Directorate of Archives Government of Assam (Assam State Archives)

History and Founding

The Assam State Archives have their roots in a Records Branch created in 1874, the very year Assam became a Chief Commissioner's Province under British administration. After Indian independence, the records were reorganised and a trained full-time Keeper of Records-cum-Librarian was appointed. In 1980, the Government of Assam formally established the State Archives Organization as an attached office of the General Administration Department, designating it the nodal agency for records management and administration across the state. In 1996 the organisation became a full-fledged Directorate, and in 2006 administrative control was transferred from the General Administration Department to the Secretariat Administration Department. The Directorate is located in Ganeshguri, Guwahati, and is regarded as the largest archives institution in north-eastern India.

Collections and Holdings

The Assam State Archives holds records spanning from 1823 to 1990, classified and arranged according to archival norms. The collection is divided into an Archival Repository and an Archival Library. The Repository includes manuscript volumes from 1826 to 1874 covering correspondence between the Agent to the Governor General and Government of Bengal and district officers; transferred files from Bengal (1774–1874); Records of the Chief Commissioner of Assam (1874–1905 and 1912–1920); Records of Eastern Bengal and Assam (1905–1912); Records of the Governor's Province (1921–1947); and post-independence departmental files (1874–1957). The Archival Library holds approximately 30,000 items comprising administrative reports, census reports, district gazetteers, and other government publications from 1874 onward, as well as circle maps of Assam and Eastern Bengal covering 1853 to 1948.

Notable Materials Related to Journalism and Media

The archives hold colonial and post-colonial administrative records that document press regulation, civil society, and public discourse in Assam, and are a primary source for scholars of north-eastern Indian history. Government publications and administrative correspondence in the library collection include materials relevant to the history of vernacular and English-language press in the region.

Access and Usage

The Directorate is open for research purposes; researchers must present a letter of introduction from their academic institution. Foreign nationals require a letter from their embassy. The AIMS software has been used for cataloguing files. Photocopying and photography are available subject to approval and applicable fees. Staff have received training in recent years, and digitisation initiatives are under way. The archives are open to researchers but materials are not available for lending.