Digitising Endangered Armenian Epigraphic Heritage in India

This article presents the results of a pilot survey and digitisation project conducted under the Endangered Archives Programme (EAP1721), focusing on the endangered Armenian epigraphic heritage of India. The material consists primarily of funerary gravestones and commemorative stone inscriptions dating from the seventeenth to the early twentieth centuries and preserved in churches and cemeteries in Madras (Chennai), Kolkata (Calcutta), Mumbai, and Hyderabad. These inscriptions represent the most durable material evidence of the historical Armenian presence in South Asia and provide direct insight into diasporic settlement patterns, family structures, religious life, and transregional commercial networks. The project combined a systematic field survey with targeted pilot digitisation to assess the scope, physical condition, and preservation risks of the corpus, and to evaluate the feasibility of large-scale digital preservation. The survey methodology was sitebased and focused on identifying approximate quantities, typological composition, custodial frameworks, and observable deterioration patterns. Particular attention was paid to environmental exposure, biological growth, urban pressure, and the effects of demographic decline on long-term custodianship. Sample digitisation was conducted at four representative locations to assess documentation workflows and metadata practices in accordance with Endangered Archives Programme guidelines. The survey identified more than 1,800 Armenian funerary and commemorative inscriptions across the four cities, of which a representative subset was digitised during the pilot phase. Preservation conditions vary significantly, ranging from relatively well-maintained ecclesiastical sites to severely neglected burial grounds where inscriptions face imminent risk of irreversible loss. The findings confirm both the material’s vulnerability and the feasibility of systematic digitisation as a non-invasive preservation strategy. By integrating epigraphic survey methods with structured digital documentation, the project establishes a sustainable foundation for future research and preservation initiatives and argues that understanding Armenian epigraphic heritage in India requires a coordinated, methodological and institutional approach.