You know a village, or a grandparent's name
That may be as far as your family ever got. A village, a surname, a story passed down — and then a gap that seemed impossible to close from overseas.
For families researching their ancestry
Could generations of your family already be recorded in India?
Many families overseas know a village, or a grandparent's name, and cannot get any further. The relevant records are not normally searchable online, and most families have no way of knowing which centre or register holder to approach. Indian Archive does that work in India — identifying the likely route, visiting the centre and searching the handwritten books connected with your family.
UK-based office · Researchers in India · No travel required
The assessment is free. You sign in so your family information, voice recordings and progress can be saved securely.
A search cannot guarantee that a matching record exists.
Why this is hard from overseas
A village name is rarely enough on its own.
This is the point where most families give up — not because a record does not exist, but because there is no practical way to search for it from abroad.
The records are not searchable online
Traditional family registers are handwritten books kept by individual register holders, not digitised databases. No family-tree website can search them for you.
You would not know which centre to approach
Even families with a clear village name often have no way of knowing which centre holds their records, or who to ask when they get there.
We do that work in India, on your behalf
Indian Archive identifies the likely route, sends a researcher to the relevant centre and searches the registers connected with your family's ancestral place and community.
Not a database search
What we do that an online family-tree website cannot
We visit the register centre, speak to the people who hold the records and search the handwritten books connected with your family's ancestral place and community.
No amount of searching from a laptop can do this. These registers were never digitised, and the people who hold them are only reachable in person. That is the work Indian Archive carries out on your behalf.
Not ready to pay yet?
Start with a free assessment.
A few questions about your ancestral village, state, community and family tradition help us suggest the traditional record-keeping route — often called a centre — most likely to be relevant to your family.
- • The assessment is free.
- • You sign in so your family information, voice recordings and progress can be saved securely.
- • It suggests a likely route, not confirmation that a record exists.
- • You choose between one and four centres, and see the exact price, before paying.
- • Sensitive family, tradition and community details are optional and requested only where they help identify a possible record route.
What we recover
What may be written in a family register.
Where a family entry is found, the detail in the priest's hand can record lineage, native village, life events and the marks of ancestors who made the journey. Registers differ, and not every entry contains every element.
Names and lineage
The names of ancestors recorded in the traditional family register — often spanning several generations.
Native village and gotra
The ancestral village and family gotra written into the entry, useful for connecting to wider records.
Places of pilgrimage and rites
Notes of visits made for last rites, immersions and other ceremonies at the traditional register centre.
Signatures and personal marks
Where present, signatures or marks left by ancestors at the time of their visit.
What happens next?
From your first details to a clear outcome.
1. Share what your family knows
A guided questionnaire collects names, relationships, the ancestral village and any family tradition you can recall. Nothing needs to be complete on day one.
2. We suggest the likely register route
Our team reviews the details and confirms the traditional record-keeping route, or centre or centres, most likely to be relevant to your family.
3. You choose your centres and see the price
Select between one and four centres for research, decide whether to include a register entry or update, and review the exact price before paying.
4. A researcher searches in India
Once payment is confirmed, a researcher on the ground visits the chosen centre or centres and works through the traditional registers in person.
Why an online search will not find this
There is no national database to search.
These registers are not held in one searchable national database. We use your family's ancestral clues to identify the likely route, then arrange an in-person search with the relevant register holder in India.
See how the research is carried out →Find and Translate My Family History
From £395
One-time · GBP base price for one centre · price depends on the centres you choose
What the price includes
- •The offering and payment made to the pandit / register-holding priest family
- •The fees of our researchers travelling to and working at the centre
- •Full English translation of everything found in the register
- •Delivery of all photographs and video recorded by the researcher at the centre
There are no separate charges for the priest, the researchers, translation or media delivery.
- A free assessment that suggests the most likely traditional register route
- A researcher's search at the centre or centres you choose (up to four)
- Register photographs where obtained and permitted
- Manual transcription of the relevant pages
- English translation, reviewed in office
- Basic family tree and family timeline
- Heritage report and secure digital archive
Research typically takes 2–10 weeks from the point your questionnaire is complete. Timings vary by centre and by the evidence available, and are not guaranteed.
Start your free assessment
A matching record cannot be guaranteed. If none is found, you still receive a clear account of the search that was carried out.
Haridwar / Jawalapur is our primary live research centre. Depending on your village, gotra, community and family tradition, the assessment may suggest other priority or specialist centres for you to choose from. See all centres and specialist routes.
Want to add or update a family entry?
Find My Family Register + Add or Update an Entry
You can add register entry or update work during the assessment for a further £100 — used only if the register holder accepts the family information.