The Nehru Archive

The Nehru Archive is an ongoing digital library project of Jawaharlal Nehru​’s written works and deeds, smartly integrating related documents as well as visual and audio material to reflect the contribution of the first head of state of India at the time the country was becoming a major voice in international relations. It includes the digitized and downloadable 100 volumes of The Selected works of Jawaharlal Nehru previously published by the Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial Fund, instituded in New Delhi on 17 August 1964 under the Chairmanship of Dr S. Radhakrishnan, then President of India.

The online reference tool has been in the making since 2024, with some 70 researchers and specialists involved in the project. The technical architecture and implementation has been carried on by Miranj, a strategic web design & development studio based in Delhi, India. [Angkor Database has been partnering with Miranj since 2022 to develop its own web-based solutions, and we are proud to extend our heartfelt congratulations on a great achievement.]

The website structure allows to weave your way through a massive amount of data, searching by keywords, time periods, personal names, and themes. Some 30 multimedia entries are devoted to Indian-Cambodian relations from the 1940s to the late 1960s, including Pandit Nehru’s historic visit to Cambodia (and Angkor) in October 1954. Several entries also deal with the Indian-Cambodian dialogue during the Cold War and the search for a non-aligned stand.

This important contribution in modern history research should inspire similar initiatives, in particular applied to King Norodom Sihanouk’s archives, for the time being located in several different depositories and still lacking of a comprehensive digitized database. 

Nehru in Delhi in November 1954, shortly after his visit to China, Vietnam and Cambodia [source: Selected Works of Jawaharlal Nehru, vol. 27, 2^d series, The Nehru Archive].