JAMMU, May 28: After more than 18 years, the Toshkhana inside the historic Mubarak Mandi Complex in Jammu was reopened today for the verification of its inventory and assessment of the condition of royal artifacts. This process marks a crucial step before the formal transfer of these valuable articles from the Directorate of Hospitality and Protocol to the Department of Archives, Archaeology and Museums.
The Toshkhana houses ornaments and other precious items belonging to the erstwhile princely rulers of Jammu and Kashmir. However, several other valuables are stored in a strong room inside the Civil Secretariat Jammu.
Earlier, the entire armory, jewelry and other precious items were kept in the Toshkhana inside the Mubarak Mandi Complex, but after the devastating fire on December 15, 2006 most of the precious items were shifted to a strong room in the Civil Secretariat, Jammu for safety and security. This was because the fire had rendered Toshkhana completely unsafe for storing treasures.
Since then Toshkhana has not been reopened except for preparing an inventory of the articles by the Toshkhana Organization under the administrative control of Department of Hospitality and Protocol. While armory and other related items were kept in a single lock enclosure, precious items were secured using a double-lock mechanism to prevent unauthorized access.
The Administrative Council vide Decision No.115/9/2022 dated August 13, 2022 gave its nod to the proposal for winding up of the Toshkhana Organization. Accordingly, the Hospitality and Protocol Department vide Government Order No.11-JK (H&P) dated August 30, 2022 formally sanctioned the closure of the Toshkhana Organization.
As per this decision, the sanctioned posts and incumbent staff were transferred to the Department of Culture. However, the handover of the Toshkhana articles to the Directorate of Archives, Archaeology and Museums was delayed because of various reasons and this was exclusively highlighted by Excelsior a number of times.
Finally, Deputy Commissioner Jammu Sachin Kumar Vaishya on May 16 fixed the date of inspection for handover/takeover of the assets of Toshkhana and communicated the same to the Commissioner Secretary, Hospitality and Protocol Department. On May 19, the Hospitality and Protocol Department sent a communication to the Director of Archives, Archaeology and Museums with the request to inform all the concerned along with the members of the committee constituted for the purpose for smooth handover/ takeover of assets of the Toshkhana Organization stores at Mubarak Mandi.
“Today, the Toshkhana was reopened after over 18 years and experts began inspecting the articles kept in the single lock enclosure”, sources in the Hospitality and Protocol Department told EXCELSIOR, adding “while Jammu and Kashmir Police team is analyzing armory, the metallurgists are assessing the condition of metal items in the presence of officers from the Hospitality and Protocol Department and Directorate of Archives, Archaeology and Museums”.
“Apart from inspection, the inventory prepared by the Toshakhana Organization is also being verified and videography of entire exercise is being conducted”, they further said, adding “after the completion of inspection of articles kept in the single lock enclosure, the focus will shift to double lock enclosure where some articles made of silver and other precious metals have been kept”.
Thereafter, the Directorate of Archives, Archaeology and Museums will formally take over the Toshkhana as per the decision taken by the Administrative Council in the year 2022. However, no date has so far been fixed for inspection of items lying in a strong room at Civil Secretariat Jammu and subsequent handover to Archives Directorate, sources said while disclosing that majority of the valuables belonging to the erstwhile princely rulers of Jammu and Kashmir are lying there.
Further, Directorate of Archives has yet not taken any decision about public display of the artifacts of the Toshkhana although state-of-the-art building has been constructed near Kala Kendra at Bikram Chowk.
