in 1920, jamia millia islamia was founded in aligarh. its founding members included maulana mahmood hasan deobandi, muhammad ali jauhar, hakim ajmal khan, dr. mukhtar ahmad ansari, abdul majeed khwaja, and zakir hussain. in 1925, the university was shifted from aligarh to karol bagh, new delhi. during that time, there was a lack of urdu books for the education of indian muslims. therefore, in 1922, when jamia was still in aligarh, maktaba jamia was established. it initially stocked books that were already well-accepted and useful in urdu. however, after a few years, riots broke out, and the maktaba was burned down. the anjuman jamia millia decided to revive it, and it was decided that this time it would be converted into a limited company. since 1950, the maktaba has been functioning as a limited company. "kitab nama" was a newsletter for publishers and writers under maktaba jamia, which was published from time to time. it featured short reviews of books such as "maidan-e-amal," "pastanuri," "diwan-e-tabatabai," and works related to darul musannifeen azamgarh. initially, kitab nama was sent free of charge, but later its price was fixed at eight annas. it was an eight-page booklet, mainly limited to book reviews or information about newly published books by maktaba or other institutions. later, however, it evolved into a full-fledged literary monthly magazine, featuring criticism, research articles, poetry, literary discussions, sketches, satire, essays, fiction, letters, memoirs, borrowed insights, and reviews. it published works of both emerging and established writers and poets. editors of kitab nama the following individuals have served as editors of this prestigious magazine: shahid ali khan hamid ali khan zafar humayun adeeb khalid mahmood imran ahmad andalib a significant change came in 1987 when the magazine introduced a "guest editor" series. under this initiative, prominent literary figures were invited as guest editors. these guest editors not only curated the magazine but also wrote the editorial article. some guest editors of kitab nama allama ahmed sarwar ali sardar jafri hamidi kashmiri riffat sarosh afaq hussain siddiqui abdul qawi desnavi khaliq anjum zaheer ahmed siddiqui waris alvi abdul mughni sughra mehdi shamim hanfi abul kalam qasmi the photographs of these guest editors were also featured on the covers of their respective issues. "kitab nama" has published more than fifty special editions so far. after aaj kal, it holds the record for the highest number of special issues published among literary magazines in india. some notable special editions of kitab nama new nazm special yadgar josh malisiani special salamat ali dabir special premchand special syed abid hussain special lexicography issues special ajmal ajmali special allama ahmed sarwar special khaliq anjum special farman fatehpuri special nisar ahmad farooqi special abid ali khan special khwaja ahmed farooqi special ali sardar jafri special hamidi kashmiri special rasheed hasan khan special hanif tareen special khwaja hasan nizami special qurratulain hyder special shad azimabadi special shamsur rahman faruqi special abul kalam qasmi special mushfiq khwaja special abdul sattar dalvi special mujtaba hussain special ghulam rabbani taban special jagan nath azad special shad arfi special