| Name | Description | Timeline | Search functions/ Special notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| IIMA Archives | Launched by the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIMA), a business school in India with national significance. The archive contains information regarding IIMA’s history and evolution (1961-present), and will be helpful for history students looking to study business history of India. Examples of documents include digitised documents and oral history interviews. | 1961 to present | To search effectively, click on “collection” from the main page. You will be directed to different categories e.g reading list, oral interviews etc. |
| Centre of South Asian Studies Film Archive | A small collection of films from the South Asian region during the period 1911-1956. These films reveal the life of the region in this transition period between empire and independence. Films may be viewed for research purposes, but permission is required for reproduction | 1911-1956 | Resources are already categorised into different collections based on the filmmaker and a preview of each collection (location/date) is shown. |
| South Asian American Digital Archive (SAADA) | An archive of materials related to the South Asian community in the U.S. The aim of the archive is to lend a greater voice to the South Asian community in the States by sharing their experiences. | Not specified. | To browse the archive, head to the “Browse the Archive” button at the top. Their collection is already separated into various categories (i.e themes, creators, time period) etc. |
| Gandhi Heritage Portal | An online website dedicated to Mahatma Gandhi. The website features Gandhi's writings and translated works, including Hind Swaraj and Satyagraha in South Africa, as well as journals that wrote or was involved in. Navigate the materials in the portal by using the top bar. | Not specified. | Navigate the materials in the portal by using the top bar. Many works have been translated into English and certain works have a searchable pdf download option. |
| South Asia Archive | An online repository of documents held by the South Asia Research Foundation. Materials are both from and about the region. About 30% of material in the archive is in the English-language. | Not specified. | Search by filtering based on subject areas and language. Files can be downloaded for offline viewing. |
| India, Raj & Empire [National Library of Scotland] | An online database of documents from the National Library of Scotland. This database contains materials like journal entries, paintings, and official documents between 1615 and 1947. Materials from this database shed much light on the colonial history of South Asia. | 1615-1947 | Documents can be searched via theme, date, or manuscript number. “Themes” provide a good starting point for those with no prior knowledge of South Asian history as it includes sectioning of dates. For a comprehensive introduction about the documents within each theme, click on “Introduction” in the top bar > “Thematic Areas” then choose your preferred theme. For an overview of how the archive works, click on “Introduction”> “Take a Tour.” |
| Medieval Travel Writing | An online archive of manuscripts dating back from the 13th to 16th centuries. These manuscripts chart the travel accounts of explorers going to China, the Holy Land, and India, and provide invaluable insight into the history of trade, the Silk Road, and orientalism. | 13th to 16th centuries | Search documents based on several categories under the documents tab, the easiest of which would be “Traveller.” To see the travelers featured in the database, click on “Introduction”> “The Travellers.” This will show the reader an alphabetical list of travelers, along with their destination(s) and alternative spellings. Using this chart, head back to documents tab to choose their desired traveler. Note that users can download documents for offline viewing |
| Foreign Office files for India, Pakistan and Afghanistan | A database of the British Government’s documents between 1947 to 1980. This collection covers the deep political and social upheaval in South Asia amidst the international backdrop of Cold War. | 1947-1980 | To gain a much needed overview of the documents click on “Introduction” on the top bar (not in orange.) Under the “Nature and Scope” section, read up on Section I and II which are related to South Asia. This will give you an idea of how to navigate the documents and the number of which document you want (DO XXX or FO XX/YY). |
Head to University of Oregon’s Library Guide for the subject area of South Asia. Locked databases are indicated with a “lock” symbol. Alternatively New York University Libraries also has a great list of resources students can consult. For locked databases, students can search on NUS’ library portal as they may have access via the their NUS library account.