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ARCHAEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF INDIA

Photographs in the India Office Collections in the British Library, London

Introduction - R. Hamilton, India Office Collections, British Library

The India Office Collections now in the British Library contain an almost unique series of archaeological and architectural photographs taken in South Asia between the 1850s and the 1920s. The Archaeological Survey was one of the departments set up by the British government in India to document and preserve the heritage of monuments in the present day countries of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Burma and Sri Lanka.

The two earliest series of photographs are prints from glass and calotype negatives preserved respectively in the Indian Museum, Calcutta (at that time), and in the India Office, London. Both sets of negatives were listed and published by T Bloch in 1900. The second part of the India Office series contains firstly photographs for which no negatives were sent to London (and hence no published list exists), but ends with an important series of photographs (with negatives) of the copies of the Ajanta cave paintings made by John Griffiths and his pupils at the Bombay School of Art between 1872 and 1885 (listed by J Burgess in 1889). In 1889 and again in later years, the Archaeological Survey was divided into autonomous Circles under the various regional governments, each publishing an annual report listing all the photographs made during that year. Prints from the negatives were sent with the reports to the India Office, and bound up together in large albums. A more centralised Archaeological Survey was set up under the new Director-General John Marshall in 1902, which published its own annual reports and took its own photographs. As with the Circles, both reports and photographs were sent to London and bound up together. With a further reorganisation of the Survey in 1921, no further photographs were sent to the India Office.

The importance of these India Office collections lies in their being a fully documented record over 70 years of the history of the region's monuments at a time of great change, ranging at various times between destruction, neglect, ill-documented and ill-advised rebuilding, and fully scientific restoration or excavation. Since the originals of Griffiths' Ajanta paintings were largely destroyed by fire while at the South Kensington Museum, their photographs show the subjects of these paintings while in a better state of preservation than at the present. The collection as a whole provides the indispensable background to an understanding of the condition of these monuments today.

The collections of photographs of the Archaeological Survey of India are arranged in the following order:

* Indian Museum series
* India Office series
* Circles series
* Director-General's series

On the following pages are explanations of the cataloguing system used for each series, as well as lists of missing prints. The main body of this guide comprises an alphabetical list of places and their location on the microfiche.

In compiling the index of places, the names as they appear in the contemporary lists have generally been retained, although some spellings have been standardized according to The Imperial Gazetteer of India, New Edition, Oxford 1909. Where the modern version of a place-name is significantly different a cross-reference is provided.

The microfiche follow the sequence given above. Before each group of photographs is a list detailing their contents; all the lists are also reproduced together on fiche 217 to 232. In the alphabetical list, the index fiche references detail the specific frame location of the index entry. The frames are numbered across the microfiche from 1 to 12, then down from A to E.

Indian Museum Series

Prints from negatives in the Indian Museum are arranged in 46 volumes, with their negatives listed in T Bloch's A list of the photographic negatives of Indian antiquities in the collection of the Indian Museum: with which is incorporated the list of similar negatives in the possession of the India Office, Calcutta 1900.

The numbers given to prints in the volumes correspond to the serial numbers given to negatives in the published list. This is a straight numerical sequence from 1 to 2651. The photographs date from the mid-1860s to the 1880s and cover the whole of South Asia.

The photographs are on fiche 3 to 28, and the published list on fiche 1 and 2.

Prints missing from the published list (largely duplicates):

25a-c, 42, 78b, 216, 23,7 240, 243, 274,

292, 302, 304, 306, 308, 338, 339, 340,

342, 344, 350, 357, 362, 388, 412, 414,

527, 529, 539, 543, 582,601, 604, 618,

621, 625, 633, 743, 758, 759, 760, 761,

768, 772, 774, 775, 776, 789, 790, 791,

829, 846, 850, 854, 1145, 1414,1425, 1439,

1441, 1453, 1463, 1469, 1472, 1517, 1542, 1548,

1552, 1695, 1698, 1700, 1703, 1705, 1712, 1715,
1719, 1725, 1730, 1754, 1762, 1767, 1772, 1777,
1720, 1784, 1788, 1801, 1803, 1805, 1811, 1813,
1721, 1822, 1833, 1834, 1843, 1846, 1848, 1850,
1722, 1862, 1882, 1897, 1904, 1920, 1931, 1939,
1723, 1943, 1945, 1955, 1967, 1973, 1975, 1977,
1724, 1990, 2006, 2013, 2015, 2019, 2021 2027,
1725, 2033, 2040, 2042, 2047, 2050, 2087, 2093,
1726, 2106, 2111, 2118, 2127, 2133, 2135, 2158,
1727, 2162, 2164, 2169, 2171, 2174, 2178, 2180,
1728, 2185, 2193, 2196, 2205, 2264, 2265, 2266,
1729, 2275, 2387, 2389, 2393, 2403, 2428,2430,
1730, 2433a, 2437, 2439, 2449, 2450, 2455, 2456,
2459, 2460, 2512, 2537, 2598, 2601, 2608, 2612.

