ARCHIVES AND RECORDS
Manuscripts constitute an important, part of the rich Indian Cultural
Heritage. These are the major repositories of the contribution that our pre-
decessors made in the diverse fields of religion, philosophy, astronomy, litera-
ture, history, medicine and science. They constitute the primary source of
reconstruction of India's past.
The Department has introduced a scheme of financial assistance to
voluntary organisations, educational institutions, libraries, museums and
universities for preservation, listing, cataloguing, evaluation, publication etc.
of manuscripts. The Department of Culture has also taken over under Act
of Parliament, the Rampur Raza Library, Rampur, and Khuda Baksh
Oriental Public Library, Patna, which contain a rich collection of manuscripts
in Arabic, Persian and Urdu. In addition, proper care of manuscripts is
also being taken in museums, libraries and other such institutions which are
tinder the control of Central and State Governments.
National Archives of India, New The National Archives of India is the largest well organised repository
Delhi of Government records in Asia. It receives all Union Government records
and additionally acquires private papers of research value through gift, ex-
change or purchase even from abroad. It tenders advice and assistance to
various State Archives for proper administration and conservation of their
holdings, provides research facilities to scholars and imparts professional
training in Archives Keeping through its School of Archival Studies. The
significant activities are :
Accessions : Important acquisitions included (i) papers relating to
martyr Sukhdev; (ii) Private papers of the late Sardar Gian Singh
Rarewala, former Chief Minister, PEPSU, and a Minister of Punjab
(iii) E. Maclegan (Civil Secretariat), J.J. Cotton correspondence on
Europeans in Maharaja Ranjit Singh's army; (iv) C. Rajagopala-
chari papers (15 microfilm rolls); (v) documents relating to Netaji
Subhas Chandra Bose and (vi) Indian colonies in Astrakhan (2
microfilm rolls and zerox copies).
Records and Archives Management : (a) 66,302 files of different,
Ministries/Departments were appraised. (b) Retention Schedules for
records of 15 Ministries/Departments etc. were vetted. (c) Conducted
Records Management Study of 4 departments and reports were
prepared. (d) The note for Cabinet on 'Public Records Act' was
approved by Minister of State for Education & Culture.
Archival Training : (a) Eighteen trainees secured one year Diploma
in Archival Studies (1982-83 session) and 7 Indian and 4 foreign
students joined the course in 1983-84 session. (b) Short term
courses in Archives Administration, Records Management, Repro-
graphy, care and Conservation, Servicing and Repair of Records
were conducted. (c) Dr. Ye Tut, Director General of Burmese
National Archives, made a week's observation study.
Reference Media : Public and private records relating to Ministry
of Finance, erstwhile Central India Agency, Dadabhai Naoroji, Sir
Sita Ram, Mutiny papers and Inayatjang Collection were listed.
Research and Reference : The Research Room of the Department
continued to provide research facilities to scholars. Various queries
from records by different public and private institutions and indivi-
duals were attended to.
Publications : The Indian Archives (Volume XXXI Nos. 1 and 2),
Annual Report of the National Archives of India, 1982 and Proceed-
ings of the Indian Historical Records Commission (volume XLVII)
were published. National Register of Private Records (Vol. XIII)
and Bulletin of Research. Thesis and Dissentation (Volume XII) are
ready for publication.
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Towards Freedon : Project made steady progress in selection of
materials from public, and private records and microfilms (1937-39)
in the custody of the National and State Archives and 5,228
of selected extracts were sent to the Indian Council for Historical
Research for editing.
Indian Historical Records Commission : Forty ninth Session was
scheduled to be held in January, 1984.
Technical Services and Advice : Besides providing information and
guidance 'to 21 different government and private institutions, a total
of 61,248 sheets were repaired and rehabilitated and 2,89,884 ex-
posures of microfilms, and 47,481 zerox copies were prepared.
Archives Week was celebrated from 1-7 November, 1983. An exhi-
bition 'India and the Commonwealth', 'Open House' (A visit of
Archives) and a workshop on "Records Management" were the signi-
ficant features.
Regional Branch : Department's Offices at Bhopal, Jaipur and Pondi-
cherry continued their normal activities. They also celebrated the
'Archives Week' from 1 to 7 November 1983.
Khuda Bakhsh Oriental Public One of the richest collections of Arabic and Persian manuscripts and
Library, Patna Mughal Paintings, Khuda Bakhsh Library is making continuous progress
towards reference and research. Use of the Library material has increased
manifold and continues to ascend. Scholars from India and abroad are being
provided with research material through reference service in reply to the
academic queries and by providing transcribed copies, microfilms or photo-
copies of the manuscripts they require. Several major collections of manu-
scripts, and printed books have been acquired on loan, in consideration in
gift, by reclamation, and/or on payment, besides, rare manuscripts of several
major Indian collections, like those of Aligarh, Rampur, Bhagalpur, Maner
and Phulwari-sharif. For security reasons and longer life of the Library's
rare materials, such manuscripts are also being microfilmed. Books and
manuscripts requiring immediate repair and binding are being attended to,
under the supervision of a Preservation Unit. The Library is producing a
Quarterly research journal. Twenty-four issues of the Journal containing
about 4500 pages have so far been published. Descriptive catalogues of the
Library's manuscripts,34 in number, have so far been printed. Reprinting
of old volumes of catalogue is being done. The project of publication, of
critical editions of rare manuscripts was started in 1977 and some critical
editions of rare and unique manuscripts have been published. The Library
is also bringing to light rare prints and periodicals of historical importance.
