In 1957, the Institute was named after the great medieval scholar and encyclopaedist Abu Rayhan al-Biruni. Nowadays, the depository keeps several collections.
There are unique copies dated to the 18th century of a rare treatise according to its content on incense “Risala-yi ‘atrnama-yi ‘Adil shahi” by Yusuf Haji al-Qarshi (16th century) dedicated to ‘Adil- shah. Along with comprehensive traditional alphabetical listings of medicines, there is a work called “Khawass-i haywan” (On the Properties of Animals) and special treatises on one type of drugs “Chub-i Chini” (A Chinese Stick), “Ab-i naysan” (The Water of Nisan) in four copies and “Khasiyat-i sana-yi makki” (Properties of Alexandrine Senna). The two last works are housed only in the collection of the al-Biruni Institute.
Also the collection includes two works by the famous Arabian botanist Dhiya al-din ibn ‘Abd Allah al-Maliki (d. 1248), also known as Ibn al-Baytar (the son of a veterinarian). His first work “Kitab al-mughna fi al-adwiyat al-mufrada” (A Sufficient Book on Simple Drugs) was written in 1240 and represented in the manuscript of 1243 copied from the original (Inventory No. 3237). The second work “Al-Jami’ fi al-mufradat al-adwiya wa аl-aghziya” (The Collection on Medicinal and Nutritive Substances) is an incomplete manuscript dating to the 17th century.
You can learn more about this topic in the book-album “The Collection of the Al-Biruni Institute of Oriental studies, the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Uzbekistan” (part two, “Miniature and Calligraphy”) (Volume XXII) from the series "Cultural Legacy of Uzbekistan in the World Collections".
The main sponsor of the project is the oilfield services company Eriell-Group.