Individual photographs are accessed using the prefix ASIM (Archaeological Survey Indian Museum) followed by the appropriate serial number, eg ASIM 12, ASIM 301.

India Office Series

Prints from the India Office series are arranged over 76 volumes, but volumes 38 to 66 (numbers 3901-5800), which contain non-archaeological photographs are omitted here. The photographs date from the mid-1850s to the 1880s and cover the whole of South Asia.

The prints are arranged in three sub-series:

Prints with negatives listed by T Bloch (see above). Here the negatives are given two numbers, a Serial number (simply the running number in the list) and a Record number. The numbers given to prints in the albums correspond to the Record numbers. The relevant volumes are:

Volumes 1-20B (Record numbers 1 to 2320)
Volumes 29-32 (2900 to 3262)
The photographs in this sub-series are on fiche 31 to 56, with the published list on fiche 29 and 30.

Prints missing from the published list (largely duplicates):
604; 607; 627; 628; 634; 717; 719; 898; 917; 918; 1034; 1851a; 1864a-b; 1827a-b; 2315; 2316; 3059a

Prints without negatives are described in a separate typed handlist. Numbers given to prints in the albums correspond to the numbers in this list. The relevant volumes are:

Volumes 21-29 (2001a to 2320a [duplicated numbers] and 2321 to 2899)
Volumes 32-35 (3263 to 3612)
Volume 69 (5902 to 5948)

The photographs in this sub-series are on fiche 58 to 69, with the handlist on fiche 57.

Numbers (non-photographs) not included in the typed handlist:
2053a; 2054a; 2055a; 2056a; 2057a; 2058a; 2194a; 2195a; 2196a; 2197a; 2198a; 2199a; 2200a; 2201a; 2202a; 2203a; 2204a

Volumes 67-68 and 70-76 contain prints (numbered 5801 to 5901 and 5949 to 6205) from negatives listed by J Burgess in List of photographic negatives of the paintings copied from the Ajanta caves between 1872 and 1885 at the Government School of Art, Bombay, Edinburgh 1889. This list has been annotated to include the numbers given to the prints when they were incorporated into the India Office series. The original Serial numbers given to the negatives are not used.

The photographs in this sub-series are on fiche 71 to 75, with the published list on fiche 70.

Individual photographs in the India Office series are accessed using the prefix ASIO followed by the appropriate number, eg ASIO 6, ASIO 2245a.

Circles Series

The Circles series consists of 64 volumes of prints from the various Circles of the Archaeological Survey. The prints are described in the lists of photographs included in the annual reports of each Circle which are, with a few exceptions, bound with the prints. Each year's list will be found on the fiche at the beginning of the sequence to which it refers. The numbers given to the prints correspond to the Serial numbers in the annual reports. The Circle photographs are arranged in the following order.

Burma Circle

The Burma Circle is arranged in 4 volumes dated 1903-04 to
1921-22 with Serial numbers 1 to 1743 and 1991 to 2280.

The are reproduced on fiche 76 to 85.

Missing are years 1917-19 (1744 to 1990).

Individual photographs are accessed using the prefix ASB followed by the appropriate number, eg ASB 20, ASB 2090.

Eastern Circle

The Eastern Circle covers the modern Indian states of West Bengal, Bihar, Orissa, Assam and parts of Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra, as well as Bangladesh. The prints are arranged in 5 volumes dated 1902-03 to 1920-21, and are arranged in three series: the main series (1 to 1469), a series carrying the letter “c” denoting photographs from the old Central Provinces (1c to 546c) and a new series for the year 1920-21 ((NS)1 to 148).

The Eastern Circle photographs are on fiche 86 to 98.

Missing are years 1917-20 (1470 to 1990) and numbers 11 and 120.
Individual photographs are accessed using the prefix ASE followed by the appropriate number, eg ASE 140, ASE 140c, ASE (NS)140.

Frontier Circle

The Frontier Circle covers the North West Frontier Province, Baluchistan in Pakistan, as well as Kashmir. The photographs are arranged in 4 volumes dated 1906-07 to 1921-22 with three series of prints: the main series (1 to 1495 and 1807 to 1963), “a” series (1245a to 1612a) representing duplicated numbers and Baluchistan series ((B)1 to 21).

Fiche 99 to106 contain photographs from the Frontier Circle.

Missing are years 1917-20 (1613 to 1806).

Individual photographs are accessed using the prefix ASF followed by the appropriate number, eg ASF 1301, ASF 1301a, ASF (B)12.

