Research Guides: HIST 061: Histories of Water (SC): Primary Sources (South Asia)

Primary Sources (South Asia)

Archive: Center of South Asian Studies
Online collection of films, maps, oral histories, and other primary sources for South Asian history

Empire Online
Offers images of original documents taken from libraries and archives around the world including correspondence, diaries, literature and illustrations. Covers a range of topics and includes Africa, the Americans, Oceania, and South Asia. Includes documents published between 1492-1969.

This database is more useful for pre-1950 topics.

People's Archive of Rural India
From the site: "PARI is both a living journal and an archive. It will generate and host reporting on the countryside that is current and contemporary, while also creating a database of already published stories, reports, videos and audios from as many sources as we can."
South Asian Studies Images & Photos

Newsreels (British Pathé)
Search this collection of 80,000+ historical newsreels* from British Pathé and Reuters

Example search: Search for "India" and "dam" (73 results, 1932-1979)

*Newsreels = short news segments shown in cinemas, particularly important before widespread TV ownership | About: British Pathé, Reuters
Colonial Film: Moving Images of the British Empire
Search this collection of 150+ films relating to the British Empire. Usually fairly short, includes newsreels and documentaries.

Search Example: Films about India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh (44 results, 1899-1946)

Access World News
This Newsbank database lets you find articles from newspapers around the world.

Major Indian newspapers include: Times of India (2002-present), Hindustan Times (2004-present)

Search Example: Narmada AND (protest* OR resist*) AND (dam OR hydroelectric)
• Searching all Indian newspapers in this database (Results: 1200+ articles)
• More focused search: Articles from 2006, published in the Times of India (Results: 37 results)
Foreign Broadcast Information Service (FBIS)
Search international news coverage from 1941-1996, translated into English

Search Example: Articles mentioning "Narmada" (23 results, 1955-1994)

For 1996-2013, use the World News Connection database instead.
World News Connection
Search international news coverage from 1995-2013, translated into English
• Continues from Foreign Broadcast Information Service (FBIS)

Example search: Articles mentioning "Narmada" (88 results, 1999-2013)