“Information… lost to the people of India will come alive… and millions of researchers across the world will now be able to access it.” 

Former Indian Government Minister

Many of the texts in the archive are rare and may not be familiar to readers.  With this in mind, we provide expert commentaries to help guide users.

Originally offered by Taylor & Francis on their Digital Primary Sources platform, we’re migrating the collection to our award-winning Commons platform, adding new content and links to related content, making the collection even more comprehensive.

One quarter of the world’s population lives in South Asia, and yet South Asian content is underrepresented or absent from many libraries.  The South Asia Archive is a landmark collection of 4.5 million pages of documents from across the Indian subcontinent from 1700 to 1953, originally collected by the South Asian Research Foundation (SARF). 

It’s the largest collection of books, journals and documents from the region, covering India, Pakistan, Burma, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh.  Its size and diversity will bring new and inclusive perspectives to learning and research across the humanities and social sciences.  Faculty in economics, politics, law, Indology, archaeology, anthropology, cultural studies, history, and education will all benefit.

Documents are in a mix of English and vernacular languages, with fifteen percent of the archive’s content comprising material written primarily in Bengali and also including some content in Sanskrit. The archive is incredibly diverse in its reach, with materials of interest to those studying across all main areas of the humanities and social sciences.

Content

Subjects across a broad range are covered, including archaeology, industry, parliamentary debates and concerns, and law case reports.  Other reports include the near complete set of the Calcutta riots of 1946 and gazetteers from a range of districts and territories, providing a fascinating insight into colonial India.

Journals and serial publications
The archive includes a large number of serials including: Calcutta Law Journal, Indian Annual Register, The Eastern Economist, Bharatbarsha, The Modern Review, Indian Forest Records, Indian Education, Indian Review, The Asiatic Review, and Sankhya Journal.

Reports
Thousands of reports and proceedings from colonial and postcolonial India including volumes of the 1901, 1911, 1931, and 1951 Indian Census incorporating the provinces of Burma, Bengal, Assam, and Bombay, among others.

Indian film booklets, 1930–1949
A collection of rare publicity booklets in a mixture of English, Hindi, Urdu, and Bengali, as sold outside India film theaters. Highlights from the collection include: Mukti, Street Singer, My Sister, Devdas and Sita. Each booklet includes lists of the film's cast and leading technical personnel, a plot summary, photographs of the lead actors or key moments in the film, and song lyrics

Rare books
Included are more than 1,500 books, and series such as The Bibliotheca Indica, a collection of works published by the Asiatic Society of Bengal. You’ll also find translations of The Upanishads, and commentaries on Sanskrit grammatical, philosophical, and legal treatises.  Subjects are varied, with books on everything from religion and literature to law and agriculture.

Legislations, acts, and regulations
It includes a large number of proceedings from across a range of Indian governmental departments, as well as law books, and legal cases.

Upload service
(Forthcoming) Librarians are invited to upload additional content including items missing from serials and other sets. Uploaded items and links are available to users within minutes.

Ephemera, maps, and manuals

Topical coverage

Gender, race, education, and reform

• Books on the education and status of women in India, including The Scientific Basis of Women’s Education, The Vedic Law of Marriage or The Emancipation of Women, The Position of Women in Hindu Law, Papers on Indian Reform, The Women of India and What Can Be Done For Them, and The Ways and Means of Imparting an Ideal Education to Boys and Girls.

• Reports on women’s education, including Central Advisory Board of Education: Report of the Women’s Education Committee on Primary Education of Girls in India, 1936 and Development of Female Education in England and Utilization of Western Methods of Education in Bengal.

• Journal of the National Indian Association, In Aid of Social Progress in India (1881-1884).

• Our Cause. A Symposium by Indian Women (proceedings, 1938)

•  Widow-Burning. A Narrative (book, 1855)

•   The Scientific Basis of Women’s Education (book, 1930)

•   The Position of Women in Hindu Law (doctoral thesis, 1913)

Editorial Board

Editors in Chief

• Professor Boria Majumdar,  Sharda University, India

• Dr. Sharmistha Gooptu, South Asia Research Foundation

Advisory Editor

• Dr. Kausik Bandyopadhyay, West Bengal State University, Barasat

Associate Editor

• Umakanta Roy, South Asia Research Foundation

 Advisory Board

• Ishtiaq Ahmed, Professor Emeritus, Stockholm University, Sweden

• Dipesh Chakrabarty, University of Chicago, USA

• William Mazzarella, University of Chicago, USA

• Nalin Mehta, UPES University India

• Ashis Nandy, Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, New Delhi, India

• Rosalind O’Hanlon, University of Oxford, UK

• Brian Stoddart, former Vice Chancellor, Latrobe University, Australia

• David Washbrook, University of Cambridge, UK, In Memoriam.