DIRECTORY OF ARCHIVES - WORLDWIDE
The Directory of Archives is an update-able list of archives and institutions in care and custody of material and references from the Subcontinent. If you’d like to recommend more that we should add, please ensure that the links indeed work and the archive site/catalogue exists online, and send us an email.
All links open new windows to external sites.
List collated by The Memory Company
PEOPLE’S ARCHIVE OF RURAL INDIA
A journalism website reporting stories of 833 million rural Indians.
Audio, Books, Documents, Narratives, Oral Stories, Photographs
NATIONAL ARCHIVES OF INDIA
Custodian of the 2.7 million references and records of enduring value
Audio, Books, Documents, Video, Illustrations, Records
ASIA ART ARCHIVE
Independent non-profit documents and provides accessible to histories of art.
Audio, Books, Correspondence, Documents, Film, Newspapers, Periodicals, Photographs, Prints
BRITISH LIBRARY ARCHIVES
19th and early 20th centuries collections include texts of Jatra, books of play songs of that period.
Audio, Books, Correspondence, Documents, Film, Manuscripts, Maps, Microfilm, Newspapers, Periodicals, Photographs, Prints, Statistics, Surveys
IMPERIAL WAR MUSEUM (IWM)
Coverage of conflicts involving Britain and the Commonwealth, from WWI to present day. Includes archives of images and documents about Indian Soldiers, Army traders and Merchant Navy.
Audio, Books, Correspondence, Documents, Film, Manuscripts, Maps, Microfilm, Newspapers, Periodicals, Oral Stories, Photographs, Prints, Prototype, Statistics, Surveys
INDIAN BOOK COVERS 1964-1984
Book-related design and illustration from all over the world.
Books
MAGIC LANTERN MOVIES
Catalogue of films from India and the world – documentaries, fiction, shorts, animation and experimental.
Films
1947 PARTITION ARCHIVE
Preserving the 1947 chapter of collective history.
Film, Narratives, Oral Stories
EARLY BENGALI DRAMA
Treasure of numerous photographs, documents and articles relating to Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose.
Books, Correspondence, Documents, Film, Newspapers & Periodicals, Photographs
KHUDA BAKSH ORIENTAL PUBLIC LIBRARY
Pre-British era books and manuscripts about Hindu and Islamic Texts and Literature in Arabic, English, Hindi, Urdu, Persian & Sanskrit
Books, Digital, Documents, India, Manuscripts, Prints, Religious Texts,
SOUTH AFRICAN HISTORY ARCHIVE
Includes significant and disproportionate contribution of South Africa’s Indian community to the struggle against apartheid
Photographs, essays, articles, documents
TAMIL NADU ARCHIVES
Government and Secretariat records open for historical research, official reference.
Books, Documents, Newspapers, Periodicals, Records
FILM DIVISION OF INDIA
Holds more than 8000 titles on documentaries, short films and animation films.
Films, Digital Films
TASVEER GHAR
South Asia’s popular visual sphere including posters, calendar art, pilgrimage maps, cinema hoardings, advertisements, and other forms of street and bazaar publicity.
Documents, Maps, Posters, Calendars, Newspapers, Periodicals, Photographs,Prints
INDIAN PRINCELY RECORDS – UOC
Manuscripts and typescript documents of 34 princely states that existed as distinct political entities in pre-independence India.
Documents, Manuscripts, Maps
SANSKRIT MANUSCRIPTS
University of Pennsylvania holds the largest number of South Asian manuscripts in North America.
Manuscripts
DIGITAL SOUTH ASIA LIBRARY
Digital materials for research on South Asia. Participants in the Library include the Library of Congress, Asia Society, British Library, the University of Oxford and Cambridge, and institutions in South Asia.
Maps, Maps, Statistics, Dictionaries, Images, Books, Journals, Correspondence, Manuscripts, Newspapers, Periodicals, Statistics, Surveys
NATIONAL ARCHIVES OF UK
The national archive for United Kingdom holds over 500 years of records from Indian Subcontinental material acquired and created by the British Empire.
