Nur-i-Afshan, a periodical published by the Presbyterian Mission in the Punjab, in Urdu, from 1877 to 1966, is one of the very few primary sources which hails from local Indian sources. In addition to being a religious publication, Nur-i-Afshan is also significant since it forms part of a large and growing corpus of Urdu periodical publishing in the nineteenth century.

Printed on highly acidic paper, because it was cheap, this brittle paper is fast deteriorating and is already past its usual survival date. Having combed regional and national libraries, it is clear that Forman Christian College’s Ewing Library holds the only available copies of the periodical.

With the help of a grant from British Library, this valuable historical archive will be saved from disappearance by careful scanning and digitization and public access will be restored with the support of AMICAL and OCLC.