Archives at NCBS

The Archives at NCBS is a collecting archive for the history of science in contemporary India.
View our collections:

[Archives at NCBS @Archives_NCBS]

Read our new blog post where a scientist, a researcher, and a historian dissect the figures and annotations from a neurobiologist's archival papers.

https://t.co/U0Q2U2lpcm

[Archives at NCBS @Archives_NCBS]

Join us today for the last of the three Obaid Siddiqi Chair 2026 lectures:

Secrets and Lines: A Short History of Boundaries in India
Sunday, July 19, 2026, 5.30 PM -
Bangalore International Centre @bicblr

[Archives at NCBS @Archives_NCBS]

The Obaid Siddiqi Lectures 2026, @NCBS_Bangalore

A lecture in three parts by Samira Sheikh

The Mughal Map Mystery
Friday, July 10, 2026, 5:30 PM - NCBS, Bangalore

Walking the Dotted Line: Mapping Borders Before the Nation
Thursday, July 16, 2026, 5:30 PM -
National Law School of India University
(registration required) @NLSIUofficial

Secrets and Lines: A Short History of Boundaries in India
Sunday, July 19, 2026, 5.30 PM -
Bangalore International Centre @bicblr

Registration and other details here: https://t.co/Z2d4UK4LqY

Poster Design by Megha Ramachandra

[Archives at NCBS @Archives_NCBS]

Register for the second lecture happening TODAY at 5.30pm at NLSIU:

https://t.co/FrvicR06tU

[Archives at NCBS @Archives_NCBS]

The Obaid Siddiqi Lectures 2026, @NCBS_Bangalore

A lecture in three parts by Samira Sheikh

The Mughal Map Mystery
Friday, July 10, 2026, 5:30 PM - NCBS, Bangalore

Walking the Dotted Line: Mapping Borders Before the Nation
Thursday, July 16, 2026, 5:30 PM -
National Law School of India University
(registration required) @NLSIUofficial

Secrets and Lines: A Short History of Boundaries in India
Sunday, July 19, 2026, 5.30 PM -
Bangalore International Centre @bicblr

Registration and other details here: https://t.co/Z2d4UK4LqY

Poster Design by Megha Ramachandra

[Archives at NCBS @Archives_NCBS]

Glimpses from the first of three talks by Dr. Samira Sheikh as part of the Obaid Siddiqi Lectures 2026!

Her lecture at NCBS reconstructed the missing archive of early modern mapping in western India and placed it within histories of viewing, measuring, and making.

Catch her second lecture at NLSIU on 16th July, 5.30pm titled "Walking the Dotted Line: Mapping Borders Before the Nation". The lecture will explore the work of pioneer mapmaker Sadanand, to understand when political boundaries began to appear in Indian cartography and when mapping became newly legal, administrative, and extractive.

Register here: https://t.co/52vFc2Z8bJ

Photos by @rk_boyapati

[Archives at NCBS @Archives_NCBS]

Catch the first lecture - The Mughal Map Mystery, tomorrow at 5.30pm, NCBS.

(Tea and snacks will be served before the event)

[Archives at NCBS @Archives_NCBS]

The Obaid Siddiqi Lectures 2026, @NCBS_Bangalore

A lecture in three parts by Samira Sheikh

The Mughal Map Mystery
Friday, July 10, 2026, 5:30 PM - NCBS, Bangalore

Walking the Dotted Line: Mapping Borders Before the Nation
Thursday, July 16, 2026, 5:30 PM -
National Law School of India University
(registration required) @NLSIUofficial

Secrets and Lines: A Short History of Boundaries in India
Sunday, July 19, 2026, 5.30 PM -
Bangalore International Centre @bicblr

Registration and other details here: https://t.co/Z2d4UK4LqY

Poster Design by Megha Ramachandra

[Archives at NCBS @Archives_NCBS]

The Obaid Siddiqi Lectures 2026, @NCBS_Bangalore

A lecture in three parts by Samira Sheikh

The Mughal Map Mystery
Friday, July 10, 2026, 5:30 PM - NCBS, Bangalore

Walking the Dotted Line: Mapping Borders Before the Nation
Thursday, July 16, 2026, 5:30 PM -
National Law School of India University
(registration required) @NLSIUofficial

Secrets and Lines: A Short History of Boundaries in India
Sunday, July 19, 2026, 5.30 PM -
Bangalore International Centre @bicblr

Registration and other details here: https://t.co/Z2d4UK4LqY

Poster Design by Megha Ramachandra

[National Centre for Biological Sciences @NCBS_Bangalore]

Announcing the sixth Obaid Siddiqi Chair for the academic year 2026–27! @parodevi will work with @Archives_NCBS to explore what it means for knowledge to resist categorisation.

