What is TOSHAKHANA ?

A. A government department which issue Stamps
B. A department that stores precious gifts received by Officials
C. Name of a Capital of a country
D. Name of a Nepalian delicious Dish

Submitted by: Amjad Abbasi Larkana

Toshakhana is a government owned department under the control of Cabinet Division of Pakistan formed in 1974. Its main purpose is to keeps gifts which are received by Ministers MNA & foreign secretaries, president and Prime Minister as well.

Toshakhana is a word of Persian origin that literally translates into “treasure-house”. In Mughal ruled India, a toshakhana was a place where princes store “gifts and emblems of honor that they received for their posterity … an archive of objects whose origin and receipt embodied his status and honor”

Under British colonial rule, the officials of East India Company were not allowed to accept diplomatic gifts, often weapons or jewels known as khilat, from Indian or Middle Eastern rulers and their subjects. When procedure required that the officials received such a khilat, the official would deposit it in the company’s treasury (toshakhana). The objects were later used for exchange gifts with other rulers, when it was deemed appropriate to enter an exchange of khilat.