It took Sikh historian Dr Harjinder Singh Dilgeer 12 years, including umpteen visits to the National Archives of India in New Delhi and the India Office Records housed in the British Library, London to put together his biggest project ever. Dilgeer, who is often regarded as an institution in Sikh history and credited with over 50 titles in Sikh studies, is the former director of Sikh History Research Board with Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) and is currently working on a ten-volume book project on Sikh history.
The first two volumes were released on Tuesday at a well-attended function held in the city. “I have previously published Sikh History in Punjabi in five volumes. The English volumes have more documentation and pictorials like coloured photographs, maps and copies of original documents,” says Dr Dilgeer, currently the international director of Guru Nanak Institute of Sikh Studies and president, World Sikh Writers Conference. While the first volume covers the Guru period up to 1708, it also presents a survey of the previous 3,000 years of ancient Punjab and its political, geographical and religious scenario. “It was quite a task researching not just existing work by historians but as many as 10 billion files housed in The British Library’s Commonwealth Records section,” says the writer who researched around 2,000 books. “I have rejected mysticism as a factor associated with the Gurus and given a logical perceptive,” he explains.
Full report here Indian Express
Showing posts with label archives. Show all posts
Showing posts with label archives. Show all posts
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Friday, August 27, 2010
The man about history
Professor Mushirul Hasan appears not to be in a hurry. Sitting inside his large office chamber, with beautiful colonial-era furniture, Prof. Hasan, the new director general of the National Archives of India (NAI), looks as carefree as a retired man.
The 61-year-old academic, author of several books on Indian history, talks in a singsong voice; he laughs easily and peppers his conversation with amusing Urdu couplets. Soon, however, he comes to the point. “I want the Archives to be like London’s British Library, which is wonderful in terms of collection, conservation, preservation and, most importantly, accessibility.”
As the storehouse of the non-current records of the Indian government, the NAI, situated on Janpath close to India Gate, has thousands of rare old books, documents and lithographs piled up on various floors. While researching here for his book The Last Mughal: The Fall of a Dynasty (Delhi 1857), author William Dalrymple discovered previously unexamined manuscripts that present the Indian perspective on the 1857 mutiny. “All the Urdu research for the book was done there,” says Dalrymple. “The archive contains the biggest and fullest colonial archive in India.”
Full report here Mint
As the storehouse of the non-current records of the Indian government, the NAI, situated on Janpath close to India Gate, has thousands of rare old books, documents and lithographs piled up on various floors. While researching here for his book The Last Mughal: The Fall of a Dynasty (Delhi 1857), author William Dalrymple discovered previously unexamined manuscripts that present the Indian perspective on the 1857 mutiny. “All the Urdu research for the book was done there,” says Dalrymple. “The archive contains the biggest and fullest colonial archive in India.”
Full report here Mint
Four centuries in its corners
A Sikh hunts for a lost ancestor in Japan. William Dalrymple seeks precious details about the last Mughal. Both find answers at the National Archives of India. Now, with a new director general at the helm, this repository of memory is trying even harder to tell you your history. We spent a day at the Archives Sidin Vadukut
One day, around two years ago, a Sikh man walked into the research room at the National Archives of India in New Delhi. He sought out Jaya Ravindran, an archivist, and told her everything he knew about his paternal grandfather.
The gentleman hoped to persuade Ravindran to go on a historical wild-goose chase through the National Archives’ holdings.
Ravindran spends most working days in her office inside the research room in the National Archives’ annexe building. Situated in a little, rectangular, walled-off portion at one end of the research room, Ravindran’s office is furnished in a style that can only be called “post-liberalization government of India”. It is a melange of aluminium and formica and plastic, with files arranged in neat piles on the desk. There is a computer to one side, and beneath its monitor, there are some pictures of the Gilgit manuscripts from Kashmir.
“I am working on a brochure about the manuscripts,” Ravindran says. “They are also the oldest objects currently in the National Archives.” Ravindran, dressed in a blue sari and matching blouse, has the instant warmth of someone eager to answer questions and the frankness of someone who knows most of the answers.
Full report here Mint
The gentleman hoped to persuade Ravindran to go on a historical wild-goose chase through the National Archives’ holdings.
Ravindran spends most working days in her office inside the research room in the National Archives’ annexe building. Situated in a little, rectangular, walled-off portion at one end of the research room, Ravindran’s office is furnished in a style that can only be called “post-liberalization government of India”. It is a melange of aluminium and formica and plastic, with files arranged in neat piles on the desk. There is a computer to one side, and beneath its monitor, there are some pictures of the Gilgit manuscripts from Kashmir.
“I am working on a brochure about the manuscripts,” Ravindran says. “They are also the oldest objects currently in the National Archives.” Ravindran, dressed in a blue sari and matching blouse, has the instant warmth of someone eager to answer questions and the frankness of someone who knows most of the answers.
Full report here Mint
Saturday, July 3, 2010
Delhi’s best kept secret
As Delhi furiously upgrades itself for the Commonwealth Games in October, why should this treasure tucked at the Capital’s heart remain rundown and unexplored? As the storeroom of the non-current records of the Indian government, the National Archives of India (NAI), in Janpath, has thousands of rare old books, documents and lithographs piled up on various floors.
Anyone with a passing interest in India’s political and cultural past can produce best-selling history books by hanging out here. While researching here for his book The Last Mughal, author William Dalrymple discovered previously unexamined manuscripts that present the Indian perspective of the 1857 mutiny. “All the Urdu research for the book was done there,” says Dalrymple. “The archive contains the biggest and fullest colonial archive in India.”
Making it cool
You do not have to be an author, scholar or a PhD student to feel at home in NAI. Not many are aware that it also has a library having more than 1,80,000 books on Indian history. The membership is free and all you need to present is an identity proof.
Full report here Hindustan Times
Anyone with a passing interest in India’s political and cultural past can produce best-selling history books by hanging out here. While researching here for his book The Last Mughal, author William Dalrymple discovered previously unexamined manuscripts that present the Indian perspective of the 1857 mutiny. “All the Urdu research for the book was done there,” says Dalrymple. “The archive contains the biggest and fullest colonial archive in India.”
Making it cool
You do not have to be an author, scholar or a PhD student to feel at home in NAI. Not many are aware that it also has a library having more than 1,80,000 books on Indian history. The membership is free and all you need to present is an identity proof.
Full report here Hindustan Times
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