Vrhbosna, today’s Sarajevo, was the seat of the duke of the western regions after 1436. The qadi’s his seat was in Sarajevo after Bosnia was finally conquered by the Turks in 1463. The mufti also had his seat in Sarajevo after 1519. From the time of the Turkish conquest until the coming of Gazi Husrev Bey, Vrhbosna grew into a town with seventeen micro regions (mahalla) and as many mosques. There was also a public bath ( hammam), a caravan-saray, three dervish lodges (tekke) and one secondary school (Firus Bey Medresa). It was usual for each mosque, or mahalla, to have an elementary school (maktab). Gazi Husrev Bey was appointed Governor of Bosnia in 1521, and remained there, with small interruptions, until 1541, when he died. Gazi Husrev Bey was born about 1480 in Serez (Greece), where his father Ferhad Bey, born near Trebinje in Herzegovina, was Governor. His mother was the sister of Sultan Beyazid II, and he grew up and was educated at the Imperial Court. Before coming to Bosnia he was Governor of the Smederevo Sandjak, and he also carried out several diplomatic missions for the Ottoman Sultan at European courts. His great building activity in Sarajevo started as soon as he got there in 1521, in spite of the constant wars he fought in Dalmatia, Croatia and Hungary. Thanks to the buildings he built in Sarajevo and some other towns in Bosnia, and his foundations (waqf), Gazi Husrev Bey is the greatest and most important legator in Bosnia and Herzegovina. He died in Sarajevo in 1541 and was buried in the mausoleum (turba) beside his mosque, which he built during his lifetime.

The Gazi Husrev Bey Mosque, the largest and one of the most beautiful in Bosnia and Herzegovina, was built in 1530-31 (937 according to the Hidjra). One year later an elementary school (maktab) was built in the Mosque’s harem (walled-in courtyard), and across the street a khaneqa h (dervish monastery). In 1537 a foundation (waqfna ma) was established for a secondary school (madrasa), for which construction Husrev Bey endowed seven hundred thousand drachmas. Husrev Bey named his madrasa, which was the most important educational institution in Bosna and Herzegovina during Turkish rule, after his mother Seldjuka. Thus its name was Seldjukia, but it was also known as Kuršumlija, because of its lead roof (kurºunlu- mixed, covered or lined with lead.) With the occasional small interruption, it has worked since its foundation until the present.

Besides the already mentioned institutions, Husrev Bey also built a public kitchen (`ima rat), a public guest house for travelers (musa firkhane), a public bath (chifte-h ammam), a covered market (bezistan), two inns (khan), a water system, a ceremonial fountain (shadirwan) in the mosque courtyard and a public washroom. Husrev’s endowment also includes a clock-tower, but it is not known whether it was built during his lifetime or later, and a muwaqqitkhane (clock room of the time-keeper) in the mosque courtyard, built in 1859. An endowed hospital was also built in Sarajevo in 1866 from the money Husrev Bey left in trust, and it worked until the building of the state Hospital in Sarajevo in 1882.

For the upkeep of all those institutions Husrev Bey founded about two hundred shops in the Sarajevo bazaar, large complexes of land around the city of Jajce and forests in Tešanj. He also left foundations in Serez and some money for investment (ribh); income from the market, baths and inns was also used for the upkeep of the endowed institutions.

In the waqfname concerning his secondary school Husrev Bey said: “Let what is left from the costs of building be used to buy some good books for the mentioned madrasa, to be read and for scholars to copy.” Thus the Husrev Bey Library is as old as his madrasa, i.e. it was founded in 1537.

It was the custom in Islamic lands for founders of mosques to donate several copies of the Qur’an written on pages (mushaf), or parts of it, to their endowments. They also used to leave some other books from which the lecturer (dersi-am) held public lectures in the mosque. Besides mushafs, elementary schools also had other books that served as textbooks for teaching children. This can be learned from waqfnames themselves, which listed the books left to mosque or maktab.

