South Asian Core Collections

The South Asia collection at EFEO Central Library in Paris includes: India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Tibet, Nepal, Bhutan.
This collection mainly focuses on classical research in religion, philosophy, religious history, art and religious iconography, archaeology, epigraphy, studies of source material, ancient history, and to a lesser extent, social sciences.

The collection expanded according to fields of research of EFEO researchers, such as Jean Filliozat, Suzanne Karpelès, François Gros, N.R. Bhatt, Françoise l'Hernault, etc.
Nowadays, it consists of approximately 21,000 documents in Western and Eastern languages (mainly in Sanskrit and Tamil), 133 titles of periodicals mainly in English language (including 22 current titles), more than one hundred manuscripts, a hundred maps, some rubbings and works of art (Tibetan figurines), and approximately 19,000 photographs (available for consultation at EFEO Paris photo library).

Since 2011, approximately 5,000 monographs and 50 titles of periodicals were deposited at BULAC (the following fields are in deposit according to documentary policy: literature and linguistics, Tamil studies, law, economics, sciences).
Collections of the Library of Pondicherry EFEO Center, which focus on Tamil and Sanskrit philology, archaeology, art history and epigraphy of South India, are also available in our online catalogs.

Contact: Maïté Hurel, head of the South Asian collection

EFEO News
Covid-19 Information
Paris, France,


The Maison de l'Asie and the library are closed to the public from March 16 until further notice.

All cultural and scientific events are cancelled.
Lecture by Mrs Tôn Nu Quynh Trân
25 March 2020
Mrs. Tôn Nu Quynh Trân's lecture: "The development of the urban space of Saigon from its origins to 1954 as seen through plans and maps of the city", which took place on September 19, 2019, at the Ho Chi Minh City Center, has been posted on the EFEO's YouTube channel.

This lecture is part of a series of bilingual lecture-debates (consecutive French-Vietnamese or Vietnamese-French; English-Vietnamese or Vietnamese-English translation) organized at the EFEO Center in Ho Chi Minh City. The audience of about forty guests consists of researchers, teachers, students, and intellectuals from Vietnam and abroad.
EFEO Field Scholarships - 2nd Semester 2020
14 March 2020
The deadline for submitting an application to an EFEO Field Scholarships for Master and PhD students enabling a field study in Asia at one of the EFEO centers is set to the 14th of March 2020.
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Doctoral contract – Campaign 2020
09 March 2020
As part of its support for international cooperation activities, the Ministry of Enseignement supérieur, de la Recherche et de l’Innovation (MESRI) awards five doctoral contracts each year in partnership between a Doctoral School and one of the five Écoles françaises à l’étranger (EFE).

Details and the procedure for submitting applications to the EFEO can be found here.

Application documents may be sent until April 30, 2020, 3:00 p.m. (Paris time), according to the procedures specific to each EFE. The results will be sent before the end of June.
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Lecture: ''Kalash, les derniers animistes de l'Hindu Kush''
Paris, France, 06 March 2020
As part of the photographic exhibition set up at the EFEO, "Kalash, les derniers animistes de l'Hindu Kush", Jean-Yves Loude gives a lecture: "Solstice païen. Fêtes de l'hiver chez les Kalash du Nord-Pakistan". He will be accompanied by Xavier Nory, author of the photographs of the exhibition.

Thursday, March 12, at 1:30 pm at the Maison de l'Asie.