Typology: Digital Archival Project
Collaborators: MIT Library, Boston USA and University of Tokyo
Location: India
Status: Ongoing
Project Link : Archnet
Collaborators
Mission for Indian History and Archaeology: Digital Archival Collection
As access to information is increasingly becoming immediate, physical archives are often left as static collections. It is through digitisation and their subsequent re-representation on accessible platforms that these archives evolve into dynamic tools for research, preservation and interpretation of cultural and historical narratives.
This archival project began with the aim of preserving and documenting the histories and architectural contexts of the Sultanate monuments of India, alongside fragile evidences and often dispersed materials such as photographs, drawings, rubbings, field notes, under a uniform and open-access digital framework.
However, the informed reinterpretation and re-representation of these resources has elevated the scope of this initiative, creating an accessible avenue enabling interdisciplinary researches and critical analysis- bringing out insights on changing urban landscapes, cultural narratives, the present conditions of built heritage structures, with reflections on their social, political and cultural contexts.
A total of 40,513 digital data from this series of surveys will be shared with the global research community via the IOC | Five Cross Architects | AKDC@MIT Project 2025–26 via the Archnet digital platform.
“Sharing our data with Archnet ensures that this important material will be preserved even if Tokyo were to be impacted by an earthquake or other natural disaster. It also gives us great pleasure to know that the data is now accessible to researchers around the world. We take this opportunity to express our deepest gratitude to Adil Dholakia, Director of Five Cross Architects, and to Shiraz Allibhai, Matt Saba, and Michael A. Toler from Archnet.” – Commendation by Prof. Tomoko Masuya (Professor, University of Tokyo, Institute for Advanced Studies on Asia, Research and Information Center for Asian Studies)
PROJECT BACKGROUND
The Mission for Indian History and Archaeology undertaken by the University of Tokyo was one of the earliest efforts of comprehensively surveying the plethora of Islamic architecture in the scape of Delhi from the Delhi Sultanate Period (13th century – 16th century), and other key Islamic buildings in the provinces of Bengal, Deccan, and Gujarat.
The first survey was conducted between 1959-62, covering 750 Islamic Indian structures, with about 500 sites in Delhi, 230 in other provinces, producing over 17,000 photographs and other media from sites, including rubbings of inscriptions, maps, and architectural drawings.
Subsequently, a systematic resurvey of medieval architectural remains in Delhi was conducted by the Research and Information Center for Asian Studies (RICAS), covering about 385 sites between 2015 and 2018. This resurvey extends and grounds the scope of the archive in present realities and the current conditions of these sites.
This project is a result of a synergistic collaboration among four international institutions; the Five Cross Architects, the Research and Information Centre for Asian Studies (RICAS) at the University of Tokyo, The MIT Library Boston and the Aga Khan Documentation Centre (AKDC) curating a rich digital archive.
A total of over 40,500 digital data from these series of surveys will be consolidated, preserved and shared with the global research communities via the Archnet digital platform.
A crucial aspect of this project has been the careful indexation and categorisation of the archival material and research. All the sites have been meticulously indexed on the basis of their periods, functions, geographical contexts alongside their associated documentation and research.
Through such meticulous processing, this Archive, hosted on Archnet, has become a fully searchable, interconnected and open-access resource.
This is a first-of-its-kind collaboration, governed by an MoU and a CC BY-NC copyright license, among 4 international institutes – the Five Cross Architects, the Research and Information Centre for Asian Studies (RICAS) at the University of Tokyo, The MIT Library Boston and the Aga Khan Documentation Centre (AKDC) that came together to protect and disseminate this rich archival collection.
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