UK Museum Returns Jain Manuscripts

Why this is here: Sir Henry Wellcome, a British entrepreneur, originally acquired more than half of the manuscripts from a single Jain temple in Punjab.

The Wellcome Collection in London agreed to return over 2,000 fifteenth to nineteenth-century Jain manuscripts to the Jain community. This decision follows discussions with the Institute of Jainology and involves a collection amassed over a century. The manuscripts cover topics including religion, literature, medicine, and culture, written in several Indian scripts.

Among the items is a document critiquing British colonial rule, influential to Mahatma Gandhi, and a rare illustrated copy of the Jain scripture Kalpasutra. The collection will initially reside at the Dharmanath Network in Jain Studies at the University of Birmingham, allowing researchers and community members access.

The Wellcome Collection acknowledges that many manuscripts were acquired at a low price from a now-defunct temple in Punjab during the colonial era. While the museum will make cataloging notes publicly available, a full legal agreement detailing the transfer is still being finalized. The work to fully interpret and translate the manuscripts remains substantial.