The Gazi Husrev Bey Library in Sarajevo is the first library whose year of foundation is known. However, no madrasa could have worked without a library, because its pupils had to copy the necessary textbooks for themselves, and they could do that in the first place from the books in the school. Thus, it may be presumed that Sarajevo had an older library in the Firuz Bey Medresa. It has also been said that there must have been books for scholars to use in mosques and maktabs.

As far as it known, the Library remained part of the Kuršumlija Medresa until 1863. In that year, at the suggestion of Topal Osman Pasha, the governor of Bosnia, the administration of Husrev Bey’s waqf built a large room next to the Bey’s Mosque under the minaret. The Library was moved there from the madrasa, and it remained there until 1935, when it was moved to the ground floor of the offices of the Sarajevo mufti in front of the Imperial Mosque, on the left side of Miljacka river. That was done because the earlier premises became too small as the Library got more and more books, and as the number of visitors increased. Several years after the Liberation the Library spread to the first floor of the mufti’s building, while its administrative and business offices moved to the building of the former Ulema Mosque, also in front of the Imperial Mosque. Thus, the whole building of the former mufti’s offices was used to keep the books.

The manuscripts in this Library were originally written or transcribed in various parts of the Islamic world, especially in great and important centers like Mecca, Medina, Cairo, Baghdad, and especially Istanbul. Some of them are unique or very rare copies, and they came to Sarajevo in different ways: some were brought by traders, some by pilgrims who went for the hadjdj (pilgrimage) from Bosnia, and still others by those who went to the East to study. There are also manuscripts from Eastern towns written and transcribed by people from Bosnia and Herzegovina. However, most of the manuscripts are from various parts of former Yugoslavia, both from towns and remote villages, because their inhabitants, thirsty for knowledge, wrote a lot, and also copied manuscripts from all the fields of knowledge known at that time. There are many manuscripts by Bosnian authors, both autographic and transcribed. The usual copying centers were madrasas, and there were also scriptoria for copying and promoting books in some towns.

It is difficult to discover today what the first books of this Library were, because all the misfortunes that befell Sarajevo during four centuries (floods, fires and wars) also affected the Library. The Gazi Husrev Bey Foundation was looted especially badly during the invasion of Eugene of Savoy in 1697, when a large number of books were destroyed or taken from the Library. Nevertheless, there are still several books that bear the note and stamp that they were endowed by Gazi Husfev Bey himself, and there are many works on which is written that they were copied in the Gazi Husrfev Bey Medresa or Khaneqah. We thus know that both the madrasa and the khaneqah were also schools for transcription.

The number of books in the Gazi Husrev Bey’s Library grew because many people donated their books or complete libraries. The collection was also increased by the addition of books from other public libraries and madrasas in Bosnia and Herzegovina, including the Hasan Nazir Library (founded in 1550), the Hadži Mehmed Karađoz Bey (Hadjdji Mehmed Karadjoz) Library in Mostar (1570), the Memi Šah Bey (Memi Shah) Library in Foča (1675), the Derviš Paša Bajazidagić (Dervish Pasha Bayazidagich) Library in Mostar (1611), the Elči Ibrahim Paša (Elchi Ibrahim Pasha) Library in Travnik (1704), the Mustafa efendi Ejubović (Eyubovich) – Šejh Jujo (Shaykh Yuyo) Library (1707), the Hadži Halil Efendi (Hajji Halil Efendi) Library in Gračanica (mid-17^th century), the Osman Šehdi Bjeolopoljac (Osman Shehdi Byelopolyats) Library in Sarajevo (1759-60), the Abdulah efendi Kantamirija (`Abdullah Efendi Kantamiri) Library in Sarajevo (1774), and others.

More recently, the Administration of the Library and of the Gazi Husrev Bey’s waqf, i.e. the Seniority of the Islamic Community of Bosnia and Hercegovina, purchased several important private collections. These include the collections of Professor Hadži Mehmed Handžić (Hadjdji Mehmed Handjich) (died 1944), a part of the collection of the Supreme Judge of Islamic Law Hilmi efendi Hatibović (Hilmi Efendi Hatibovich) (died 1944), Osman Asaf Sokolović (Osman Asaf Sokolovich) (died in 1971), and of Dr. Muhamed Hadžijahić (Muhamed Hadjiyahich). The Handžić Collection is one of the most complete Islamic collections in Bosnia; the Hatibović Collection contains several works from Oriental studies, and the Sokolović Collection is one of the most complete works of Bosnian and Herzegovinan writers printed in both Cyrillic and Roman scripts, and also by Bosnian Muslims in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The remainder of the Hatibović Collection was donated to the Gazi Husrev Bey Library.