Ten Khuda Bakhsh Fellowships (3 Senior and 7 Junior) have been created
for research work on the manuscripts preserved in the Library. One National
Fellowship and two Visiting Fellowships of ICHR/UGC have also been
created on the pattern for the same purpose.
Besides the traditional activities, the Library also arranges Khuda Bakhsh
Annual and Extension Lecture from time to time which are delivered by
an outstanding scholar of History, Urdu, Persian, Arabic in Islamic Studies.
The Library is also holding Seminars at different intervals to accelerate the
speed of research and inculcate reading habits. A series of Reminiscent
talks have been started in memory of Dr. Zakir Hussain who extended his
full, unqualified patronage to the: Library during his tenure of Governorship
and later as Vice-President and President of India.
The Extension building of the Library has been completed. The Presi-
dent of India, Giani Zail Singh, inaugurated the new building on 14th
February, 1983.
T.M.S.S.M. Library Thanjavur The Tanjore Maharaja Serfoji's Saraswati Mahal Library was described
by Dr. Burnell "to be perhaps the best and most important in the world". It
has its roots in the time of the Imperial Cholas and was subsequently revived
by the Thanjavur Naiks of the Vijayanagar Empire, and was greatly develop-
ed in the early part of nineteenth century by Maharaja Serfoji. The Govern-
ment of Madras took possession of the Library on October 5, 1918 under the
Charitable Endowments Act and formed a committee for its management.
The library has a rich collection of about 40,000 manuscripts in Sanskrit,
Marathi, Tamil, Telugu and other languages, besides a collection of over
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23,000 books in the Indian and European languages covering various disci-
plines. The Central Government is at present giving Plan grants in pursuance
of the recommendations of a committee set up in 1977.
Rampur Raza Library, Rampur The Rampur Raza Library is world known library in respect of oriental
manuscripts and painting collections. It is also one of the oldest libraries in,
the country as it was established. during the years 1774-1794. The library
is famous throughout the world and attracts scholars working in the field of
oriental and Islamic research and Iranian and Indian Mughal paintings.
Through an Act of Parliament the library was declared as an institution
of national importance in 1975 and is fully funded by the Central Govern-
ment. A fixed annual grant of Rs. 48,000 is, however, given by the State
Government of Uttar Pradesh.
With a view to introducing certain new schemes and adding to facilities for
visiting scholars the Central Government approved a special grant of
Rs. 15.00 lakhs for furnishing, repair and renovation etc. of Hameed Manzil
and Rang Mahal the buildings of rare architectural value in themselves.
During 1983-84 the library published one more rare manuscript of Arabic
which is now available for sale. Another important Urdu manuscript of
Khaiyyam's Rubayats, has been sent to the press. The number of visitors to
the library has exceeded 10,000 per annum which includes atleast 50 scholars
from a number of countries.
Preservation of Manuscripts Under this scheme Financial Assistance is given to voluntary organisations,
universities including deemed universities/libraries, museums, etc. for cata-
loguing, editing, preservation, publication, etc. of rare manuscripts. The
main objective of this scheme is to preserve the rich cultural heritage of
India which is available in the form of manuscripts and is in danger of dete-
rioration because of lack of measures for proper preservation, study and
research, etc. The scheme has been put in operation from 1979-80 on a
modest scale.
Fellowships covering different
disciplines and' Fields including The objective of the scheme is to evolve a process by which knowledge of
Epigraphy, Paleography, Extinct scripts and ancient languages is made available to the students who might
Languages, Ancient Scripts and be attracted to these fields, with a fellowships for two years which may lead
Numismatics to M. Phil or Ph. D. degree of a recognised University or for further research,
under the guidance of eminent scholars/Pandits. The number of awards,
with a fellowships of Rs. 600 per month is ten each year and there is no sub-
jectwise distribution of fellowships. Twelve fellowships were awarded during
1982-83 and 10 more are expected to be awarded during 1983-84.
Asiatic Society of India, Calcutta The Asiatic Society, Calcutta was founded in 1784 with the object of en-
quiring into the history, the antiquities, arts, sciences and literature of Asia.
The Institute has proved to be the fountain head of all literary and scientific
activities in India and the parent of all other Asiatic Societies. Its declared
objects are to conduct research into matters which are largely cultural and
sociological with special bearing on Indology. The Society is being assisted
by the State Government of West Bengal and the Centre on 50 : 50 basis.
The Society has celebrated its bicentenary during the year. A proposal to
declare it as an institute of national importance is under the consideration of
the Government.
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