Princeton University, Columbia University, and École Pratique des Hautes Études.

Collections

The institute houses diverse holdings including manuscripts in Sanskrit, Pali, Tibetan, Classical Chinese, Mongolian, Manchu, Old Turkic, Arabic, Persian, Hebrew, Georgian, Armenian, Uyghur, Korean, Japanese, Khmer, Lao, Thai, Vietnamese, Old Uyghur, and Old Church Slavonic fragments. Notable item groups derive from the Dunhuang manuscripts, the Turfan manuscripts, Paul Pelliot-era acquisitions, and finds related to Marco Polo-era routes, Silk Road exchanges, and Mongol Empire administration. The collections include Buddhist sutras, Islamic codices, Zoroastrian fragments, Nestorian Christian texts, Manichaean scrolls, and Judaeo-Persian documents connected to communities like Bukharan Jews and medieval centers such as Samarkand and Khotan. Holdings feature scripts and materials from archaeological contexts like Mazar-i-Sharif, Tuyoq, Kashgar, Niya, Turpan, and Mogao Caves.

Research and Publications

Research covers philology, textual criticism, historiography, art history, and epigraphy, with projects on figures like Xuanzang, Al-Biruni, Ibn Sina, Rumi, Firdawsi, Kālidāsa, Nāgārjuna, Tsongkhapa, Kublai Khan, and dynasties such as Tang dynasty, Song dynasty, Yuan dynasty, Mughal Empire, Safavid dynasty, and Timurid dynasty. The institute issues periodicals and monographs collaborating with publishers including Brill, Cambridge University Press, Oxford University Press, Routledge, Springer, Peeters Publishers, Walter de Gruyter, SAGE Publications, and Russian academic presses associated with Russian National Library. It organizes symposia and conferences with institutions like British Library, Bibliothèque nationale de France, National Library of China, National Diet Library, Bodleian Libraries, Yale University, Stanford University, University of California, Berkeley, and regional centers such as Tashkent State University and Al-Farabi Kazakh National University.

Building and Facilities

Located in Saint Petersburg near landmarks including Nevsky Prospekt, the institute occupies historic premises once associated with imperial collections and neighboring sites such as The State Russian Museum, Saint Isaac's Cathedral, and the Peter and Paul Fortress. Facilities include climate-controlled storage, conservation studios equipped for paper, parchment, and palm-leaf preservation, photographic laboratories, and digitization suites integrated with projects involving Europeana, UNESCO, International Council on Archives, International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions, and UNESCO Memory of the World initiatives.

Administration and Affiliations

Administratively the institute is part of the Russian Academy of Sciences and cooperates with national and international bodies like the Ministry of Culture (Russia), Saint Petersburg State University, Institute of Oriental Studies (Moscow), Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, Department of Manuscripts of the Russian National Library, and archives such as the State Archive of the Russian Federation. Scholarly networks include memberships in consortia with Asian Studies Association, Association for Asian Studies, International Association of Buddhist Studies, International Association for Tibetan Studies, European Association for South Asian Studies, and partnerships with museums like Metropolitan Museum of Art, Victoria and Albert Museum, Pera Museum, National Museum of Korea, and Shanghai Museum.

Access, Cataloguing, and Preservation

Access policies balance public outreach with research protections, coordinating loans and exhibitions with institutions such as The Hermitage Museum, National Museum of China, British Museum, State Historical Museum, and international exhibitions featuring artifacts related to Silk Road material culture. Cataloguing employs standards linked to International Council on Archives, Dublin Core, TEI, MARC, and collaboration with digital repositories at Harvard-Yenching Library, Digital South Asia Library, Chinese Text Project, Korean Studies Net, and Sanskrit Library. Preservation programs engage conservators trained in techniques referenced by guides from ICOM, UNESCO, and regional conservation initiatives from Central Asian Studies Center and university conservation laboratories at University College London and Leipzig University. Active digitization, metadata enrichment, and provenance research support scholarly access while safeguarding fragile materials.

Category:Research institutes in Russia