Historical Timeline

[American scholarly activities in India were interrupted during World War II.]

● The American Council of Learned Societies and Social Science Research Council (ACLS-SSRC) Joint Committee on Southern Asia held a conference on Southern Asian Studies, chaired by W. Norman Brown, during which a 10-year development plan was made.

● The Rockefeller Foundation established linguistics training at Deccan College, Pune, which would later come to be the first location of AIIS headquarters.

● Passage of U.S. Public Law 85-864 (National Defense Education Act – NDEA), which provided for language and area training centers for many world areas, including South Asia.

• The Government of India approves the establishment of AIIS in India.
• AIIS receives its first Department of State funding through PL 480, and private support from the Ford Foundation.
• AIIS Indian headquarters is established at Deccan College, Pune.
• The first seventeen AIIS Research Fellows arrive in India.

● D. P. Pattanayak was appointed Chief Linguist for AIIS to set up a program of language teaching and research; pioneering work began on creating grammars and other teaching materials for adult second-language learners of Indian languages.
● The dedication of AIIS in Pune was followed by the first Annual Meeting of Fellows.

• American Institute of Ceylonese Studies (AICS) is established as affiliate of AIIS. It will later become the American Institute of Sri Lankan Studies (AISLS).
• First National Science Foundation (NSF) grant is awarded to develop Regional Centers.
• First grant awarded by U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare (HEW).

• The American Academy of Benares (AAB) becomes the Center for Art and Archaeology (CA&A).
• Main administrative operations are moved from Pune to New Delhi and all remaining administrative functions follow two years later.

• Edward C. Dimock Jr. (South Asian Languages and Civilizations, University of Chicago) is elected 3rd President of AIIS.

• Pradeep R. Mehendiratta is appointed Director of AIIS India.

● Smithsonian Institution funding enabled AIIS to begin archeological research in Gujarat, Vijayanagaram, and other sites.

● Beginning of National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) funding for various AIIS operations.

● Establishment of “Forward Fund” from remaining PL-480 Rupees; grants from this supported many AIIS activities and programs over the next two decades.

● ARCE Pune unit moved to New Delhi.

• Near and Middle East Research Training Act (NMERTA) provided new source of federal funding for AIIS.

• Frederick M. Asher (Art History, University of Minnesota) is elected 5th President of AIIS.
• Pradeep R. Mehendiratta is given title “Director General,” on a par with peer officials in GOI divisions such as Archaeological Survey of India.

• Inauguration of AIIS Headquarters Building in Gurgaon (now officially Gurugram), Haryana. The campus houses two research centers, conference facilities, and administrative offices.
• Dr. Elise Auerbach becomes US Director of AIIS in March.

• GOI Ministry of Human Resource Development (HRD) grant to AIIS: Rs. 5 million for a building and Rs. 10 million for fellowships.
• In December AIIS receives $2.7 million from the estate of Charles Blitzer, former Assistant Secretary for History and Art at the Smithsonian Institution and a longtime friend and admirer of the Institute. This gift enables AIIS to establish a dollar endowment, the income from which is used to support programs for which no grant funding is available.

• Ralph W. Nicholas (Anthropology, University of Chicago) is elected 6th President of AIIS.
• GOI approves AIIS proposal that Indian Missions in the U.S. grant student visas to students of American institutions coming to India for AIIS’s Language Programs and study-abroad programs on the basis of a Letter of Admission issued by the Institute.
• GOI also grants permission to AIIS to offer its Language Programs to students of non-American institutions in the UK and Canada.
• The Ford Foundation awards $350,000 as matching endowment grant for ARCE and CA&A
• AIIS holds its first annual book prize competition for the Edward C. Dimock, Jr. Prize in the Indian Humanities and the Joseph W. Elder Prize in the Indian Social Sciences with the first awardees announced in early 2003.

• GOI-HRD Grant: Rs. 1.5 million for non-recurring expenditure for CA&A project of photo documentation, cataloguing, preservation and digitization.
• AIIS organizes a conference on “Study Abroad Programs & Role of Indian Institutions” at AIIS Campus.
• Former Fellow Yamuna Kachru (University of Illinois, Professor Emerita) is honored with “Hindi Seva Samman” award by Kendriya Hindi Sansthan, Ministry of Human Resource Development, GOI, for outstanding work for the promotion of Hindi Language.
• The CAA signs a memorandum of Understanding with the Archaeological Division of the Govt. of Gujarat to provide site-plans and photos of historic sites damaged or destroyed in the 2001 earthquake, to assist in their restoration.

