Telangana State Archives & Research Institute
RAJYA ABHILEKHA NILAYAM
Tarnaka, Hyderabad

Introduction

For the true appreciation of any aspect of history nothing can be more reliable than the documentary evidence. Hence the present day historians have come to recognise the extreme importance of records and documents in reconstructing the history of the past. Thus, owing to growing tendency to unearth original material from original alive source of documents and Telangana State Archives and Research Institute sunk into dust of centuries, for the proper re-orientation of our history, it becomes at the same time a more urgent task to bring to light to the world of scholars the millions of unknown documents lying in heaps in the Telangana State Archives at Hyderabad.

With this objective, to introduce these treasurers to the world at large and to afford necessary facilities to the historians.

The origin of the Telangana State Archives and Research Institute in 1724 A.D., at that time the main daftar (administrative office) i.e., the Daftar-i- Diwani, one of the fourteen daftars of early Asaf Jahi period which was under the custody of the family of Raja Rai Rayan was taken over by the erstwhile Nizam’s Government of Hyderabad during the period of Mir Mahboob Ali Khan, Nizam, the VI. This daftar was taken over by the Government in compliance with the orders of the Madar-ul-Maham ( Prime Minister) published in gazette Vol.27, No.1, dated 24 Jamadi 11 1314H/ 30th November, 1896 for the purpose of converting it into a regular Government Record Office.

The Daftar-i-Diwani, after becoming the Government Record Office, was mainly utilised for accumulating the records of other daftars, the Mughal records and a large quantity of Secretariat records. This Record Office was named as the Daftar-i-Diwani-Mal-Mulki.

The full name of the Office till 1950 consisted of names of fourteen daftars of the Asaf Jahi period linked together to indicate the daftars (Offices) merged into it. However, in the official correspondence, it was named as the Daftar-i-Diwani-Mal-Mulki.

The Daftar-i-Diwani-o-Mal-o-Mulki was renamed as Central Record Office (after the Accession of Hyderabad with Indian Union) on 14th December 1950 by the Government of Hyderabad. This Record Office was reorganised on the pattern of National Archives of India in 1962.

As the Archives have all the facilities of research for the researchers working on medieval and modern periods of Indian History and is also awarding fellowships to the Ph.D. research scholars as well as publishing research monographs, it has been recognised as Research Institute by the Osmania University in 1992 and then integrated name of this Archives is the Andhra Pradesh State Archives and Research Institute at the last after bifurcation of the Two States in 2018 it was renamed as Telangana State Archives and Research Institute, Hyderabad.

Director's Profile

...

Dr. Zareena Parveen is a distinguished Persian language scholar, historian, and social activist, renowned for her contributions to the archival field of Telangana. As the first woman in her family to achieve scholarly heights, she holds the distinction of being the first-ever female Director of the State Archives.

Dr. Parveen’s expertise lies in deciphering ornamental Shikasta Persian, a skill vital for understanding Mughal administrative documents. She has presented over 150 research papers, supervised nine doctoral students, and contributed significantly to the preservation and dissemination of archival knowledge. Her work has been recognized with numerous awards for academic excellence, reflecting her passion and dedication to her field.

With a 38-year-long career in the State Archives, she became the institution’s longest-serving Director, bringing it to the forefront of research activities. Hundreds of eminent scholars from India and abroad have benefited from her guidance, owing to her archival acumen. Her command over historical records from almost all medieval and modern dynasties, from the Bahmanis to the Asaf Jahis, is impeccable. Her dedication and enthusiasm for historical research have made her highly respected among the research fraternity. Dr. Parveen’s efforts in securing various schemes and projects have been fruitful, most notably in the digitization of records, upgrading repositories with compact storage systems, and successfully running Manuscript Conservation Centres (MCCs) under the National Mission for Manuscripts, Ministry of Culture, New Delhi.

