Advanced Research Consortium Library & Archives

Many thanks to Oja Dr. Moirangthem Ranjana for allowing us to digitise a huge corpus of manuscripts (Korbek/Puya) as the third phase. We lovingly call her Nene (aunt).

These manuscripts are copies dating from the reign of Maharaja Gambhir Singh (r. 1825–1834) to Maharaja Churachand (r. 1891–1941), belonging to her family’s Pandit Achouba lineage, including Paonam Pandit Achouba, Pandit Achouba & Keirungba Moirangthem Thabal, Pandit Achouba Moirangthem Chandra Singh, and the traditional intellectual Moirangthem Narendra.

Today, we digitised 120 manuscripts ex-situ in our library by our trained volunteers.
Among them, we digitised a folded manuscript written in Meitei Mayek on the recto and Arabic on the verso, which appears to have been used as a primer for learning the Arabic script and language. One particularly interesting find was a manuscript overwritten on a government document from 1840 from the Regency of Narasingh ( 1834-1844) due to the scarcity of paper at the time. #

So far, we have digitalised 311 manuscripts (korbek) from Dr. Moirangthem Ranjana’s custody.

Researchers and scholars are invited to access these manuscripts as valuable primary sources for understanding not only the history of Manipur, but also the wider histories of Southeast Asia, Assam, Tripura, Sylhet, Rakhine (Aracan) and Bengal. We should all acknowledge and honour the custodians who have preserved these manuscripts for centuries.

Our library café, “Koso Retreat,” will open for readers soon.

A small open space for reading, conversations, exchange of ideas and coffee.

Many heartfelt thanks to Parjanya Sen for this generous gift to our library. Your contribution means a great deal to us.

Thanks to Maibam Captain, the Manipuri Vintage Films Revival Committee for donating 10 Manipuri cinema posters to our library and archives. The collection includes posters of Manipur’s 4th film, S.N. Chand’s Ngak-e Ko Nangse (1974), and Eral Oirage (1997).

Our archives also hold most of the materials and photographs related to Manipur’s first film, Matamgi Manipur(1972) from the collection of Karam Monomohan, donated by Karam Tolomkhomba of K.T. Films.

We invite researchers working in film studies and related fields to access our records on request. The metadata of these collections are currently being catalogued on our website.

From Our Archives

H.H Maharaja Bodha Chandra’s statement during the 1943 Session of the Chamber of Princes

“I come from a part which was at one time cut off from the world and more or less stood on its own. Today it is in the limelight. It is the frontline of our defences against the Eastern enemies. You all would probably feel inquisitive to know more about that part and about what my state is doing and how it looks when a state is converted into a war zone? I am afraid I have my limitations because of security grounds but I would certainly tell you that I feel it a matter of pride and honour that my state, though small and poor, has been called upon to stand its test and to do the guard for the millions in India.

As we were not used to the presence of such huge armies before there was certainly some scope for misunderstanding in the initial stages but today it is an ideal example of perfect harmony between the state administration and the army. Not a single occasion has arisen when an amicable solution could not be found for any ticklish problem. It shall not be out of place here to say a word about the high discipline that is being displayed by the army. The very fact that they have inspired full confidence in public mind speaks for itself. They treat everything as their personal property and guard accordingly.

I must also pay a tribute to my own state subjects who are undergoing all hardships and are making all selfless sacrifices because they now realise that in the Final Victory of the allied Nations lies their peace and prosperity. I do not mind saying that this determination of theirs has been made stronger by the J**s themselves….