The National Archives of India (NAI) is a repository of the non-current records of the

Government of India The Government of India ( ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, ...

and holds them in trust for the use of administrators and scholars. Originally established as the Imperial Record Department in 1891, in

Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, commer ...

, the capital of

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

, the NAI is situated at the intersection of Janpath and Rajpath, in

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...

. It functions as an Attached Office of the Department of Culture under the Ministry of Culture, Government of India.

History

The Imperial Record Department was set up on 11 March 1891 in

(Kolkata). G. W. Forrest was named as department head..The Imperial Records Department was charged with aggregating, appraising, and managing the documents of all departments of the British Government. It was headed by the Keeper of Records. After independence, the post was renamed Director of Archives. In 1911 the Department was transferred to the new capital, New Delhi, and in 1926 it was shifted into its new building. This was one of four museum and archive buildings planned by its architect

Edwin Lutyens Sir Edwin Landseer Lutyens ( ; 29 March 1869 – 1 January 1944) was an English architect known for imaginatively adapting traditional architectural styles to the requirements of his era. He designed many English country houses, war memor ...

around 'Point B' in the city plan, the intersection of King's Way and Queen's Way. However, only this one was built. It is a building in late

neo-classical style Neoclassical architecture is an architectural style produced by the Neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century in Italy and France. It became one of the most prominent architectural styles in the Western world. The prevailing st ...

, and originally known as the Imperial Record Office. K. R. Narayanan, then President of India, declared the "Museum of the National Archives" open to the general public on 6 July 1998. This museum provides a representative overview of the multifarious holdings of the National Archives, and promotes a common man's interest in archival holdings. The NAI has a Regional Office at

Bhopal Bhopal (; ) is the capital city of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh and the administrative headquarters of both Bhopal district and Bhopal division. It is known as the ''City of Lakes'' due to its various natural and artificial lakes. It i ...

and three Record Centres at

Bhubaneswar Bhubaneswar (; ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Odisha. The region, especially the old town, was historically often depicted as ''Ekamra Kshetra'' (area (''kshetra'') adorned with mango trees (''ekamra'')). Bhubaneswar i ...

Jaipur Jaipur (; Hindi: ''Jayapura''), formerly Jeypore, is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Rajasthan. , the city had a population of 3.1 million, making it the tenth most populous city in the country. Jaipur is also known a ...

and Pondicherry.

Records

The holdings in the National Archives are in a regular series starting from the year 1748. The languages of the records include English, Arabic, Hindi, Persian, Sanskrit and Urdu, and their materials include paper, palm leaf, birch bark and parchment. The records are in four categories: Public Records, Oriental Records, Manuscripts and Private Papers. There has been a certain amount of criticism regarding the lack of care taken in preservation and handling of records.

Exhibitions

The National Archives of India also holds regular exhibitions such as the display of declassified files on

Subhas Chandra Bose Subhas Chandra Bose ( ; 23 January 1897 – 18 August 1945 * * * * * * * * *) was an Indian nationalist whose defiance of British authority in India made him a hero among Indians, but his wartime alliances with Nazi Germany and Imperi ...

in 2016 and the recent exhibition, "The Jammu and Kashmir Saga", commemorating 70 years of Jammu and Kashmir's accession to India which was held from 10 January 2018 to 10 February 2018. Between 1973 and 2015 NAI has held 108 exhibitions on various themes.

Abhilekh patal

Abhilekh patal is an online portal to access National Archives of India’s reference media and its digitized collections via the internet. The name 'Abhilekh patal' comes from the Sanskrit word 'Abhilekh' meaning the records of ancient times and the word 'patal' meaning the platform, board or a surface. It is a work in progress.

Gallery

File:Shripad Yesso Naik and the Culture Minister of Afghanistan, Dr. Raheem signed an MoU between the National Archives of India and the National Archives of Afghanistan for improved records management practices.jpg, The Culture Ministers of Afghanistan and India signed an MoU between the National Archives of India and the

National Archives of Afghanistan National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

File:The Minister of State for Culture (Independent Charge), Tourism (Independent Charge) and Civil Aviation, Dr. Mahesh Sharma launching the online search portal of records of the National Archives of India ‘Abhilekh- PATAL’.jpg, Ceremony of launching the online search portal of records of the National Archives of India ‘Abhilekh-PATAL’, 2015 File:National Archives of India.jpg, National Archives of India, New Delhi

References

External links

National Archives of India, Official Website.

Abhilekh-Patal (Portal for access to archives & learning)
{{DEFAULTSORT:National Archives Of India Archives in India Ministry of Culture (India) Historiography of India

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

Organizations established in 1891 Neoclassical architecture in India Library buildings completed in 1926 1891 establishments in India Works of Edwin Lutyens in India