She has organized numerous workshops and seminars on the conservation and preservation of archival records, as well as on a wide range of historical topics. Successfully organizing the prestigious two-day National Conference of the Indian Historical Research Committee (IHRC) in Hyderabad brought her great recognition. It was regarded as one of the grandest sessions ever held in the seventy-year history of the IHRC.

Organizational Structure

DIRECTOR
(Dr. Zareena Parveen)

Deputy Director
(Departmental Record Officer)
Public Information Officer (PIO)

  1. Assistant Director
    (Administration)

      1. Establishment

      2. Accounts (I&II)

      3. Stores

      4. Buildings

      5. Computers

  2. Assistant Director
    (Urdu & Persian)

      1. Repository-I

      2. Moghal Section

      3. Archival Museum

      4. Digitisation

      5. Committee

      6. Central Assistant Scheme (C.A.S.)

      7. National Mission
        for Manuscripts(NMM)

      8. Media Relation

  3. Assistant Director
    (Technical)

      1. Film Archives

      2. Library

      3. RR-1

      4. Tagore National Fellowship(TNF)

      1. Interim Repository

      2. Repository-II

      3. Regional Office - Warangal

The main activities and Functions of this Department

  • Acquisition of Non current and Semi current administrative record of government departments.
  • Preservation and Conservation of records.
  • Description of records i.e., preparation of reference media, catalogues of the Records.
  • Dissemination of records to governments, courts, general public , research scholars, historians, academicians and authors.
  • Digitization of Archival Record.
  • Bringing out the Archival Publications, such as Itihas journal, Catalogues of the old Archival records and other publications etc..
  • Conducting the Record Management Training at regional centers and head-quarters for up keep and protect of our bygone past history for future generation.
  • The Present Director is a Research Supervisor for the Osmania University Ph.D. students of History . So far 10 students were awarded Doctorate Degree under the guidance of the Director Archives.
  • Conducting one year Post Graduate Diploma in Archival, Administration, Science and Manuscripto logy with the co ordination of Ancient History Department, Osmania University.
  • Frequently inspection of District Collectorates, Zillaparishads and Municipalities for guiding to maintain and upkeep of the Record in proper way.
  • Conducting Seminars, Workshop & lecture programs for Archival awareness among public servants and scholars.
  • Collecting the Family and Private Collection records from eminent and celebrated personalities and families.

    • Schemes and projects

    1. Tagore National Research Scholars/Fellowship schemes.
    2. Digitization of Archival Records.
    3. Digitisation , Conservation, Cataloguing project under Noor Microfilms International Center.
    4. Project of Translation of Jagir Records of Hyderabad Deccan.

    About Buildings

    The portion of Iram Manzil, occupied by this Department was insufficient to accommodate the records to be acquired in future. Hence a new building was constructed in the campus of Osmania University on a five acre site leased by the University. The foundation stone of this building was laid by Prof. Humayun Kabir, the then Union Minister for Education on 13th September, 1963 A.D. Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri ,the then Prime Minister of India inaugurated the newly constructed building of State Archives on 6th July 1965.

    This building has a separate block of a large stack area in two floors, each measuring 210 X 75 feet to accommodate records measuring a linear space of 76,000 feet.

    Such finding aids in respect of a good number of Manuscripts are available in the Telangana State Archives for scholarly world in different languages i.e. Persian, Arabic, Telugu, Marathi Urdu some of in English etc., and when ever need the ancillary objectives of keeping them safely is to offer them to the researchers as a basic source of information and also to the general public as an aid for their legal needs and other requirements.

