SAMHiTA: South Asian Manuscript Histories and Textual Archive

‘SAMHiTA’ is a project to survey, document, and make accessible manuscripts from the subcontinent that are housed in international collections. ‘SAMHiTA’ is a Sanskrit term for ‘compilation’ or ‘compendium’, and the aim is to consolidate information, and to make manuscripts available online. SAMHiTA regularly holds talks, exhibitions and workshops to enhance knowledge on key aspects of our intellectual traditions. SAMHiTA is supported by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), Government of India, and steered by Dr Sudha Gopalakrishnan (Executive Director, IIC-International Research Division). In 2025, a new programme on ‘Health, Wellness and Nutrition’ was initiated with the support of Bharat Ki Soch.

In SAMHiTA’s first phase (2022–2023), IIC collaborated on cataloguing and digitisation with repositories in Denmark, France, Nepal and the U.K., and developed a portal hosting images and descriptions of 1,100 manuscripts. Another 3,000 manuscripts from the South Asian neighbourhood, Europe and the USA will be added in Phase-II (2025–2026).

SAMHiTA’s activities include a lecture series, ‘Kriti-SAMHiTA: The Plurality of Indian Knowledge Systems’, a master class, ‘Introduction to Manuscript Studies’ (25–26 October 2023), and a manuscriptology workshop (April 2026).

Exhibitions and Conferences

• ‘Evam Vadati Pustakam: Manuscripts tell their Stories’ (13–28 September 2023), ‘“Tazkirat al-Safar”: Manuscripts and Encounters across Cultures’ (17–26 October 2024), ‘The Mathematical Sciences: South Asia’s Contributions’ (4–14 September 2025), and ‘Shunya: The Power of Zero’ (9–14 October 2025).
• In September 2025, IIC convened a conference, ‘South Asia’s Manuscript Traditions and Mathematical Contributions’, in collaboration with the Centre for Traditional Knowledge Systems and Skills (CTIKS), IIT-Bombay. Prof. Manjul Bhargava delivered the Keynote Address and Prof. M.D. Srinivas gave the Valedictory Address.
  
  
  To access the SAMHiTA website, please use the following link: https://samhita.iicdelhi.in