The history of the Directorate of Research functioning under the Department of Cultural Affairs, Government of Arunachal Pradesh, Itanagar, goes back to 1951 with the appointment of Shri L.N. Chakraborty, the first Research Officer of the Department who joined on 16th June, 1951. In the year 1954, the Department was organized and strengthened under the guidance and direction of Dr. Verrier Elwin, the then Advisor of Governor of Assam on Tribal Affairs of NEFA appointed by the Government of India. At the initial stage three sections mainly Culture, Philology and History were created to conduct Research on these specialized fields. A group of dedicated Research Officers were appointed to conduct research and document the culture and customs of the tribal people of the area to help the Administrators plan their development activities properly and also to preserve and promote the life and culture of the people of this region to the outside world. During the period 1969 to 1996, Reference Library, Archive, Registering unit and Publication Section were added and two new sections viz, Museum & Archive and Archaeology were also created. The Department was declared as a major Department of Government in March 1989. The Department was functioning at Shillong since beginning to May 1986 and shifted to Itanagar, Capital of Arunachal Pradesh in June 1986. The Central Museum which was organized at Shillong in 1955 was also shifted to Itanagar in later part of 1989 and renamed as the Jawaharlal Nehru State Museum. The foundation stone of the museum was laid by Shri R. Venkataraman, the then President of India, on 3rd January, 1988 and the State Museum was formally inaugurated by Shri R.D. Pradhan, the then Governor of Arunachal Pradesh on 1st January, 1990.
At present the Department has five sections namely: Culture, Philology, History, Archaeology, Museum & Archive and two other associated sections are Reference Library and Publication.
The Director is the Head of office and Commissioner/ Secretary (Cultural Affairs) is the Head of the Department under Hon’ble Minister of Cultural Affairs of the Government of Arunachal Pradesh.