Over a period spanning from August 2023 to January 2024, I spent time in Lisbon with a dual agenda: to master the Portuguese language at the University of Lisbon and to explore the city’s historical archives. This post aims to distill key information for those intending to navigate these archives. My explorations were concentrated on two primary archives: the Torre do Tombo (National Archive of Portugal) and the Biblioteca Nacional Portugal (National Library of Portugal), both situated near the University of Lisbon campus in Campo Grande. Biblioteca Nacional de Portugal (BNP) The Biblioteca ..read more

Goa textbook series 1 While piecing together an account of a rebellion in nineteenth-century Sawantwadi, on the boundary between British India and Portuguese Goa, I thought of what a good story it would make in a children’s textbook on Goan history. I could visualise an illustration of the story of the young prince of Sawantwadi allegedly kidnapped in the night, and taken on horseback by the (to my mind) picturesquely named ‘rebel chieftains’, Anna Sahib and Phond Sawant and his seven sons, into the forests bordering Goa, to hide. This as yet unwritten story led me to think about how often a ..read more

Mrs. Lilia Maria de Souza an interview Rochelle Pinto and Sandra Ataíde Lobo in conversation with the former librarian, xavier centre for historical research, porvorim, goa Were it not for the knowledge and generosity of Mrs. Lilia Maria de Souza, the former librarian of the Xavier Centre of Historical Research, a research library in Porvorim, Goa, I would have taken far longer to arrive at a perspective on the Portuguese texts that I read with great difficulty during my PhD research. The crucial role of librarians in making knowledge accessible, from the catalogue to their encounter with a ..read more

by Ujaan Ghosh An Account…of Orissa proper,… 1822, Stirling, BL on Flickr What follows is a list of colonial (and some pre-colonial) documents that I encountered while working on Odisha. As this is based on my personal experience, it is not an exhaustive account of all that is available, but attempts to provide a broad overview of historical documents on Odisha.   Orissa State Archives The OSA is very well maintained and has some of the important documents on the state. In particular, the post 1911 documents in the archive are quite compelling. These are some of the important collection ..read more

by K. P. Girija with inputs from Teena Antony This list of libraries and institutions provided by K. P. Girija and Teena Antony provides an overview of various kinds of library and archives, includes lists of magazines and old texts in Malayalam and Sanskrit (also in Hindi, Telugu, and Kannada) and is especially useful for researchers interested in various aspects of Kerala from the nineteenth century onwards. Appan Thampuran Memorial Library (Appan Thampuran Smaraka Vayanashala), Kairali Gramam, Ayyanthole, Thrissur-680003 The Appan Thampuran Memorial Library has a collection of more th ..read more

I preserved some of the pamphlets that were circulated during the years spent in JNU. Hope someone can use them. april-1997.pdf These are from the month after Chandrashekhar was killed 1. Chandrashekhar Smriti Andolan, 4/8/1997, Sanyojan Samiti, 2. Siwan Chalo, 6/4/1997, AISA 3. The fight has just begun, 8/4/1997, JNU Students Co-ordination Committee 4. Mandi House, 10/8/1997, Friends of Chandrashekhar 5. CPI (ML) Liberation Foundation Day, Why we need an M-L politics today, 22/4/1997, AISA 6. Arrest Sadhu Yadav, Enquiry into police atrocities on protesting students at PM’s residence, 22/4/199 ..read more

Ashokan Nambiar This is the second in the series by Ashokan Nambiar on different collections and libraries in Kerala that aid the study of its print history. Image taken from website:https://www.keralaarchives.org The following is a list that indexes a select few archival materials (books, documents, government acts) available in the collection in the Regional Archives, Ernakulam. It is a rather sparse list. I have not found many materials here that are directly connected to my area of research – early Malayalam print artefacts and related materials to write a history of the Malayalam print c ..read more

I preserved some of the pamphlets that were circulated during the years I spent in JNU. Hope someone can use them. These were written by students decades ago. Some of them may have changed their views on things. 1996 Call to support SL hunger strike, transparency in admission process, increase in sexual harassment cases on campus, 4/8/96, JNUSU, Chandrashekhar Prasad Support of SL hunger strike, demand for more transparency, SFCs, Bipan Chandra Committee report etc. 8/8/96, SFI Demands regarding admission process, student victimisation, SSS GBM 9/8/96, AISA Admissions question, 9/8/96, ABVP S ..read more