• Directorate of Archaeology, Government of West Bengal, approves AIIS project for documentation of state museums at a total cost of Rs. 8.37 million (completed in 2008).
• GOI-HRD Grant: Rs. 1.5 million for non-recurring expenditure for CA&A Project of photo documentation, cataloging, preservation and digitization work.
• AIIS hosts the first cohort of students from the U.S. State Department’s Critical Languages Scholarship (CLS) program. AIIS operates this annual summer intensive language study program for four languages: Hindi (in Jaipur), Bangla (in Kolkata), Punjabi (in Chandigarh), and Urdu (in Lucknow).
• GOI grant of Rs. 426,000 for teaching Sanskrit at AIIS Pune Center.
• Archaeological Survey of India awards CA&A grant of Rs. 550,000 for digitization & publication of Glossary volume of the Encyclopedia of Indian Temple Architecture.

• AIIS Language Committee Chair Surendra Gambhir (University of Pennsylvania) is honored with “Hindi Seva Samman” award by Kendriya Hindi Sansthan, Ministry of Human Resource Development, GOI, for outstanding work for the promotion of Hindi Language.
• AIIS holds its first Dissertation-to-Book workshop at the Madison South Asia conference in October, with additional support from the other South Asia AORCs. Led by Professor Susan Wadley of Syracuse University, the annual workshops help young scholars turn their dissertations into publishable book manuscripts.

• Digital service “Artstor” awards Rs. 2.48 million to CA&A for providing digital images and relevant metadata to its website.
• To mark 50th anniversary of AIIS, former AIIS president Frederick Asher launches the Scholars Challenge, an opportunity for scholars of South Asia to name a recurring fellowship and endow a supplemental research award to accompany it. The venture ultimately raises more than $300,000.

• Completion of reconstruction of D-31 Defence Colony, New Delhi, as four-story building including 3 floors of rental space and the Institute’s in-town offices.
• Grant of Rs. 1.5 million from Department of Archaeology, Haryana to CA&A towards enhancement of data base and digitization.
• The number of members of the AIIS consortium reaches 75

• Smithsonian Institution approves release of all remaining Forward Fund Rupees by the US Embassy, to be managed henceforth by AIIS. Rs. 62 million are put into the Corpus Fund (Rupee endowment) and Rs. 16.7 million into a Reserve Fund for potential emergency use.
• Ministry of External Affairs, GOI, awards additional Rs. 1.17 million for Chola Exhibition at Kuala Lumpur.
• AIIS Trustees approve a revision of the Institute’s Bylaws to create a 9-member Board of elected Trustees having fiduciary responsibility and designating representatives of consortial member institutions as Delegates who elect and regularly advise the President and Trustees.

• Goods and Services Tax (GST): exemption for educational institutions is withdrawn by GOI, and GST of 18% imposed, increasing many costs for AIIS and its sponsored scholars.
• Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) grant from Gruh Ltd., a housing finance corporation, of Rs. 2.86 million to CA&A for project and touring exhibition documenting historic stepwells in Gujarat.

• At invitation of Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD), GOI, AIIS organizes “Workshop on Grand Challenges for the Humanities in India,” with participation by scholars from India and US. A resulting report on 10 grand challenges is submitted to MHRD.
• In January AIIS partners with the Council of American Overseas Research Centers (CAORC) to hold an intensive capacity-building and curriculum development seminar called “Exploring Urban Sustainability through India’s Cities” in India for 16 faculty members from community colleges and minority-serving institutions.
• All-India Museum Summit is organized by CA&A in July, inaugurated by US Ambassador and the Secretary, Ministry of Culture. A resulting white paper is submitted to the Ministry
• AIIS holds Mughal Persian archival workshop in Lucknow in August for students and scholars, co-sponsored by the American Institute of Afghanistan Studies and the American Institute of Iranian Studies
• Grant of $ 78,541 to ARCE from U.S. Ambassador’s Fund for Cultural Preservation, for “Documentation of Endangered Musical Traditions in Western Rajasthan.”

• Grant from Kala Bhoomi, Odisha Crafts Museum of Rs. 753,600 to CA&A for photography and metadata preparation for 2500 objects.
• The number of members of the AIIS consortium reaches 90

• AIIS receives registration number and renewal from Income Tax Department as tax-exempt educational institution.
• AIIS receives the assets of the dissolved Taraknath Das Foundation in July, to be used to establish an annual junior fellowship, honoring Taraknath Das, and to be awarded to an Indian-citizen graduate student pursuing a doctoral degree at a US university, to carry out dissertation research in India.
• AIIS offers new student summer fellowships for digital sonic and visual projects