The Gazi Husrev Bey Library has about eighty thousand volumes of books, titles, periodicals and documents in Oriental, Bosnian and other European languages. That number includes about 10,000 codices with over 20,000 greater or minor works in Islamic studies and Oriental languages and literature. In addition, there are about 25,000 volumes in Bosnian and other European languages. These periodicals include the oldest printed newspapers and periodicals printed in Bosnia and Herzegovina as well as current editions. The Library also has a valuable collection of periodicals and papers in Oriental languages.

There are about 4,000 documents on the history of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Of these, 1,000 originate from Bosnia and Herzegovina, and are either original or certified copies. There are 86 records (sijills) of the Sarajevo Sharī`a Court. Their archive documentation also includes the Collection of Muhamed Enveri efendi Kadić (Kadich), which has 28 volumes with about 400 pages each.

Muwaqqit’s History of Bosnia, transcribed by Muharem Enveri efendi Kadić, has four volumes. Especially important is the autograph of the Sarajevo chronicler Mula Mustafa-Ševki Bašeskija’s (Shawqi Munla Mustafa Basheski) Diary, which describes the period between 1747 and 1804. The Library also has out-standing collections of photographs, posters, proclamations, and pamphlets.

The oldest manuscript in the Gazi Husrev Bey Library is Ihya` ulum al-din by Abu Hamid Muhammad al-Ghazali, who died in 1111. It is a theological and mystical work, transcribed in 1131.

The second oldest work is Firdaus al-akhbar fi masir al-khitab a hadith collection of composed by Abu Suja Shirawawaih ibn Shahrirdar al-Daylami al-Hamadani, who died in 1115. It was copied by `Abd al-Salam bn. Muhammad al-Khawarazmi in 1151, in the Imadjiyya Madrasa in Hamadan. It has 417 folios, and is written in the old nash script. Then follows Kitab al-kashf wa al-bayan fi tafsir al-Qur’an, a commentary of the Qur’an by Abu Iskhaq Ahmad bn. Muhammad bn. Ibrahim al- Talabi al-Nishaburi, who died in 1035. The Library has only the third volume of this Commentary, which treats the 6<sup>th</sup> and 7<sup>th</sup> chapters of the Qur’an (Al-an`am and Al-`araf). It was copied by Barakat bn.`Isa abu Ya’la Khamza at the beginning of Dhu al-hidjdja 571 (1176). The volume has 125 folios, and is written in the old-fashioned nash script, vocalized in places.

Another old manuscript is the 6^th and 7^th volumes of commentaries of the Qur’an by Abu Qasim Jarullah Zamahshari, copied in 1262 in the Mustansir Madrasa in Baghdad by Abu al-Fadl Isma`il bn Musa al-Rumi. It was copied from an autograph.

Then follows Tafsir Fatiha by Fakhr al-Din Abu `Abdullah Muhammad al-Razi (died in1209). This commentary of the Fatiha is part of his Tafsir mefatih al-ghaib, better known as al-Tafsir al-kabir. It was copied by `Amr bn. Miqa`il bn. Abdullah al-Qayseri in Qaysariyya on Sha`ban 17, 691 (1291). He also copied Mukhtsar djami` al-usul fi ahadith al-resul, a hadith collection by Diya'udin Abu Fath Nasrullah al-Djasari. The copying was finished in Rabi`al-awwal, 691 (1291). Finally, the library is host to a large number of 13^th-16^th century manuscripts, mostly from the 16^th century.

