A Guide to Persian and Urdu Records Preserved in Andhra Pradesh State Archives and Research Institute

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The magnificient tapestry and medieval splendour of the Deccan had not been unravelled earlier by the State Archives. Now a determined and bold effort has been made in this direction. Some of the records preserved by the State Archives dating from the 15th century onwards have been catalogued and indexed.

The State Archives has in store the Asaf jahi records, farmans and sanads of the Deccan Sultans, Mughal records and family and private collections. The records of the various categories preserved are enormous in number and are virtually a treasure house of informations. The bulk of the documents are in Persian and Urdu. However, a small number of documents is in English and Marathi languages as well. All these records serve as original source material regarding political, administrative and socio-economic history of the period and are, therefore, immensely useful for the research work. This guide is an attempt to identify various categories of records, their relevance and significance in a cohesive and illustrative form.

The task of compiling this guide involving sustained study was assigned to Dr. Syed Dawood Ashraf, Research Officer and his staff, of this Department. I am happy to say that under his guidance the work was completed within the stipulated time with the active assistance of the staff provided to him. By compiling this publication, a historical milestone has been achieved.

The essence of times to come is well summed up by William Shakespeare in one of his famous sonnet.

Andhra Pradesh State Archives & Research Institute is a treasure house of extremely valuable records of enormous bulk ranging from the early fifteenth century to this date. It possesses not only the recent administrative records of the state but old records of the various ruling dynasties of the Deccan and some other important categories of the records. It is one of the few State Archives of the country which holds in trust very old records of historical significance. This Archives has the distinction of possessing the largest number of Persian and Urdu documents.

While one publication was brought out in the year 1991 A.D. about the records pertaining to the Andhra districts of the erstwhile Madras Presidency and the Madras State, the Andhra State and State of Andhra Pradesh a similar publication in respect of Asaf Jahi records, Farman and other documents of the Deccan Sultans, Mughal records and Family and Private collections has been found essential so as to cover the complete holdings preserved in the main office. With this objective in view the work of compiling the guide of these categories of records was entrusted to me. It is a known fact that the bulk of these records is in Persian and Urdu languages. These records occupy a linear space of 16,800 feet. This guide deals with the above-mentioned categories of records which serve as invaluable source material for the purpose of retrospective research and historiography.

This guide begins with the origin, evolution and development of this Archives. Before giving a detailed account of the Asaf Jahi records and Mughal records, the historical background of the period is given.

There were fourteen daftars (administrative offices) during the early Asaf Jahi period. These daftars were replaced by secretariat system as a result of re-organization of state administration. The format followed in this guide is to first describe the origin, evolution and brief history of each daftar and secretariat. In addition to it the information regarding types of records available along with a chart showing detailed particulars of the records i.e., type of records, their quantum and chronological limits has also been provided. At the end of each category or sub-category of records some important documents have been described. Some photo-copies of important and interesting docuemnts representing various categories of records included in this guide have been appended at the end.