# India Museum
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{{Short description|Former museum in London}}
{{for|the museum in Kolkata|Indian Museum, Kolkata}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2019}}
[[File:Leadenhall Street Museum.png|thumb|300px|The museum in 1841. On the left is [Tipu's Tiger](/source/Tipu's_Tiger).]]
The '''India Museum''' was a [London](/source/London) museum of [India](/source/India)-related exhibits, established in 1801. It was closed in 1879 and its collection dispersed, part of it later forming a section in the South Kensington Museum.
==History==
The museum, of the [East India Company](/source/East_India_Company), was established in 1801, in [East India House](/source/East_India_House) in [Leadenhall Street](/source/Leadenhall_Street), London. The first curator was Sir [Charles Wilkins](/source/Charles_Wilkins), an orientalist.[[https://www.britishmuseum.org/research/search_the_collection_database/term_details.aspx?bioId=140125 "India Museum (Biographical details)"] British Museum. Retrieved 9 July 2019.][[https://www.trc-leiden.nl/trc-needles/collections/europe/india-museum-london "India Museum, London"] Textile Research Centre. Retrieved 9 July 2019.] He had lived in India from 1770 to 1786, in the service of the East India Company; he was said to be the first Englishman to gain a thorough grasp of [Sanskrit](/source/Sanskrit).[{{cite DNB|first=Cecil|last=Bendall|authorlink=Cecil Bendall|wstitle=Wilkins, Charles|volume=61|page=259–260}}]
thumb|The New ''India Museum'', in Whitehall-Yard, 1861
When the East India Company was disbanded in 1858, the [India Office](/source/India_Office) was established, and the museum collection was moved in 1861 to [Fife House in Whitehall](/source/Fife_House%2C_Whitehall); East India House was demolished in 1863. The director of the museum was [John Forbes Watson](/source/John_Forbes_Watson). In 1869 the collection was moved to the India Office, and in 1875 it was moved temporarily to the South Kensington Museum (later renamed the [Victoria and Albert Museum](/source/Victoria_and_Albert_Museum)).[[https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2003/sep/25/heritage.art "Fugitive pieces"] ''[The Guardian](/source/The_Guardian)'', 25 September 2003. Retrieved 9 July 2019.][[https://www.nature.com/articles/012192a0 "India Museum, South Kensington"] ''[Nature](/source/Nature_(journal))'' volume 12, pages 192–193 (1875). Retrieved 9 July 2019.]
The India Museum was dissolved in 1879. Most of the collection went to the [British Museum](/source/British_Museum), [Kew Gardens](/source/Kew_Gardens) and the South Kensington Museum, where the Indian section was opened in 1880; it was known as the India Museum until 1945.