What makes this Library especially valuable is that it has many works whose authors are Bosnians or Herzegovinans. Those manuscripts include some autographs. The transcribers of local works were local people. We will mention only some:

Hasan Diya'i, whose full name is Hasan Chalabi bn.`Ali al-Mostari, and whose literary name is Diya'i -Chalabi and Diya'i al-Mostari (died 1584). He wrote poetry in Arabic and Turkish. The Library has his tasawwuf (a study of mysticism) Tardji-i band. He is also the author of one of the artistically and literally most beautiful chronograms in the Sinan Bey Mosque in Čajniče.

`Ali-Dede Bošnjak, (`Ala'uddin `Ali Dede bn. Mustafa al-Bosnawi Shaykh-Türbe). Born in Mostar, he wrote several works, most of them tasawwuf . The Library has his Muhadarat al-awa' il wa musamarat al-awakhir (On First Events and Last Happenings). This book had two printings in Cairo, the first in 1882, and the second in 1893.

Allamek, Muhamed Music Bošnjak, (`Allamak, Muhammad bn. Musa al-Bosnawi), born in Sarajevo, was known as an outstanding scholar, which warned him the name Allamek. He died in 1636. He wrote many works: comments to the Qur’an, books from the syntax and rhetoric of the Arabic language, logic and administration. The Library has his Tafsir surat fath. As far as is known, this is the only preserved copy of that treatise.

Hasan Kafi Prušcak, (Hasan Kafi bn. Turkhan bn. Dawud bn. Ya`qub al-Zibi al-Aqhisari al-Bosnawi) (died in 1616), one of the most prolific Bosnian writers in the Oriental languages. He was also a benefactor and built a mosque, maktab, madrasa, tekiya, and water supply in his hometown Prusac. He was one of the most prominent men in the Ottoman Empire. He wrote in philology, Islamic law, Islamic dogma (`aqa'id), history and politics. The Library has 23 transcriptions and autographs of his works. His Usul al-hikam fi nizam al-`alam (Bases of the Wisdom of How to Arrange the World), a political-moralistic discussion of society and social order, is Hasan Kafi’s best known work. Its manuscripts exist in all the larger Oriental collections in the East and West. It has been translated into Turkish (by the author himself, and also by Mehmed Tewfiq-Bey), French (by Garcin de Tassy), Hungarian (by Imre v. Karacson), German (by L.V. Talozzi) and Serbo-Croatian (by Safvet-beg Bašagić). All the translations were printed. The commentary to the translation is by H. Mehmed Handžić.

The following works by Hasan Kafi have also been translated into Bosnian: Nizam al-`ulama' ila khatam al-anbiya' (A Series of Scholars to the Lord’s Last Herald of Faith), Rawdat al-jannat fi usul al- i`tiqadat min`ilm al-kalam (The Gardens of Paradise on Basic Beliefs), Risala fi tahqiq lafzi “çalabi” (A Discussion on the Expression “Chalabi”). The first two books were translated by H.M. Handžić, and the third by Fehim Nametak.

Muniri Belgradi (Muniri Belgradi Shaykh Ibrahim bn. Iskandar al-Bosnawi.) He got the name Belgradi because he spent most of his life in Belgrade as a teacher (mudarris) and a judge (qadi ). His book Subul al-huda (True Paths), written in Turkish, discusses the performance of rites and can be found in this Library. He also wrote a book on geography, whose manuscript was never found. He died in 1635.

Mustafa Ejubovic – Šejh Jujo (Mustafa Yuyi bn. Yusuf bn. Murad Ayyubi-zade al-Mostari), (died in 1707), the greatest and most prolific Bosnian writer in Oriental languages in Bosnia and Herzegovina. He wrote on the topics of Islamic law (shari`a), logic, disputations, Islamic dogma (`aqa'id), lexicography and preaching. The Library has 16 manuscripts of his works, 8 of them autographs, which it got from the Karađoz Bey Library in Mostar. His work in logic Sharh (`ala ) al-risala al-Athiriyya fi al-mantiq was printed by hafiz Mehmed Teufik Okich in Istanbul in 1898 under the title Sharh Isaghudji li Shaykh Yuyi al-Mostari.