Read more: https://t.co/BGLZlFRwzQ

[Science Gallery Bengaluru @SciGalleryBlr]

Panel Discussion | Green Revolution: Reflections from the Lab, Field and Archive

What can a scientist, a development commissioner, and an archivist tell us about agriculture in India? Join us as they come together to reflect on the past, present, and future of agriculture and agricultural science in the country.

📆 21 June 2026, Sunday
⏰ 4pm–6pm
📍 Science Gallery Bengaluru

For details and free registration, please visit the Programmes link in our bio or the URL https://t.co/tIrTULRfuN

@JahnaviPhalkey @archives_ncbs

[Archives at NCBS @Archives_NCBS]

We have a bunch of events this saturday in celebration of International Archives Week! And the archives will be open till 5PM for those who wish to simply visit and look around.

[Archives at NCBS @Archives_NCBS]

If you are a teacher or an educator wanting to introduce primary sources to your students, you can schedule a visit to our archives through our new form:

https://t.co/VXLQGLOfrF

The archives holds rare letters, photographs, diaries, maps, and field notes from individuals in science with notable contributions to environmental sciences, agricultural sciences, mathematics, physics, nutrition, media and technology, medicine, geology, art and so much more! If you are interested in learning how these objects from the past can enter discussions in the classroom, schedule a walkthrough with us.

[Archives at NCBS @Archives_NCBS]

Many years before her passing, Jamal Ara had gathered her ornithological notes and manuscripts and locked it in a wooden cabinet at her home in Ranchi. Almost 30 years later, writer and wildlife historian Raza Kazmi approached Jamal Ara's daughter Madhuca, for an article on her mother's life and work. As their conversations grew, so did the mystery around what may be inside the almirah. In his article for The Silverfish, Raza Kazmi recalls the looming presence of this almirah, as it draws both Madhuca and Raza into a curious dizzy on whether it should be opened. And if they do open it, what would they find? Would it change the way they see the past?

Read the full article here: https://t.co/CPJ6sfGfS7

@RazaKazmi17

[Archives at NCBS @Archives_NCBS]

Association of Medical women in India: Journal: Vol.71, No. 3, Sept-Dec 1981, BB-014-2-0-1-6, Archives at NCBS.

Link to the material: https://t.co/7r79jt53y6

Link to the Collection (Journal of the Association of Medical Women in India (AMWI)): https://t.co/HAajBc1hC7

[Archives at NCBS @Archives_NCBS]

In 2024, the Archives at NCBS acquired select South Asian science journals de-accessioned by the University of Hawai‘i.

Two among them were the Journal of the Association of Scientific Workers of India and the Journal of Association of Medical Women in India.

#ancbs

[Archives at NCBS @Archives_NCBS]

Cover of a Journal of the Association of Scientific Workers of India. Vijnan-Karmee: Vol. XX, No. 7, July 1968, BB-013-5-0-2-26, Archives at NCBS.

Link to the material: https://t.co/RadGo1T0QF

Link to the collection (Vijnan-Karmee): https://t.co/TUbKRy4VA0

[Archives at NCBS @Archives_NCBS]

Souvenirs, MS-060-1-11-7-5, Saheli Papers, Archives at NCBS.

Link to the material: https://t.co/2xag1ElTvg

Link to the collection (Saheli Papers): https://t.co/rgHmPJAqjx

[Archives at NCBS @Archives_NCBS]

From the collections:
Founded in Delhi in 1981, Saheli Women’s Resource Centre became an important part of India’s autonomous women’s movement. Their materials at the Archives range from newsletters and health reports to souvenir booklets in English and Hindi.
#ancbs

[Archives at NCBS @Archives_NCBS]

Link to the material: https://t.co/zVvFyTyicX

Link to the collection (Matthew Pothen Thekaekara Papers): https://t.co/2cWDqHOzil

[Archives at NCBS @Archives_NCBS]

From the Collections:
A map of France collected by physicist Matthew Pothen Thekaekara during his travels in the 1950s, nearly two decades before his seminal work at NASA helped standardise the solar constant.

Souvenir -- Map of france, MS-048-8-2-10-8. Archives at NCBS.
#ancbs