The National Gallery of Australia is returning 14 works of art to India that are suspected of having been stolen, looted or illegally exported.

Sculptures, photos, and a scroll are among the religious and cultural artefacts worth around $2.2m (£1.57m).

Nick Mitzevich, gallery director, said their return would close “a very difficult chapter in our history.”

A former New York art dealer and alleged trafficker, Subhash Kapoor is associated with all but one of the works.

All charges against Kapoor, who is awaiting trial in India, are denied.

The disputed pieces date back to the 12th century, when Hindu art flourished in Tamil Nadu during the Chola dynasty.

Canberra has already returned several other works it acquired through Kapoor, including a bronze statue of Shiva it bought for $5m (£3.6m) in 2008.

According to Mitzevich, the works will be returned to the Indian government within months.

An “extraordinary act of goodwill and gesture of friendship” was welcomed by the Indian High Commissioner to Australia.

It said it had introduced a new process for assessing provenance that considered “both the legal and ethical aspects of a work of art’s history”.