Institute of the Oriental Manuscripts of the Russian Academy of Sciences

Institute of the Oriental Manuscripts of the Russian Academy of Sciences was founded as the  Asiatic  Museum  of  the  Russian Academy of Sciences on 11 November 1818.  Later on June 2007, the Presidium of the Russian Academy of Sciences ordered to reorganize the Saint Petersburg Branch of the Institute of Oriental Studies into the independent Institute of Oriental Manuscripts.

The processing and study of mss collections kept at the IOM remains the core of the academic activities and research projects of the Institute's scholars.

The collection of manuscripts and early printed books consists of more than 100 thousand items in 65 living and dead languages such as Abyssinian (Ethiopian), Arabic, Armenian, Georgian, Hebrew, Chinese, Korean, Kurdish, Manchurian, Mongolian, Persian and Tajik, Sanskrit and Sogdian, Turkic, Tangut, Tibetan, Uigur, Japanese, etc. The IOM has also the Archives of the Orientalists that contains some extremely valuable documents on the history of the Oriental Studies in Russia. It includes manuscripts and xylographs 

The Institute possesses a specialized library of books, exceeding 800 thousand volumes, on various branches of Oriental studies. The collection of books in languages of the peoples of the former USSR especially those issued in the 30s is also of a great value.

The Institute runs doctoral programs. Its Dissertation Council has the right to consider PhD and Habilitation theses written in the area of history and source criticism.