Three Vanished Libraries That History Witnessed

“Libraries store the energy that fuels imagination. They open up windows to the world and inspire us to explore and achieve, and contribute to the improving our quality of life.” -Sidney Sheldon A library is a collection of sources of information. The first libraries dating back to 2600BC, that archived clay tablets that recorded transactions or inventions. During the Classic Period, “The Library of Alexandria” was the most significant library of ancient world which consisted papyrus scrolls. “The Imperial Library of Constantinople” in the capital city of Byzantine Empire was another significant depository of ancient knowledge; the last of the great libraries of the ancient world. Oriental world also witnessed the vast storehouse of the Vedic texts that was “Dharmaganja of Nalanda”. Nalanda flourished under the patronage of the Gupta Empire in the 5th and 6th centuries and later under Harsa, the emperor of Kannauj. Although the three libraries represent three different times and archives, one thing is very similar to them that those three precious storehouse of knowledge were devastated at the hands of different civilizations.