About Us

Khan Bahadur Abid Ali Khan was the first recognised historian from the district of Malda, West Bengal. His Memoirs of Gour and Pandua was a landmark contribution in the study of history, politics, architechture and culture of Gour and Pandua, the prominent medieval Bengal.

Abid Ali Khan Centre for Digital Archive and Translation of Cultures was named after Khan Bahadur Abid Ali Khan to commemorate his seminal contribution in the filed of historical research in Bengal. 

As the name of the Centre suggests, we plan to set up a digital research hub on the archival documents relating to the socio-cultural, historical and political life of Malda district. Adopting a framework of micro-history the project seeks to document and make available to the wider world the evolving history of the region of Malda which was part of Gour, the capital of medieval Bengal. Malda district is known for its rich cultural heritage, architectural splendour, popular folk practices, and ancient religious sites. However, there is hardly any research centre / archive that house the documents that capture the myriad history of Malda district. We believe that the proposed Digital Archive might substantially address that lacuna.

The significance of such a project in a digitised world can hardly be overstated.  Libraries and archives across the world are moving to digitisation of their resources because of the better maintenance facilities it provides. This also democratises modes of access to information in this information age and facilitates knowledge production. Such a project would not only help researchers, but it would also put Malda district in the research eco-system of the world. Historical and cultural research, recently, is emphasising on retrieving the rich life-world of the local/ regional places. The present project would assist such research endeavours. 

We are happy to inform that we have already signed a MoU with the Malda District Library to digitise the rare manuscripts that are available at the library.