I am delighted to
publish this post by Mobeen Hussain, PhD
candidate in the Faculty of History at the University of Cambridge.
During my summer research trip to Pakistan in 2018, I
visited many local archives and libraries which provided a snapshot of the
archival and scholarly landscape of Lahore. I visited the Punjab State Archives and Civil
Secretariat Library, the Pakistan Research Society at the Punjab University,
Punjab Public Library, the Quad-i-Azam Library and the National College of Arts
(formerly Mayo School of Industrial Arts).
Getting to grips with content:
Visiting Lahore for the first
time meant that I was able to observe numerous researcher and archival
challenges; challenges that local users are aware of and have to contend with
on a daily basis. Upon arrival at the Punjab State Archives, I met with the
archives’ director, Mohammed Abbas Chughtai, who explained that the archive and
its libraries have received fewer visitors after the events of 9/11 due to
concerns about safety in the country. The archive does, however, receive some
non-native and international scholars, and the research officer and director
were eager to help as well as point visitors in the direction of other useful
resources. The Punjab State Archives and the associated Civil Secretariat
Library boast of lengthy Persian and Urdu collections as well as administrative
documents from the Punjab during British colonial rule. I learnt much about the
archive culture in Lahore by taking time to talk to academics, fellow researchers,
archivists and librarians who were pleased to receive scholars in their
institutions. Speaking to archivists and librarians is a must— they know
their materials best. I would also advise researchers to take some time speak
to fellow Lahore-based researchers and academics at local universities
including the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) and Punjab University.
Local scholars often know about the research potential across the city, about new
books published in Pakistan (particularly by the Oxford University Press based
in Karachi) and other places of interest.
Handlists,
Catalogues and Digitisation:
Due to limited
funding and resources, many South Asian libraries and archives do not have
intuitive online catalogues or websites. If they have a website, such as the
Punjab State Archives, it can be unwieldy and only highlight key points of
interest in the archive (and not reflective of the content held). However, many institutions have handlists including the
Civil Secretariat and Punjab Public Library. These are by no means exhaustive
but are useful in order to take stock of what an archive holds and helps to
narrow and focus a search. The Punjab State Archive has announced its digitisation project and recruited digitisers, but the project is yet to start and the archive is waiting on lengthy administrative processes
to obtain more funding.
Heat and humid
conditions:
The climate of
Pakistan presents its own preservation pressures. The heat and humidity,
despite the use of fans (and, at times, air conditioning) as cooling methods,
results in brittle paper that is prone to easy wear and tear and the rapid
accumulation of dust.
Space and building
issues:
When discussing the
preservation of archives in Pakistan, Saamia Ahmed, the associate professor in
charge of the archives at the National
College of Arts, noted that
finding space was one of the biggest challenges facing small and local
archives. Indeed, the Civil Secretariat library has a handlist of English-language
colonial-era books, but numerous items went missing as a result of numerous
relocations of collections. Researchers just have to try their luck but I
definitely recommend a visit as the current location is library aficionado’s
dream.
Consulting materials:
A few of the
libraries and archives I visited did not have many handling restrictions. The
use of pens was not prohibited, and fans and drinks were vital for users in the
summer heat but could easily contribute to the damaging of records. The limited
restrictions were useful when viewing and handling full records and taking
photographs. However, in order to help maintain records for future, researchers
should not take advantage of this and handle material with care (taking note of
best practice at other institutions). Both researchers and archivists
have a responsibility to think about long term preservation and how best to
attract visitors to use their vast materials.
Of course, it is important to bear in mind that many of
these archives are still young compared to institutions like the British
Library in London. Most Lahori archives and libraries run on limited funding and
resources. Therefore, sharing knowledge practice with other national archives
like the National Archives of Pakistan in Islamabad and international
organisations would be useful. Some of this collaborative work has been done
but needs to continue in order to preserve and make the most of these rich
resources.
Other useful resources on South Asian archives:
The Archives of
Economic Life in South Asia https://www.histecon.magd.cam.ac.uk/archives-asia/blog.html
A Review of Three Archives in Pakistan http://dissertationreviews.org/archives/12520
Image: Punjab State Archives in the Tomb of Anarkali, Civil
Secretariat (author’s own photograph).
