Date of tip:  3 October 2006

Source: Erica Wald, e.l.wald@lse.ac.uk

Location: Irwin Gandhi Road, Egmore, Chennai 600 008

How to get there: The Archives are located across the street from the Egmore train station in Chennai.

Language: English, Tamil

Getting started: The admission procedure for this archive is extremely time-consuming.  You must make sure that you have the proper permission letters from both your supervisor, your embassy (if you are a foreign national) and, preferably, from the National Archives in Delhi, if you have been granted permission to work there.  You must bring a passport-sized photo and pay a deposit and admission fee.  The deposit must be paid at the State Bank of India, which is located on Pantheon Road (about a 10 minute ride in an auto-rickshaw from the archives- and should cost no more than Rs20).  You will not be able to request any records until the full procedure has been completed.  This can take up to one week, depending on how fast the Commissioner of the Archives approves your application.

Opening Hours:  9am to 7pm, Monday to Friday.  9am to 5pm, Saturday.

General working conditions: Poor.  The Archives suffered a flood in late 2005 and the Reading Room is still in a state of disrepair.  There are no power points (and therefore laptop users can only rely on battery power) and at the time of my visit, the room had a severe mosquito problem (Chikungunya, a disease carried by day-biting mosquitos, is endemic in Chennai, so researchers should take care to use repellents.)  

Consultation: You are allowed to request up to 10 items a day.  However, researchers should be aware that you are unlikely to receive these files on the same day, or even the following day.  Persistent, but polite reminders about your requested material are, unfortunately, necessary.

Policy on technology: Laptops are permitted, but there are no power points available.  Scanners and cameras are forbidden.

Photocopy policy: Rs 3 per page.  You must complete a photocopy request form (in duplicate).  Again, you should allow roughly a week to receive your requested photocopies.  You will also need to politely remind staff that you are waiting. 

Particularities: Unfortunately, this archives is seriously disorganised and I found it very frustrating.  It took me nearly three days to have my reader’s permission granted, despite having all the papers in order and having contacted them prior to my arrival.  The records for the 19^th century (and earlier) are in a poor state.  The 2005 flood destroyed or heavily damaged 130 volumes.  Requests for materials are taken once a day, but it is safer to allow for two to three days for retrieval.  The indexes for records, where available, are kept in the Research Hall, against the far left wall.  

Places to Stay: I stayed at the Nest Inn, which is about a 2 minute walk from the archives, on Irwin Gandhi Road.  For a single, with A/C (including breakfast), the rate is 990 a night.  If you are staying longer than a week, you should try to negotiate a discount.  I was automatically given a 10% discount for my two week stay.  The hotels across from the station should be avoided (with the exception of the New Victoria Hotel) as they are fairly grim.  If you are happy to stay a bit further from the archives, Mylapore is a much nicer area to stay in.

Forms: