NEW DELHI: To decode old manuscripts in its archives and make them available to researchers throughout the world, the Asiatic Society in Kolkata is employing AI transcription and machine learning. One of India’s oldest research institutes, the Asiatic Society was established in 1784, during British colonial authority, with the goal of preserving and advancing languages, culture, and history.
There are around 52,000 rare manuscripts and historical papers in the society, many of which have never been decoded before. In December, the society started a project called Vidhvanika, which means “decoding knowledge,” to digitize them and create language models for old scripts. Anant Sinha, the administrator of the Asiatic Society in Kolkata, told Arab News that most of the manuscripts still needed work. We have three scientists working with us. In addition, my reprography team and the expert team—which consists of experts in many languages, scripts, and subjects—are participating in the scanning process.
The Center for Development of Advanced Computing, India’s leading IT research and development agency, is also supporting the initiative. The manuscripts in the society’s collection cover a broad range of topics, including languages such as Sanskrit, Arabic, Persian, Tamil, Bengali, and other regional Indian languages, as well as Indian history, literature, philosophy, religion, astronomy, mathematics, medicine, and art.
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