Unit 6 Source Materials for the Study of Islamic Civilization

The Toyo Bunko (Oriental Library)

Unit Leader: SHIBA Yoshinobu Acting Leader: HAYASHI Kayoko

Islamic Area Studies Unit 6 Research Office

The Toyo Bunko (Oriental Library)

2-28-21 Honkomagome, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0021, Japan

Tel: +81-3-3942-0121 Fax: +81-3-3942-0258

E-mail: IAS6@toyo-bunko.or.jp

Unit 6 Research Themes and Activities

Unit 6 will continue activities based on the following themes and consolidate our past work:

Collection of materials, creation of a database, publication on the Internet

Continuing our efforts over the past four years, we will collect resources essential to Islamic area studies. In addition to the three major languages of the Middle East (Arabic, Persian and Turkish) we will also place emphasis on collecting South and Southeast Asian publications relating to Islam. We hope to include in our acquisitions not only books, but also a wide range of electronic publications. The database is available on the Internet and will be updated promptly to include new acquisitions. Meanwhile, we will keep our collection at the Toyo Bunko, where these resources are made available to the public.

Formation of a network of Japanese libraries holding Arabic-script resources

We will catalogue the Arabic-script resources in Arabic, Persian, and Ottoman Turkish throughout Japan into a single database, and enable the search function using Arabic-script. Currently, Arabic and Persian resources at the Toyo Bunko, the Institute of Oriental Culture at the University of Tokyo, and the Tokyo University of Foreign Studies are available on the web. The project is a joint effort with the National Institute of Informatics, and the online catalogue of Arabic-script resources will eventually be incorporated into, or linked closely with their NACSIS. Consequently, devising solutions to possible technical problems in this area will also be one of our research goals.

Investigation of the use of historical resources on Islamic regions

Unit 6 has applied various approaches to the study of documents and manuscripts on which historical research is based. This year, in addition to continuing the activities of individual research groups, we will attempt to bring together their results. The session we will host at the international symposium in October, entitled ﾒContracts, Validity, Documentation: Historical Research of the Sharia Courtsﾓ will deal with Islamic legal documents in general. We hope to see diverse studies on the documents of the shariﾔa courts. Also during the year, the ﾒOttoman Manuscripts Groupﾓ will publish The Ottoman State and Local Societies in Change: A Joint-Study on the Temettuat Registers, a compilation of research papers to be included in the English IAS Series. The ﾒPersian Manuscripts Groupﾓ is preparing the publication of Unity in Variety: Studies on Persian Documents. The ﾒArabic Manuscripts Groupﾓ will continue with their preparations for a Japanese translation and commentary on Rituals of the Caliphal Palace. At the same time, two seminars focusing on the interpretation of historical sources are scheduled to take place, mainly for graduate students and a younger generation of scholars. At the ﾒOttoman Manuscriptsﾓ workshop in September, we will focus on 19th-century administrative documents of the Ottoman Empire. We will hold a second seminar in November on the topic of ijazas in Arabic.

Unit 6 International Exchange

Scholars to be sent abroad

- TANIGUCHI Junichi will research manuscripts archived in Jamiﾔat al-Duwal al-ﾔArabiya Maﾔhad al-Makhtutat al-ﾔAbabiya and Dar-ul-Kutub (Egyptian National Library). August 2001. Egypt.

Scholars invited from abroad

- Ali AKYILDIZ (Marmara University) will participate in the ﾒOttoman Manuscriptsﾓ workshop. September 2001.

- Stefan LEDER (University of Halle) will participate in the ﾒArabic Manuscriptsﾓ workshop. October to November, 2001.

Unit 6 From the Unit Leader

Our unit has, over the past four years, built up a library with a wide variety of materials. From Chinese materials that mention the Islamic culture and religion to Moroccan novels, our collection includes approximately 5,500 titles, or over 7,000 volumes. Already, much of the collection has been organized, and can be viewed at the IAS Reading Room of the Toyo Bunkoﾕs 4th floor. We invite you to make use of the helpful online catalogue, but hope that you will take the opportunity to actually hold in your hands some of the materials in this collection, and to experience the breadth and depth of the Islamic culture it represents. This year, we will also continue work on the computer-based network of libraries holding Arabic-script resources in Japan, in cooperation with the National Institute of Informatics.

The task of Unit 6 is not limited to collecting resources. We are also dedicated to making available the inheritance that has been left to us from the past in the form of writing. Thus, in our seminars, we focus on finding the logic particular to a certain genre of historical documents or writings, rather than on the contents of specific texts. (HAYASHI Kayoko)