The USI Library in Delhi is a 153-year-old institution that few know of. It has a wonderful archive—of 400-year-old books, atlases, campaign material, medals won in India’s neighbourhood and worldwide

Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw needs no introduction. Ahead of the 1971 war with Pakistan, when he was first asked to take charge, he refused saying the army wasn’t ready in April. Referring to the routing of the Indian Army in 1962 by the Chinese, Manekshaw is said to have told the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, “Madam Prime Minister, you may not mind being in the same position as your father was in 1962 but I certainly don’t want to be in the position that he [the army chief] was.” 

The Dhaka surrender document and its signing

Manekshaw assured the PM that Pakistan would capitulate in its east within a month, but only if he was given a free hand. This exchange is documented in the book Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw: The Man and His Times on the shelves of the United Service Institution of India’s (USI) library.

On TMS’ recent visit to the USI library, we flip through the pages of India’s military history to come across various lesser-known anecdotes, facts, as well as never-seen-before photographs of not just the Field Marshal, but various other soldiers who served the country. For those with a keen interest in military history, this library is quite a find.

Keeping the record The USI library — Colonel Pyara Lal Memorial Library —  on Rao Tularam Marg in Vasant Vihar, is India’s pre-eminent think tank on matters of national security. The fully air-conditioned room has over 69,000 books and makes available 12 newspapers and over 115 journals from all over the world. 

While giving us a walkthrough of the library, Squadron Leader (retired) Rana TS Chhina MBE and Director, Centre for Military History and Conflict Studies, USI library, reveals that the holdings of the library go back to the 17th century. “It has a collection of rare books about 400 years old on an astonishing variety of subjects from India and world history,” he says. 

These include Sketches and Incidents of the Siege of Lucknow by Lieut C.H. Mecham, A New Account of the East Indies, London Atlas of Universal Geography, Arleton’s Campaigns In America, Atlas Of The Northern Frontier Of India, and East India Company registers as well as army lists of Bombay, Madras and Bengal dating from about 1790s onwards—the only near-complete collection of these publications anywhere in the world.

As we scan through the shelves, a huge black book tucked away in one of the compartments piques our interest. Its pages are fragile but opening it, we come across paintings of great power—centuries-old paintings of Afghans, looking as vibrant as if they were new artworks.

The birth of Bangladesh Not just the books, the paintings and photographs on the walls of USI library are also well maintained. There are impressive artworks on the wall. The surrender ceremony at  Dhaka, which led to the birth of Bangladesh, catches our eye. 

The original surrender document – which the officers are seen signing in the painting – also hangs in the library after careful restoration. India’s victories in wars – many of them from during the British Raj, of colonialists over Indians – over centuries are also exhibited in the library through the collection of medals, from 1778 onwards.

War trophies The collection includes the Capture of Ceylon (as Sri Lanka was earlier known) in 1795, Siege of Seringapatam against Tipu Sultan in 1799, and the Egypt Medal (in 1801), presented by the East India Company to members of the expeditionary force that travelled from India to take part in the 1801 Egyptian campaign, a part of the French Revolutionary Wars.

Medals of the First Afghan War, Anglo-Sikh wars (in 1845 and 1848), the First China War (1842) between Great Britain and China, and even post-Independence medals like Param Vir Chakra, Maha Vir Chakra, and various others are also part of the display. Even though India didn’t participate in the Napoleonic War – Battle of Waterloo (1815) – the medal has been part of the collection in the USI library due to its historic significance.

Oldest military journal USI, which began its life as a British India institution, was founded in the year 1870, under the then governor-general, Lord Minto. It was shifted from Calcutta (now Kolkata) to Delhi in 1911, after the Emperor of the British Empire, George V, proclaimed the shifting of the capital of India.

Its 153-year-old history is captured in its military journal with a continuous print record from 1870 onwards. “It is a barometer of India’s strategic security concerns and also about the military history of the country, which makes it a huge resource,” says Chhina.

The library is an open source for anyone interested in carrying out research in any military aspect of India. Though USI is a membership institution, it has certain filters. It gives access to all Class 1 gazetted officers from the three services: the IPS, IAS, IFS, along with academics, journalists, diplomats and research scholars.