NPIHP Partners Release New Documents on Indian Nuclear History
New archival documents on the history of India’s nuclear program from a collection of Indian nuclear physicist Homi J. Bhabha's papers.
The Nuclear Proliferation International History Project is pleased to announce the release of 43 archival documents on the history of India’s nuclear program by the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA) and the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR). These are some of the first Indian archival documents on the subject of nuclear history that have been released, and they offer a unique perspective on the early development of nuclear research in India.
A selection of 10 of these documents from the full set have been reproduced in the NPIHP Digital Archive and are available via the links below. The full set of these documents are available from IDSA's Nuclear History Project website.
Many of the documents are from the papers of Homi J. Bhabha, a professor of physics and founding director of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR). The collection includes correspondence between Bhabha and Prime Ministers Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Ghandi that highlight the need for further scientific development and investment in India, and even a meeting with the Pakistan Association for the Advancement of Science.
These documents were obtained and contributed to NPIHP by A. Vinod Kumar and the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses, and are a part of a collection of Bhabha’s papers housed at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR). They were compiled with the assistance of Professor Arun Grover, Ms. Ananya Dasgupta and Ms. Ritu Saini of TIFR.
Documents
- March 12, 1944 - Bhabha to Sir Dorab of Tata Trust
- May 21, 1947 - Bhabha to Council of Scientific and Industrial Research Director Shanti Swaroop Bhatnagar
- April 26, 1948 - Organization of Atomic Energy in India
- May 28, 1948 - Council of Scientific and Industrial Research Director Shanti Swaroop Bhatnagar to Bhabha
- September 13, 1949 - Council of Scientific and Industrial Research Director Shanti Swaroop Bhatnagarr to Bhabha
- January 1, 1954 - Historical Note on Tata Institute of Fundamental Research
- May 16, 1956 - Bhabha and Jawaharlal Nehru Correspondence on Indian Nuclear History
- October 24, 1964 - Bhabha Speech on Nuclear Disarmament UN Day
- November 9, 1968 - Speech by Prime Minister Indira Ghandi
- Undated, 1970 - Tata Institute of Fundamental Research Annual Report 1945-1970
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Nuclear Proliferation International History Project
The Nuclear Proliferation International History Project is a global network of individuals and institutions engaged in the study of international nuclear history through archival documents, oral history interviews, and other empirical sources. At the Wilson Center, it is part of the Wilson Center's History and Public Policy Program. Read more
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The Cold War International History Project supports the full and prompt release of historical materials by governments on all sides of the Cold War. Through an award winning Digital Archive, the Project allows scholars, journalists, students, and the interested public to reassess the Cold War and its many contemporary legacies. It is part of the Wilson Center's History and Public Policy Program. Read more
History and Public Policy Program
The History and Public Policy Program makes public the primary source record of 20th and 21st century international history from repositories around the world, facilitates scholarship based on those records, and uses these materials to provide context for classroom, public, and policy debates on global affairs. Read more
