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M/s
Motilal Banarsidass was established/started by Lala Motilal Jain, an
employee of the Alliance bank in 1903 at Lahore (Pakistan). As a person,
he was interested in Indology. The first step of the firm was trading in
books relating to Sanskrit and Religion. Around 1911, a branch was opened
at Mai Sewan Bazar, Amritsar. Lala Sunderlal Jain, one of Lala Motilal
Jain’s sons ran this branch. In 1912, Lala Banarsi Dass Jain, son of
Lala Motilal died due to plague. After his death the branch at Amritsar
was closed and Lala Sunderlal Jain went back to Lahore to look after the
shop there.
In
1937, a branch of the Firm was started at Patna (Bihar). Right from the
beginning, this branch has been dealing, in addition to Indology, in the
publication and distribution of school and college text books. In 1951, a
branch was opened at Varanasi.
After
Independence and the accompanying partition of the country, the family
stayed at Bikaner and Patna for about three years. In 1950, on the
invitation of Mr.Bhargava of the well known Bhargave Bhushan Press, the
family shifted to Varanasi. In 1958, the family moved to its present
address, 41, U.A. Bungalow Road, Jawahar Nagar, Delhi-110007. At this site
business is carried on on the ground floor and the joint family, now quite
large, stays at the first and second floors. This shop was inaugurated in
1958 by Prof. A.S. Altekar during the International Oriental Conference at
Delhi University.
Right
from the beginning the firm has been undertaking printing work alongwith
sale and publication of books. The first the printing press was known as
Swatantra Bharat Press. When the firm shifted to Delhi in 1958, it ws
named Shri Jainendra Press. In 1973 printing was shifted to A-45, Naraina
Industrial Area, Phase I, New Delhi-110028. Almost all the books published
by the Firm are printed at this Press.
On
shifting to Delhi, the firm started export of books in a rather big way.
The first major break in this regard came when
in 1965 Shri N.P. Jain visited Europe and America for three months.
He contacted many colleges, universities, publishing houses and many big
book stores. In addition, he also met several scholars, teachers and
authors in the field of Indology. At present the Firm is a leading
exporter of books on Indology and allied fields. In recognition of their
contribution, the firm has been bestowed with Export Promotion awards by
the Export Promotion Council (CAPEXIL) for about 20 years. Not only this,
Shri Shanti Lal Jain was awarded Padma Shri
by the Govt. of India in 1992 for his contribution in the field of
Indology. Presently, books are being exported to almost all countries of
the world. This has helped in making Indology a truly international field
of study.
To
make books easily accessible, the firm has opened branches at Chennai,
Bangalore, Calcutta (10.9.1995), Pune (3.4.1996) and
Bombay(1.4.1997). For interested
visitors, scholars and buyers, including institutions, this has made
things very convenient. This has also helped the firm in procuring more
business and meeting many teachers, scholars and authors.
The
Firm circulates a monthly Newsletter, “MLBD News-letter” to act as a
ready-reference for new publications, book reviews, events and news
related to Indology . In addition, the firm also publishes, magazine, in
collaboration with the Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR), their
bi-annual magazine, the Journal of ICHR. |