Audio, Books, Correspondence, Early Cinema, Manuscripts, Newspapers & Periodicals, Performing Arts, Photographs, Prints, Prototype, Certificates, government and people records
BRITISH PATHE
World’s leading multimedia resource with a history stretching back over a century. The finest and most comprehensive archive of film footage.
Newsreel, film, footage, video, stills
VICTORIA MEMORIAL HALL
Hundreds of original documents, records, Correspondence, Photographs, of colonial historical importance along with the History of Bengal.
Books, Correspondence, Documents, Manuscripts, Newspapers & Periodicals, Photographs, Prints
CROSS ASIA
Portal offering access to printed and electronic resources concerning South Asia. Archival collection of early printed literature, commercial art and documents. In cooperation with Heidelberg University.
Books, Correspondence, Film, Manuscripts, Microfilm, Newspapers & Periodicals, Performing Arts, Photographs, Prints
DIGITAL HIMALAYA PROJECT
Ethnographic materials from the Himalayan region. Based at the Department of Social Anthropology at the University of Cambridge. co-located at Yale University.
Audio, Books, Correspondence, Documents, Film, Manuscripts, Microfilm, Nepal, Newspapers & Periodicals, Photographs, Prints, Prototype
THE CINEMA RESOURCE CENTRE
Public archive of Indian cinema designed to enable research on the audio-visual cultural artefacts produced by Indian films, especially in regional languages of South India.
Cinema, Documentary Films, Documents, Manuscripts, Newspapers & Periodicals, Performing Arts, Photographs, Prints
ROJA MUTHIAH RESEARCH LIBRARY
Unique Collection of Roja Muthiah Chettiyar. 2,50,000 Tamil imprints & publications for research. Spanning humanities, social sciences, and sciences. Most publications from 19th and 20th c.
Books, Correspondence, Documents, , Manuscripts, Newspapers & Periodicals, Photographs, Prints
DIGITAL PUBLIC LIBRARY OF AMERICA
Efforts led by organizations, including the Library of Congress, HathiTrust, and the Internet Archive.
Audio, Cinema, Film, Footage, Books, Correspondence, Documents, Manuscripts, Newspapers & Periodicals, Photographs, Prints
SAADA : SOUTH ASIAN AMERICAN DIGITAL ARCHIVE
Documents the rich history of South Asians in the United States and ensuring that our community’s stories are protected and preserved for future generations.
Books, Correspondence, Film, Manuscripts, Microfilm, Newspapers & Periodicals, Performing Arts, Photographs, Prints
TATA CENTRAL ARCHIVES
The first Business Archive in India. Material of historical and critical significance to the Tata Group as one of the largest and most respected business houses in India.
Oral stories, Books, Narratives, Correspondence, Documents, Film, Manuscripts, Microfilm, Nepal, Newspapers & Periodicals, Photographs, Prints, Prototype
HISTORY OF JAZZ IN INDIA : TAJMAHAL FOXTROT
The story of India and Bombay through lives of a menagerie of musicians, Jazz Singers, Performing Artists, both Indian and American, who helped jazz find a home in the subcontinent.
Audio, Books, Album Covers, Publicity Material, Narratives, Newspapers & Periodicals, Performing Arts, Photographs
CITIZENS ARCHIVE OF PAKISTAN
Documents Pakistan’s history.Non-profit organization dedicated to Cultural and Historic Preservation and Educational Outreach.
Audio, Books, Documents, Film, Manuscripts, Narratives, Newspapers & Periodicals, Photographs, Prints
PANJAB DIGITAL LIBRARY
Locates, digitizes, preserves, collects and makes accessible the accumulated wisdom of the Panjab region, without distinction as to script, language, religion, nationality, or other physical condition.
Books, Documents, Manuscripts, Newspapers & Periodicals, Photographs, Prints,
ALKAZI FOUNDATION FOR THE ARTS
Archive of rare 19th and early 20th century photographic prints from South Asia and South East Asia amounting to over 90,000 images located in Delhi, London and New York to facilitate Research.
