400-year-old Quran carried a price tag of Rs 50 million

The 400-year-old Quran, believed to have been calligraphed by Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb, had been put up for sale for a princely sum of Rs 50 million before the police moved in quickly to confiscate the rare and priceless antique from a hotel in Bangalore on Wednesday.

Bangalore City Police Commissioner N Achuta Rao told reporters that holy book, weighing 13 kgs and running into more than 1,000 pages, bore a bejewelled cover. “The binding is a stunning piece of work with gold embossing and decorations with semi-precious stones”, Rao said.

Sukumar, a 44-year-old native of Thrissur in Kerala, had fixed a price of Rs 50 million for the Quran and was looking for a rich and devout Muslim to palm it off. Sukumar was claiming the Quran had been personally calligraphed by Aurangzeb.

Though the Bangalore police had sought the assistance of Archeological Survey of India to verify and authenticate the claims of Sukumar, a close examination of the seized Quran reveals that its pages had been coated with copper plate and a chemical that had served to protect the calligraphy from wear and tear.

The Quran, which is 39.5 cms in length and 20 cms in width, had been written in ink, which is laced with gold and silver. “Each of the 30 sections of the Quran have been written in different calligraphic style”, a police official said.

Also, the police official claimed that each section of the holy book has a unique fragrance of its own and is said to be fire-proof.

But, Bangalore City Police Commissioner said the authorities are keen to have the recovered Quran seen and studied by experts to authenticate the claims made by Sukumar. “We also have to find out how he came into its possession. There are a few more persons, who are involved in this. We will get to the root of the matter soon”, he said.

The police have also recovered an antique painting from Sukumar depicting King Sarfoji of Tanjavur having a discussion with his Minister. Sukumar had put up the painting for sale at Rs one million.