A 410-year-old copy of the Quran, dating back to Mughal ruler Akbar’s period, has been recovered by the Mysuru district police.
Mysuru district Superintendent of Police Abhinav Khare told reporters that a gang of 10 members, who had bought the copy from unidentified persons in Hyderabad, were trying to sell it for a price of Rs. 5 crore.
“When we learnt about them trying to sell the valuable book by sharing videos, a team of policemen approached them in K.R. Nagar posing as prospective buyers,” he said.
Historian B. Sheikh Ali, who was present at the press conference, described the calligraphy in the book as a “piece of art”. The copy contains 604 pages.
The last page bears the year in which it had been written. “It was written in 1050 of the Hijri calendar, which works out to 1605 AD, which is around the period when Mughal rule was its peak in India and the time when Akbar was succeeded by Jehangir,” he said.
“There is no information except that it is dedicated to the saints of that period,” Prof. Sheikh Ali said. “Though I have seen many copies of the Quran in India, I have not seen one as old as this,” he added.
