MUSCAT – In a proud moment for the distinguished Indian diaspora in the Sultanate of Oman, archives from the Indian diaspora families have been showcased online on the web portal of the National Archives of India (NAI). This is the first time ever for diaspora archives from a particular overseas Indian community to be exclusively featured on the NAI portal.
Titled ‘The Oman Collection’, the special sub-portal for Indian community in Oman is now available to readers and researchers worldwide on the ‘Abhilekh Patal’ of the NAI at the url https://oman.abhilekh-patal.in/storage.
The web portal was launched during a special exhibition on diaspora archives at the recently concluded Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) Convention 2025 held in Bhubaneshwar, Odisha. The exhibition at the PBD Convention was inaugurated by the Prime Minister of India Shri Narendra Modi and also visited by the Hon’ble President of India Smt. Droupadi Murmu. This exhibition by NAI featured the digitised documents that highlight the history of the Indian community in Oman and celebrated the deep historical and people-to-people ties between India and the Sultanate of Oman.
The documents exhibited and now showcased online include a wide variety of records including personal diaries, account books, ledgers, trade invoices, passports, letters, and photographs, offering a fascinating insight into the lives and contributions of the Indian community in Oman. The collection narrates stories of Indian merchants, their maritime trade links, and the role of the diaspora in building bridges between the two countries.
The records made available online on the NAI portal were digitised during a pioneering project conducted jointly by the National Archives of India (NAI) and the Embassy of India in Muscat in May 2024, with participation from 32 historical Indian families from Gujarat, India, many of whom have had a continuous presence in Oman for several generations. Over 7,000 historical documents in English, Arabic, Gujarati, and Hindi belonging to these families were scanned and archived with the oldest dating back to 1838.
A senior contingent from the Hindu Mahajan community, whose family documents were digitised and featured in the exhibition, traveled to Odisha to attend PBD 2025. They expressed their appreciation for this unique initiative that has preserved their heritage and brought their legacy to national and global attention.
This year’s PBD witnessed the largest-ever delegation from Oman, highlighting the strong presence of the Indian diaspora in Oman and their links with India. The exhibition and the first ever online portal for diaspora archives demonstrates India’s commitment to recognising the contributions of its diaspora and preserving their stories for future generations.
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