    Our Branches

    Interim Repository Warangal

    Heads of the Department (1956 – 2024)

    S.No NAME DESIGNATION YEAR
    1 R.M JOSHI. M.A. DIRECTOR 1956 - 1958
    2 S. PATHAK. M.A., (SMT.) DIRECTOR 1958
    3 Dr. V.K. BAWA. I.A.S. DIRECTOR District Collectorates in the Andhra Pradesh
    4 HADI BILGRAMI. L.L.B. DIRECTOR 1960 - 1961
    5 DR. V.K. BAWA. I.A.S. DIRECTOR 1961 - 1962
    6 HADI BILGRAMI. L.L.B. DIRECTOR 1962 - 1965
    7 Dr. V.K. BAWA. I.A.S. DIRECTOR 1965 - 1968
    8 Dr. M.A. WAHEED KHAN. FRAS DIRECTOR 1969 - 1970
    9 P. SITAPATI. I.A.S. DIRECTOR 1970 - 1971
    10 Dr. M.A. WAHEED KHAN. FRAS DIRECTOR 1971 - 1972
    11 DR. SOROJINI REGANI DIRECTOR 1972 - 1974
    12 E. VEDA VYAS. I.A.S. DIRECTOR 1974
    13 S. VENKATRAMAIAH. I.A.S. DIRECTOR 1974 - 1978
    14 M.V.S. PRASADA RAO. I.A.S. DIRECTOR 1978 - 1979
    15 Dr. N. RAMESAN. I.A.S. DIRECTOR GENERAL ADDITIONAL CHARGE 1979 - 1980
    16 P. SITAPATI. FRAS. I.A.S. COMMISSIONER 1980 - 1981
    17 T. HAJIVALI. M.A. DIRECTOR GENERAL 1981 - 1982
    18 R. PARTHA SARATHY, I.A.S. COMMISSIONER 1982 - 1983
    19 B.R.K. SASTRY. I.A.S. COMMISSIONER 1983 - 1984
    20 N.K. MURALIDHAR RAO, I.A.S. COMMISSIONER 1984
    21 SATHI NAIR (SMT) ADDITIONAL CHARGE 1984
    22 M.V.S PRASADA RAO, I.A.S. COMMISSIONER 1984 - 1985
    23 K.K. BABU. I.A.S. DIRECTOR 1985 - 1987
    24 T. BALAKRISHNAN. I.A.S. DIRECTOR GENERAL 1987 - 1988
    25 Dr. R. VAIDANATHA IYYAR. I.A.S. DIRECTOR GENERAL 1988 - 1989
    26 Dr. V.V. KRISHNA SASTRY, M.A. Ph.D., DIRECTOR 1989 - 1990
    27 Dr. H. RAJENDRA PRASAD COMMISSIONER 1990 - 1992
    28 Dr. S.K. PACHAURI, I.A.S., COMMISSIONER 1992 - 1993
    29 S.P.K. NAIDU, I.A.S. COMMISSIONER 1993 - 1994
    30 J.R. ANAND. I.A.S. COMMISSIONER 1994 - 1996
    31 N. MADAN MOHAN REDDY. I.A.S. COMMISSIONER 1996 - 1997
    32 B. KRIPANANDAM. I.A.S. COMMISSIONER 1997 - 1998
    33 LAL ROSEM. IAS COMMISSIONER 1998 – TILL NOW
    34 D.C . ROSAIAH, IAS COMMISSIONER 2004-2005
    35 PAUL BHUYAN, IAS COMMISSIONER 2005
    36 Dr.K.LAKSHMI NARAYANA, IAS COMMISSIONER 2005-2006
    37 Dr.ZAREENA PRAVEEN, M.A.Ph.D DIRECTOR(FAC) 2006
    38 K.RAM GOPAL, IAS DIRECTOR 2006-2007
    39 Dr.ZAREENA PRAVEEN, M.A.Ph.D DIRECTOR(FAC) 2007
    40 A.L.KISMAT KUMAR, M.A.B.L DIRECTOR 2007-2009
    41 Dr.ZAREENA PRAVEEN, M.A.Ph.D DIRECTOR(FAC) 2007
    42 Dr.ZAREENA PRAVEEN, M.A.Ph.D DIRECTOR(FAC) 2014-

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