Established in 1910, Varendra Research Museum is the oldest museum in Bangladesh. It was established when local zamindars donated their collections, most notably Kumar Sharat Kumar Ray. In 1923 the museum became part of Rajshahi University. The largest part of the collection is pre-Islamic sculpture from archaeological sites in Bangladesh. However, there is also an impressive collection of artifacts from the Indus Valley civilization in Pakistan and stone calligraphy from the Muslim period. More recently a collection of artwork from local tribal peoples has been added. The museum also owns a collection of 22,000 books and 6,000 Bengali, Sanskrit, Arabic, and Persian manuscripts. |
