History Division was established on 26 October 1953 to undertake the compilation of the histories of post independence military operations conducted by the Indian Armed Forces. It functions as the research, record and reference office of the Ministry of Defence and the Indian Armed Forces. It receives records from the Ministry of Defence and three Services HQs on a regular basis for preservation and use. The Division has published 20 volumes so far. The Division also runs a Fellowship scheme to encourage research in military history. The History Division works under Joint Secretary (Medical & History) in the Ministry of Defence,
2. The charter of duties of the Division includes the following:-i) To serve as the research, record and reference office to the Indian Armed Forces. It preserves and maintains war diaries/operational records and other military documents received from various formations and units of the Indian Armed Forces. These documents are eventually used for writing the official histories of operations conducted by the Indian Armed Forces and for answering queries pertaining to military history received from the three Services, Ministry of Defence, other Departments/Offices, research scholars, etc.ii) To write histories of the wars fought by the Indian Armed Forces. These include the Peace-keeping Operations conducted by the Indian Armed Forces in various countries from time to time.iii) To guide and assist the Army Regiments and Air Force Squadrons in compiling the histories & vet their histories before publication.iv) To assist the Ministry of Defence and the three Services Headquarters with military historical data.v) To assist the Services Headquarters in the battle honours works.vi) To advise the three Services, Coast Guard Headquarters and the Ministry of Defence in all matters relating to military heraldry, such as naming of new establishments and acquisitions, designing of crests and badges and coining of mottoes.
It has brought out 18 volumes including:[1] [2]