Search the Tamil Nadu Archives by village or keyword
Type a village, taluk, district or keyword and search the digitised records of the Tamil Nadu Archives in one go: old settlement registers, inam fair registers, government orders, pre-mutiny records, gazettes, books and indices, each with a link to the record.
Sign in with your phone to run it. You see the price and approve it before anything runs.
- One search across every archive series
- Direct links to the scanned records
- Filter by year and district
1 creditper run, charged only when a record comes back
What we need
One thing at a time. Fill it in and press Run.
The answer
From the register, with its date and source.
Nothing run yet. The answer appears here with everything this mini adds:
- One search across every archive series
- Direct links to the scanned records
- Filter by year and district
What the archives hold
The Inam Fair Register records the inam (tax-free) land grants of a village as they were settled by the Inam Commission, with the grant, its purpose and its holder.
- Series
- 8
Old settlement records, inam fair registers, government orders, pre-mutiny records, books and gazetteers, gazettes, indices and gateway records.
- Pre-mutiny
- 1670 to 1857
The oldest series covers the East India Company years before 1857.
- Old spellings
- Chingleput
The settlement and inam registers are filed under colonial names. Modern spellings of a place are matched to them where we know the old form.
How to search the Tamil Nadu Archives
- 1
Type a place or keyword
A village, taluk or district for the settlement and inam registers, or title words for orders, gazettes and books.
- 2
Narrow if you want
Pick one series, and add a year or a district to cut the list down.
- 3
Open the record
Each result shows its series and title with a link to the record itself.
When it helps with land
Inam and grant land
Whether land in a village was granted as inam, and to whom, still decides some title questions today.
Ancestral research
The settlement register of a native village shows how its land was held before independence.
Old orders
Find the government order or gazette notification behind an old land decision by its title words.
An archive record shows how land was held in the past, not who holds it now. Check the current land record and the encumbrance certificate for the present position.
Questions people ask
How do I search the Tamil Nadu Archives online?
Type a village, taluk, district or keyword above and press Run. Every archive series is searched at once, or pick one series to narrow it.
What are Old Settlement Records?
The settlement registers made when a village's land was surveyed and assessed, listing its fields and how they were held. They are filed by village.
What is the Inam Fair Register?
The register of inam (tax-free) land grants in a village, as settled by the Inam Commission, with each grant's purpose and holder.
Nothing matched.
Use the old spelling of the place: Chingleput for Chengalpattu, Trivellore for Tiruvallur. Then try a wider place, the taluk or the district.
Is this the archives department's own website?
No. It is a search over the archive records we have indexed, with links back to each record.
Is it charged when nothing matches?
No.