Photographs, Prints
NEPAL PICTURE LIBRARY
Digital photo archive run by photo.circle creates a broad visual archive of Nepali social and cultural history. NPL has collected over 70,000 photographs from various private and organizational sources across Nepal.
Narratives, Photographs
ADITYA ARYA ARCHIVE
Collection of Historical and rare collection of photographs by Photojournalist Kulwant Roy, and subjects related to Freedom Movement by Aditya Arya.
Photographs. Prints
PAD.MA
Public Access Digital Media Archive an online archive of densely text-annotated video material, primarily footage, home videos and not finished films.
Film, Film Footage, Home Videos
RAJASTHAN ORIENTAL RESEARCH
Center run by the Government of Rajasthan surveys, collects & preserves ancient manuscripts in Sanskrit, Prakrit, Aprabhamsha & Rajasthani.
Books, Manuscripts
RARE BOOK SOCIETY OF INDIA
Digitised Rare books, prints and art of India.
Books, Manuscripts, Prints
SPARROW : ARCHIVE ON WOMEN
Specialised archives that have emerged from work in Women’s / Gender Studies
Audio, Books, Documents, Film, Manuscripts, Newspapers & Periodicals, Photographs
MANIPUR STATE ARCHIVES
Manipur State Archives under the Directorate of Social Welfare, Art & Culture, Manipur.
Books, Documents, Manuscripts, Newspapers & Periodicals, Photographs
DASTOOR MEHERJIRANA LIBRARY
Library established in Navsari in 1874 Navsariwala Seth Burjor Bamanji Padam; collections of manuscripts relating to the Zoroastrian religion in the world.
Books, Documents, Manuscripts, Newspapers & Periodicals, Photographs
GODREJ ARCHIVES
Business archive of the Godrej Group responsible for selection, collection, management and preservation of records covering 115 years their history.
Books, Manuscripts, Documents, Newspapers & Periodicals, Photographs, Prototypes, Personal Belongings, Publicity Material, Product Documentation, Office Records
ARCHIVE OF INDIAN MUSIC
A repository of gramophone recordings of India. AIM digitizes and preserves. Hindustani classical, Carnatic classical, Theatre, Early cinema and Folk
NARRATIVES
NATIONAL MISSION FOR MANUSCRIPTS
Project by Ministry of Tourism and Culture, Government of India unearths and preserves the vast manuscript wealth of India.
Books, Documents, Manuscripts, Prints
NATIONAL LIBRARY OF INDIA
The largest library in India by volume and India’s library of public record designated to collect, disseminate and preserve the printed material produced in the country.
Books, Documents, Manuscripts, Newspapers & Periodicals
NATIONAL FILM ARCHIVE OF INDIA
NFAI promotes research and academic activities on every aspect of Indian Cinema. Centre for dissemination of a healthy film culture in the country.
Films, Documentary Films, Film Catalogues
GODREJ ARCHIVES
Museum on political leaders of India. Autonomous institution under the Ministry of Culture of the Government of India.
Books, Manuscripts, Documents, Newspapers & Periodicals, Photographs, Office Records
KALANIDHI : IGNCA
A repository of research and reference material in Humanities and the Arts encapsulating the entire spectrum of textual, visual and auditory data.
Audio, Books, Journals, Periodicals, Photographs, Microfilm, Slides, Prints
BRITISH LIBRARY VISUAL ARCHIVES : FLICKR
The British Library’s collections on Flickr Commons offer access to millions of public domain images, which we encourage you to explore and re-use.
Photographs, Illustrations
ARCHIVES OF REUNION ISLANDS
Collects material from Colonial and Modern French territory of Madagascar, the Seychelles Islands, the Comoros Islands, Mauritius, Mozambique, India. Mid-19th century to the 1960s.
Records, Documents, Postcards, Photographs, Manuscripts, Prints
MUSEO : MUSEUM OF PHOTOHRAPHIC ARTS
Modern museum on art and science of photography. Antique cameras from over 100 countries, photographic equipment, historical archives
Books, Documents, Manuscripts, Newspapers & Periodicals
ARCHIVE.ORG
Historical resources from the Indian Subcontinent