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India
India
India has been present at the BnF since the 1730s. Over time, through donations and acquisitions, the Library has built up a rich collection that now comprises nearly 3,000 manuscripts, nearly 2,500 paintings collected in some fifty albums, and 10,000 works in Indian languages. In addition to these collections, which are mainly kept in the Manuscripts and Prints and Photography departments, as well as the Literature and Art department, there are the sound archives of the famous ethnomusicologist Deben Bhattacharya (1921-2001), entrusted to the Sound, Multimedia and Audiovisual department, and the photographs from the collection of the Société de Géographie, on deposit at the BnF.
Projects and collections
The France - South Asia digital library looks back at the history of representations and relations between France and South Asian countries, particularly India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Pakistan. As part of the Shared Heritage collection, it brings together documents that bear witness to mutual representations, perceptions and understandings over centuries of exchange.
Take a look at the Indian collections in the BnF’s magazine, Chroniques, which show how the Library is always opening up to new cultures. (In French)
This session in the ‘Treasures of Richelieu’ series presents the art of Indo-Persian miniatures through the collection of Colonel Jean-Baptiste Gentil (1726-1799), who lived in northern India for many years. Discover his collection, which includes a large number of paintings from various Indo-Persian schools, as well as illuminated manuscripts in Persian and Sanskrit.
