Mardin heritage body seeks return of 900-year-old manuscript held by British Museum

MARDİN

A Turkish heritage association has formally requested the repatriation of a rare and historically significant Islamic manuscript currently held by the British Museum in London.

The work in question is one of the three known volumes of “Ta’rikh Mayyafariqin wa Amid,” written in the 12th century by Ibn al-Azraq al-Fariqi, a prominent historian of the Artuqid period.

The Association for the Preservation and Promotion of Mardin Madrassas submitted the request to the Mardin Provincial Directorate of Culture and Tourism, which in turn escalated the matter to the Culture and Tourism Ministry.

The association is seeking the return of the original Arabic manuscript, which sheds light on Islamic history, politics and architecture during the 1100s.

Currently archived in the British Museum, the manuscript offers detailed firsthand accounts of Ibn al-Azraq’s travels across Iraq, Syria and Eastern Anatolia. It includes observations of historical buildings and encounters with influential figures such as caliphs, sultans and viziers.

Though the circumstances of its removal from the region remain unclear, a digital copy of the volume is accessible via the Turkish Historical Society’s library website.

In a statement, Ibrahim Yüksel, the head of the Mardin association, emphasized the manuscript’s cultural and historical value. “Ibn al-Azraq al-Fariqi played a crucial role in the construction of the Hüsamiye Madrassa and in establishing the first library and the official Artuqid State Martyrs’ Memorial there. He authored an extraordinary historical work during this era. One of the three volumes of this history book is in the British Museum.”

He noted that formal initiatives have begun. “We hope that our Culture and Tourism Ministry will make contact with the British Museum to ensure the return of the book. Politicians from Mardin who are based in Ankara are also working on this matter,” he added.

Beyond the manuscript itself, the association has broader aspirations. Yüksel revealed ongoing efforts to retrieve approximately 1.5 million historical books believed to have originated from Mardin’s madrassas.

“During the era of Saladin, when he moved to Egypt and founded a new civilization, he took with him 1.5 million books produced by Mardin’s madrassas. Once these are returned, we will begin the process of establishing the world’s largest and most significant handwritten manuscript library in Mardin,” Yüksel stated.