Srinagar, Aug 04 (KNO): The legacy of an over-a-century-old book shop in Srinagar’s downtown continues.
Tajrani Qutub is one of the oldest bookshops in Srinagar started around 133 years ago at the historic Maharaj Gunj in the Shaher-e-Khaas. It was started by Ghulam Mohammad, who was a noted Pashmina dealer.
Now, a 60-year-old Mohammad Iqbal Kitab carries the legacy of his grandfather.
Talking to the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), Kitab said the bookshop was established in 1890 and has preserved the prized literature of Kashmir.
This shop is known as ‘Ghulam Muhammad Noor Muhammad Tajrani Qutub’ and was established during the rule of Maharaja Pratap Singh when there was no printing press, print media, electronic media, university or cultural academy, Kitab said. “Our ancestors have moved from village to village in Kashmir and assembled all literature in whatever shape it was and given them the shape of books.”
After writing, they went to Lahore to print the history, and through our ancestors, ‘Tarekh e Hasan’ was printed in Urdu language, Iqbal said, adding that ‘Waq’aat-e-Kashmir’ and Kashmiri translation of the holy Qur’an was also published.
“They printed almost all old literature and after the Partition of the subcontinent, they started their own press known as Kohinoor Press and Noor Mohammad Press which it was the first press of any publisher here,” he said.
Iqbal said the collections of great poets and writers like Mehjoor, Azad, Deena Nath Nadim, etc have been published by his father Noor Mohammad. Some noted personalities and intellectuals have visited here, he added.
“Merak Shah Kashani, Mehjoor and other high-profile personalities have visited our shop to get literature or print their writings. All the work of Lal Ded, Sheikh-ul-Alam till Azad Zargar was collected by our ancestors and published here,” Iqbal said, adding, “This shop was a library for all where they used to get all old literature. Also, my parents had a very emotional bond with literature and this shop.”
After the demise of my father, we were very young and we stopped publishing literature and instead started selling stationery items, he said. “We are running this shop to keep the legacy of our ancestors as their contribution in preserving Kashmir’s rich literature is immense,” Kitab said—(KNO)