Which is the oldest printed dictionary? Robert Cawdrey’s English dictionary of 1604, according to some record books, or Thomas Blount’s Glossographia (1656), as other books suggest. Ask Pradeep Sharma ‘Khusro’, and his answer is: Khaliq-e-bari, the versified collection of Persian and Hindvi words written around AD 1320 by Sufi mystic and poet Amir Khusro. With the dictionary in hand and years of research, Sharma believes he has enough evidence for notifying Encyclopaedia Britannica about updating their archives.
But, the 38-year-old former journalist’s ‘Khusrawi’ connection does not end here. With 375 books, and 55 digitized images of rare paintings of Khusro, he keeps virtually anything with Khusro on it or in it. And there’s more. He holds 2000 released and un-released audio-video records (gramophone records, DVDs, cassettes and documentaries) of Khusro’s songs, ‘bandishes’ and ‘ragas’, including almost all movies and songs featuring Khusro since Alam Ara.
A survey by international NGO Aga Khan Foundation has even found him to be the single largest holder of Khusro literature.
Ismailimail 