Northern Circle

The Northern Circle covers the modern Indian states of Uttar Pradesh, Kashmir (up to 1906), Himachal Pradesh and Punjab, as well as Punjab and NWFP (up to 1906) in Pakistan. The various titles of this Circle have been ignored to form more simplified sequences. Responsibility for Hindu and Buddhist monuments was transferred to the Lahore Office in 1901, leaving the Agra Office responsible only for Muslim and British buildings. From 1913 to 1916 there was also an office in Delhi making its own separately numbered photographs.

The 22 volumes of prints are arranged in three series: the main series from the Agra Office runs from 1892-93 to 1919-20 (510 to 4055), the minor Delhi Office series from 1913-16 (1 to 554) and Lahore Office series from 1903-04 to 1916-17 (300 to 2177). Prints in the first nine volumes also carry the letter D but this should be ignored in accessing. The Agra Office prints are distinguished by (A), Delhi Office prints by (D) and Lahore Office prints by (L).

Photographs in all three series are to be found on fiche 107 to 145.

Missing are: Agra Office years 1889-1892 ((A)428 to 509) and the following numbers.

(A)518; (A)522; A)532; (A)538; (A)549; (A)553; (A)562; (A)574; (A)577; (A)586; (A)599; (A)601; (A)603; (A)626; (A)689; (A)716; (A)723; (A)735; (A)765a; (A)786; (A)791; (A)793; (A)797; (A)802; (A)819; (A)823; (A)826; (A)828; (A)830; (A)832; (A)839; (A)843; (A)846; (A)849; (A)855; (A)871; (A)905; (A)945; (A)947; (A)949; (A)952; (A)967; (A)1011); A)1058; (A)1091; (A)1094; (A)1115; (A)1132; (A)1136; (A)1365; (A)1369; (A)1381; (A)1458; (A)2544; (A)2545; (A)3767; (A)3768; (A)3769; (A)3847; (A)3848; (A)3849; (A)3850; (A)3851; (A)3852; (A)3853; (A)3854; (A)3927; (A)3933; (A)3935; (A)3937; (A)3938); (A)3939; (A)3941; (A)3942; (A)3943
(A)3944; (A)3947; (A)3948

also Lahore Office years 1901-03 ((L) 1 to 299) and numbers

(L)309 (L)313 (L)314 (L)315 (L)317 (L)340 (L)341 (L)342
(L)382 (L)400 (L)572 (L)1971 (L)2053

Individual photographs are accessed using the prefix ASN followed by the appropriate letter and number, eg ASN (A)550, ASN (D)550, ASN (L)550.

Southern Circle

The Southern Circle covers the modern Indian states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala and parts of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. The photographs are arranged in 14 volumes from 1892-93 to 1920-21 containing two series of prints: a unified series up to the year 1912 (163 to 2864), while from 1912 they are divided into nine sub-classes.
(A) Primitive stone monuments and antiquities
(B) Buddhist art and architecture
(C) Jain art and architecture
(D) Hindu art and architecture
(E) Mohammedan and architecture
(F) Indo-Saracenic art and architecture
(G) Historical forts and European monuments
(H) Modern Indian art and architecture
(I) Miscellaneous
The Southern Circle photographs are on fiche 146 to 167.

Missing are the years 1889-1892 (1 to 150) and
151 to 162 178 179 206
216 217 219 220
392 394 439 664
665 1071 1119 1200
(A)30 to 68 (B)4 to 43 (C)4 to 11 (D)140 to 417
(D)465 to 581 (E)1 to 15 (F)7 to 28 (G)16 to 67
(H)3 to 22 (I)4 to 19

Individual photographs are accessed using the prefix ASS up to 1911-12, eg ASS 1776 and thereafter with the relevant sub-class letter, eg ASS (D)935, ASS (I)3.

Western Circle

The Western Circle covers the modern Indian states of Gujarat and Rajasthan and parts of Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka, as well as Sind in Pakistan. The prints are arranged in 15 volumes in a straight numerical sequence from 1891-92 to
1916-17 (1273 to 4629).

Fiche 168 to 186 reproduce photographs from the Western Circle.

Missing are years 1889-1891 (1148 to 1272), 1899-1900 (1661 to 1881) and 1426; 1427; 1428; 1437; 1456; 1568 to 1591

Individual photographs are accessed using the prefix ASW followed by the appropriate number eg ASW 1280, ASW 4431.

Director-General’s Series

Dating from 1902-03 to 1921-22, the Director-General's reports are accompanied by 5994 photographs arranged in 13 volumes. Each year's photographs are numbered from 1 onwards, and the list will be found on the fiche at the beginning of the sequence to which it refers. The photographs are on fiche 187 to 216.

Missing is the year 1915-16.

Individual photographs are accessed using the prefix ASDG as well as the relevant year, eg ASDG (02-03)1, ASDG (19-20)321.

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