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, c ...

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 , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...

, 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 Janpath (meaning People's Path, formerly known as Queensway), is one of the main roads in New Delhi. It starts out as Radial Road 1 in Connaught Place, adjacent to Palika Bazaar, and runs north–south perpendicular to, and past Rajpath ...

and

Rajpath Rajpath, officially named Kartavya Path, and formerly known as Kingsway, is a ceremonial boulevard in New Delhi, India, that runs from Rashtrapati Bhavan on Raisina Hill through Vijay Chowk and India Gate, National War Memorial to Nation ...

, 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 Ministry of Culture may refer to: *Ministry of Tourism, Cultural Affairs, Youth and Sports (Albania) * Ministry of Culture (Algeria) *Ministry of Culture (Argentina) *Minister for the Arts (Australia) *Ministry of Culture (Azerbaijan) * Ministry of ...

, 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 memori ...

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 style ...

, and originally known as the Imperial Record Office.

K. R. Narayanan Kocheril Raman Narayanan (27 October 1921 – 9 November 2005) was an Indian statesman, diplomat, academic, and politician who served as the 9th vice president of India, Vice President of India from 1992 to 1997 and 10th President of India fr ...

, 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 is ...

Jaipur Jaipur (; Hindi Language, Hindi: ''Jayapura''), formerly Jeypore, is the List of state and union territory capitals in India, capital and largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Rajasthan. , the city had a pop ...

and

Pondicherry Pondicherry (), now known as Puducherry ( French: Pondichéry ʊdʊˈtʃɛɹi(listen), on-dicherry, is the capital and the most populous city of the Union Territory of Puducherry in India. The city is in the Puducherry district on the sout ...

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 Imperia ...

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 seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

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