This year, UNESCO announced the inscription of 64 documentary collections on the Memory of the World Register, bringing the total number of inscribed collections to 494.
UNESCO Memory of the World Register, along with 62 new documentary collections, now includes two historical archival documents submitted by Uzbekistan, making a total of 64 new items of documentary heritage included in 2023.
2 new documents proposed by Uzbekistan were: The archival collection of The Qushbegi Chancellery of the Bukhara Emirate and the Works of Mavlono Jalaluddin Rumi, which are now included in the UNESCO International Memory of the World Register for 2022-2023. The decision to expand the registry was made at the 216th meeting of the Executive Board of UNESCO.
The Qushbegi Chancellery (administration) of the Bukhara Emirate is a collection of the largest archives of Central Asian rulers in Bukhara. It includes documents reflecting the historical events that took place on the territory of modern Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan and partly Afghanistan for over 200 years. It also provides fundamental information about the diplomatic relations of the Bukhara Emirate with Russia, Great Britain, Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, Japan, and the United States of America as well as with Khiva and the Kokand Khanates in Central Asia.
The collection is currently stored in the State National Archive of Uzbekistan. All documents in this collection, which has about 9.5 thousand folders, are original and authenti. The documents are written in several languages such as Arabic, Persian, Uzbek, Chagatai, Russian and others.
The second document included in the register, Mawlana’s Kulliyat or The Complete Works of Mawlana Jalaluddin Rumi, represents the complete works of the poet, philosopher, scholar and theologian Rumi, who lived in the 13th century and is considered one of the great Sufi masters of all times. Mawlana Rumi’s works carry deep spiritual philosophy and wisdom, still affecting the whole world with their depth and beauty.
Mawlana’s Kulliyat includes his complete works: Masnavi, Divân-e Shams, Fihe mâ fih (The Discourses), Majâles-e Sab’a (Seven Sermons), Maktubat (The Letters). Rumi’s all works are written in Persian but some of them also include Arabic, Turkish and Greek expressions, which supports the multicultural and international approach of his philosophy and personality even during those times. With thousands of manuscript copies all around the world, Mawlana’s works are translated into numerous languages and still read with love and appreciation all over the world by people of different confessions, nationalities and ages. Mawlana’s works have the greatest academic significance for the study of the history and culture of the people of Eastern countries. The current document was prepared and proposed in cooperation with Bulgaria, Germany, Iran, Tajikistan and Türkiye.
The Memory of the World Program was founded by UNESCO in 1992 to preserve the valuable archival and library collections of the world and to widely disseminate information about the treasures stored in them.
