::Collection::

The National Archives has also a good number of valuable historical records, which have been collected from the Dhaka Divisional Commissioner’s Office. These records cover the period from 1898 to 1971 and deal with the events occurred in the rural Bangladesh.

The National Archives has also collected various District Collectorate Records like Dhaka Collectorate Records dating from 1889 to 1960, Jessore Collectorate Records 1786 to 1868, Bogra Collectorate Records 1846 to 1876 etc.

The National Archives of Bangladesh has collected a considerable number of proceedings volumes from the Bangladesh Secretariat Record Room dating from 1859 to 1964. The proceedings volumes mainly contain letters, orders, resolutions, rules, reports etc. of the Government of the East India Company and Government of Bengal.

Several thousands of district records dating from 1760s are available at the National Archives of Bangladesh. The district records are the correspondences from and to the district. The district records assumed the character of local diary with the development of the East India Company’s

The National Archives & The National Library have inherited and collected a vast amount of documents, records and books within a short span of only thirty (30) years. So that it has now become one of the largest resource centers on South Asian Studies in particular and World Studies in general. The subcontinent countries can also be greatly benefited by the resources of Bangladesh Studies with the aid of the collections.

Government/Semi-Government/Other Documents/Private Collections/Bangla, English, Persian other Foreign Language Books/Rare Books/Science & Technology/Official Documents/Newspapers and Periodicals/Manuscripts/Maps & Prints/Microfilms

There are records of the Sylhet District when it was a part of the Assam Province covering the period from 1874 to 1947. These are very valuable records and provide an insight into the life and society of Sylhet during the colonial period.

Numbers of Old Maps of Bengal and the Sub-continent of the period ranging from 1854 to 1967 have been collected by the National Archives from the office of the Dhaka Divisional Commissioner and various other District Collectorate Records Rooms.

Important and rare Administrative Reports, Rules, Parliamentary Papers etc. called government publications form major items in the collection of the National Archives.

The National Archives of Bangladesh has collected Calcutta Gazettes and Pakistan Gazettes from 1833 to 1990. The Bangladesh Gazettes are also being regularly collected from the Controller of Printing and Stationary since 1973.

Estate Records are another valuable collections of the National Archives. These are mainly old land records of two leading Zamindar families of East Bengal. These are:

Bhawal Raj Estate Records (1884 – 1946)
Dhaka Nawab Estate Records (1820 – 1947)

Very few records have been acquired of the period of East Pakistan and Bangladesh from the Secretariat Record Room. These records cover the period from 1962 to 1975.

The National Archives of Bangladesh has recently collected about four thousand tax records from the Bangladesh Taxation Appealate Division.

Some important newspapers and periodicals have been acquired from the Institute of Education & Research, University of Dhaka and Press Information Department and other sources. Very recently the National Archives has collected from the now defunct ‘Dainik Bangla’ newspaper office large numbers of old dailies and weeklies covering the period from 1960s to 1990s. The holdings of newspapers in the National Archives cover the period from 1878 to 1998.

The National Archives of Bangladesh has also collected press clippings of important newspapers from the Press Information Department of the Government of Bangladesh. The clippings include important events and subjects of the period covering the years 1962-1997.

The National Archives of Bangladesh has acquired 57 rolls of Microfilms of Bengali Newspaper reports for the period from 1874 – 1916 from the India Office Library, London with the financial assistance of the UNESCO. The assistance was given through the I.C.A.

A Microfilm copy of a Bengali Manuscript was also received from the National Archives Lisbon, Portugal.

The National Archives of Bangladesh has acquired some papers and documents of late Khan Bahadur Nawab Ali Chowdhury, a Muslim leader and a former Minister of undivided Bengal.

The National Archives has also a Library where many rare books are available. The total number of books are about five thousands.

Daily Radio Monitoring Reports are being collected from the Bangladesh Betar and preserved since 1987.

Numbers of medical records have been acquired from the Diabetic Hospital-BIRDEM.

National Archives has acquired old records from various old institutions around the country.

The National Archives of Bangladesh is a member of the International Council on Archives, an adjunct to UNESCO. The National Archives of Bangladesh is also a member of the South and West Asian Regional Branch of the International Council on Archives commonly known as SWARBICA.

The main divisions of the National Archives of Bangladesh are: -

· Archives Administration

· Record Management

· Preservation & Conservation

· Microfilming/Reprography

· Repositories

· Public Relations

· Exhibitions

· General Administration

· Information Technology

· The Research / Search Room contains finding aids, summary list, Index and catalogues to all records.

· Research and Reference Services: The National Archives of Bangladesh extends research and reference facilities to researchers from within the country and abroad. The research scholars are given all the facilities of research and reference on the materials available in the National Archives.

· Public records deposited in the National Archives are open to the scholars

and public in general for research purposes.

· Individuals are required to submit applications for permission to consult

the records and books in the National Archives.

administration in general and the establishment of the Collectorship in particular. They consisted of letters both received and sent, memoranda, reports, petitions and official documents prepared by the District Collectors, his subordinate officials and the local people on various aspects of district administration and local condition. The District Records are mainly in manuscript with the exception of some circular letters, which are in print. We are pleased to report that these valuable documents are now being digitized for permanent preservation and putting on the web-site. We also plan to digitize the rest of our important documents in the long run.

Both the National Archives and the National Library have several thousands of Old Books, Magazines, Newspapers, Journals, all types of printed materials and publications from home and abroad related to the history, culture and administration of Bangladesh, which are absolutely essential for carrying out research or general studies on any aspect of Bangladesh.