Soon after Maharaja Ranbir Singh ascended the throne in 1856 he sent a team of pandits from Jammu to travel around India and acquire as many manuscripts as were available. As a result of these efforts a collection of around 8000 manuscripts was built up covering almost every area of theological scholarship, including Buddhist and Jain texts. This unique collection is located in the Sri Ranbir Sanskrit Research Institute within the Sri Raghunath Mandir complex. The first catalogue of this collection was made by the eminent scholar Aurel Stein in 1856. Several decades ago Maharaja Hari Singh handed over the responsibility of managing the Dharmarth Trust which was set up by Maharaja Gulab Singh when he founded the State in order to preserve and protect Hindu monuments in Jammu & Kashmir.