Ibrahim Opijac (Ibrahim bn. Shaykh al- Hadjdji Isma`il bn. `Ali Opiyach), Shaykh Yuyo’s pupil and his heir to the position of mudarris, his biographer and writer of several works of philology, tafsir and disputations died in 1726. The Library had six manuscripts of his works, three of them autographs.

Mustafa Prušcak, (al- Hadjdji Mustafa bn. Muhammad al-Aqhisari), lived and worked in the 18^th century, and died in 1755. As far as is known, he wrote five studies of Islamic dogma (`aqa'id) and Islamic law, of which the Library has four. His work Risala fi hukm al- qahwa wa al-dukhan wa al-ashriba al-muharrama (A Discussion of the Islamic Opinion on Coffee, Tobacco, and Forbiden Intoxicating Drinks) was translated by Nevenka Kostic.

Husejn Brackovic ( Husayn Brachkovich) worked and lived in the 19^th century. The autograph of his work Tarikhçe-i wuqu`at-i Hersek (A Short History of Events in Herzegovina) includes the history of Herzegovina from the days of `Ali -Pasha Rizvan Bey (1831) to the occupation of Herzegovina in 1878. As far as is known, this is the only copy of that work, very important for the history of Herzegovina.

The Library also has manuscripts of works by Hasan Duvnjak (Hasan bn. Nasuh al-Dumnawi al-Bosnawi), Abdul Kemal Ismail Travničanin (`Abdulkamal Isma`il Travnik-zade), Ahmed Mujezinović-Mostarac (Ahmad bn. Mustafa Mu'adhdhin-zade al-Mostari), Hasan Kaimiya-Sarajlija ( Hasan Qa'imi al-Sarayi), Abdulkerim Bošnjak Samija ( Sami`i `Abd al-Karim bn. Ahmad Bosnawi), Mahmud son of Halil-Damad (Mahmud bn. Khalil al-Mostari Damad), Rešid Mehmed-Sarajlija (Rashid Mehmed Sarayi), Hadži Mustafa Bošnjak-Muhlisi (Hadjdji Mustafa Bosnawi – Mukhlisi), Abdulvehab Bošnjak (`Abdulwehab Bosnawi), Salih Sidki Čehajić-Mahmudkadić (Salih Sidqi Ketkhoda- zade Mahmud Qadi - zade ), Husejin Husnija Hadžihusejnović- Muvekit ( Husayn Husni efendi Hadjdji Husayn- zade Muwaqqit), Sejfulah Proho (Sayfullah Prōho), Hafiz Mehmed Teufik Azapagić (Hafiz Muhammad Tawfiq `Azap- agha- zade) and Selam (Selami- zade al-Sarayi).

The Library has three of the first ten books printed in Ibrahim Muteferrika’s printing –works in Istanbul (the first printing-works was opened in 1727): Van Kulu lughat by Mehmed, son of Mustaf a al-Vani, who died in 1592; the geographical work Djihan-nama by Katib Chalabi – Hadjdji, and Tarikh-i Bosna, by Omer Novljanin (Ömer Novali) (died in18^th century). His book had several editions, the latest in 1978.

The Library has two copies of the manuscript.The Gazi Husrev Bey Library has a large number of works on Islamic studies in Oriental languages, printed after the middle of the 18^th century. It can be said that some disciplines of Islamic studies are complete.

Especially important for the history of Bosnia and Herzegovina are the following works in the Library:

The Diary (Madjmu`a) by Mula Mustafa-Ševki Bašeskija (Shawqi Munla Mustafa Basheski), whose autograph is kept in the Library. It describes events that took place in Sarajevo and Bosnia and Herzegovina from the mid-18^th to the beginning of the 19^th century (1747-1904). Bašeskija noted all the most important events from that period, gave his evaluation of those events as well as he described the characteristics of certain periods etc. Besides noting events, he also gave a list of people who died in Sarajevo in every year. What is especially characteristic, he lists the deaths of ordinary people, and of the great only in exceptional cases. His Diary had been translated twice. The first translation is partial, the second is complete and accompanied by notes that explain and supplement the Diary’s text. That translation and notes are by Mehmed Mujezinović, and it was printed by Sarajevo Publishing in 1998, as part of the edition Cultural Heritage.