List of destroyed libraries
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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There are examples of libraries accidentally destroyed by human actions. Others were damaged by natural disasters like earthquakes, floods or accidental fires.
Library fires have happened sporadically through the centuries: notable examples are the destruction of the Library of Alexandria, the destruction of Library of Nalanda in India and the accidental burning of the Duchess Anna Amalia Library in Weimar, Germany. Causes vary from arson to the Sun's rays setting fire to leaflets through the action of a magnifying lens, as happened to a library in Northam, Devon.
Name of Library | City | Country | Date of Destruction | Destroyed by | Reason of Destruction |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Academy of Gundishapur | City | Persia | AD 637 | Islamic caliphate | Arab conquest of Persia |
Library of Alexandria | Alexandria | Egypt | AD 637 | ||
Ctesiphon | Khvârvarân | Ancient Persia ,now Iraq | AD 651 | Islamic caliphate | Arab conquest of Persia ,
According to Al-Tabari, the Arab Commander Sa'd Ibn Abi-Vaghas wrote to Caliph Umar ibn Al-Khatab about what should be done with the books at capital Tyspwn (Ctesiphon) in province of Khvârvarân (today known as Iraq). Umar wrote back:
"If the books contradict the Qur'an, they are blasphemous. On the other hand, if they are in agreement, they are not needed." All the books were thrown into the Euphrates.
Under another ruler Gotaibeh ibn Muslim in Khwarezmia, all the historians, writers, and mobeds were massacred and their books burned in fire, so that after one generation, the people became illiterate.
Yazid ibn Mohlab is reputed to have ordered the decapitation of so many Iranians that their blood flowed in the water powering a millstone for one full day. There are many other massacres recorded. |
Nalanda | Nalanda | India | AD 1193 | Bakhtiyar Khilji | In 1193, the Nalanda University complex was sacked by Turkic Muslim invaders under Bakhtiyar Khilji; this event is seen as a milestone in the decline of Buddhism in India. It is said that Khilji asked if there was a copy of the Koran at Nalanda before he sacked it |
Oriental Institute (Orijentalni institut) | Sarajevo | Bosnia | 17 May 1992 | Serb nationalists |