On May 28, 2013 at 15:00 hours there in the exhibition hall of the National library of the RK will take place the exhibition of manuscripts named “The manuscript book in the Central Asia in the XII-XIX” from the fond of the National library of the RK and the private collection of the count Azat Akimbek. The exhibition is timed to the 15-th anniversary of Astana city.

   The purpose of the exhibition is to present to the wide public the treasures of Oriental manuscripts kept in the fonds of the state libraries as well as in private collections as exemplified by the National library and the collection of the count Azat Akimbek.
   The establishment and development of the manuscript book in Arabic script in the Central Asia are linked with the adoption of Islam by the peoples of the region and the widespreading of the Arabic alphabet and the Arabic language. The written monuments that have reached us are written in three languages- Arabic, Persian and Turkic. Their use in the cultural life of Central Asia had their peculiarities. There in the Arabic language are written the works of such prominent scientists born in Central Asia like al-Farabi, Ibn Sina, Biruni, Makhmud Kashgari and others. The attitude towards books in the East was not only careful but venerable first of all. The bright testimony of it are the written works in Arabic script among which one can find genuine rarities separated from the time of their creation with many centuries.
   There at the exhibition are for the first time presented the unique manuscripts from the fond of the National library and the collection of the count Azat Akimbek. The library presents the ancient manuscript Korans of the XII-XVII-th centuries; “The khikmets” (the XIX-th c.), “Risala” (the XVIII-th c.), “Nasabnama”: the genealogy of Kh.A.Yassaui (the XVII-th c.); “The khikmets” by Suleimen Bakyrgani (the XVI-th c.), the manuscripts on Islamic religion and poetic genre of the Oriental poets Nizami, Navoi, Sagdi, Khafiz, Djami, Fizuli and others in the Chagatai, Arabic and Persian languages. There are also presented the books by the outstanding Kazakh enlighteners Abai Kunanbayev, Chokan Ualikhanov, Ibrai Altynsarin and others.
   The collection of manuscripts of the count Azat Akimbek consists of 200 books collected in the course of 40 years upon the vast territory of the Central Asia: in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, and also delivered from Kashgariya (today the Xinxiang Uigur autonomous region of China). Here are presented the manuscripts, beginning from the great Umma-al-Kitab – the Koran to the works of the great poets of the Orient, the works of the scientists, historians, mathematicians and astronomers.
   There at the exposition from the collection of A.Akimbek are also presented the ancient jewelry embellishments of the peoples of Central Asia of the XVIII-XIX-th centuries, the medieval ceramics, artistic metal, wood carvings, pictures of two modern artists: (the triptych named “The birth of Golden Man. The Scythians. Tomiris”) by Alizhan Amantayev and “The battle of Anrakai” by Dias Ustemirov.
   The exhibition has historical-cultural and enlightenment significance. It gives the scientists and researchers the possibility to become acquainted with the priceless rarities of the richest written heritage previously accessible only to a narrow circle of scientists.
   There to the exhibition are invited public figures, writers, scientists, historians, researchers and readers.