In the bylanes of Sadashiv Peth, a neighbourhood in the older part of Pune, stands an old stone building from the early 1900s. This building houses an institute called Bharat Itihas Sanshodhak Mandal. (Itihas Sanshodhak Mandal means Historical Research Institute).
It was established on July 7, 1910, by historians V. K. Rajwade and Sardar K. C. Mehendale with the main purpose of conducting research on Indian history, along with collecting rare books and artefacts and preserving them for posterity. It was originally located at Mehendale’s property at Appa Balwant Chowk, an important square in the heart of Pune. Later, the institute was moved to its current location at Sadashiv Peth. The current stone building was constructed between 1912 and 1920.
Today, the organization has a fantastic collection of around 1.5 million historical papers and valuable documents, and over 30,000 manuscripts written in Marathi, Modi, Sanskrit, Persian, English, Portuguese and other languages. It also houses about 4,000 coins and more than 1,000 historical paintings, along with an impressive collection of old weapons and other artefacts. Account books and rare letters from the era of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and the Peshwas are also part of the institute’s collection.
The institute’s library has thousands of books on various topics of Indian history. The place serves as a hub for historians and researchers to study and publish their work. Visitors can also explore the museum, which displays rare historical books, letters, documents, weapons, coins and more. In the courtyard behind the building, old stone statues, pieces of artistic stone columns and other stone artefacts carved with inscriptions can be viewed.
In recent years, many documents from the institute’s archives have been digitized to ensure their preservation for the future. The institute welcomes visitors from across India and around the world who wish to study Indian history.