From Aditi Khanna
London

Seeking to deepen UK-India cultural ties, Britain has launched a new digitisation programme of Indian manuscripts to bring nearly 11 million pages of South Asian books online.

The British government backed “Two Centuries of Indian Print” project has been launched by Britain’s senior-most Indian-origin Cabinet member Priti Patel ahead of next year’s UK-India Year of Culture in 2017, which had been announced to mark Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the UK last year.

The first phase of the project began with the digitisation of around 200,000 pages from Bengali books, including the earliest Bengali title published in 1778, as well as many other rare works.

During a visit to the British Library (BL) here yesterday, the UK Employment Minister described the move to bring nearly 11 million pages of South Asian titles online as an “important milestone” in the shared India-UK history.

The material to be made available online for the first time spans a period between 1714 and 1914 and includes at least 22 South Asian languages.

“Digitising the world’s largest collection of historic South Asian books, many dating back hundreds of years, is an important milestone in our shared history which will further strengthen the deep cultural ties between our two great nations.

“This reflects Prime Minister Modi’s aspirations to make India’s cultural treasures accessible and builds on his momentous visit to the UK last year where we first announced these plans,” said Patel, 43, who is also British Prime Minister David Cameron’s Indian Diaspora Champion.

“The enduring bond between the world’s oldest democracy and the world’s largest democracy is supported by the vibrant Indian diaspora in the UK who contribute so greatly to our economy and society. The UK-India Year of Culture in 2017 will be a great celebration of Indian achievements around the world,” she said.

The digitisation of the whole collection will mean that people from around the world will be able to view this material online for the first time.

It is expected to transform access to the historic and fragile collection, enabling researchers to trace the roots of India’s rich literary and cultural heritage at the same time as boosting opportunities for digital scholarship and commercial technology.

Roly Keating, Chief Executive of the British Library, said, “The British Library’s South Asian collections are among the largest and richest in the world and ‘Two Centuries of Indian Print’ is our most ambitious project yet to share them with the widest possible audience.

“It’s wonderful to have such enthusiastic support from the minister for our plans and we look forward to working with partners in the UK and India to develop the exciting potential of this project even further.” PTI