British Library – India Office Records

The India Office Records are the documentary archives of the administration in London of the pre-1947 government of India. They comprise the archives of the East India Company (1600-1858), of the Board of Control or Board of Commissioners for the Affairs of India (1784-1858), of the India Office (1858 -1947), of the Burma Office (1937-1948) and of a number of related British agencies overseas. The India Office Records are part of the Public Records of the United Kingdom and are open for public consultation under the provisions of the Public Records Acts and in accordance with regulations established by the Lord Chancellor.

The records are rich in biographical information on East India Company servants, Indian Civil Service and Indian Army personnel, and on Europeans resident in pre -1947 India.

Since 1982 the India Office Records have been administered by the British Library and form part of the Asia, Pacific and Africa Collections.

The India Office Records biographical index, containing 300,000 entries, is now available online, free of charge, at http://indiafamily.bl.uk/UI/

The index relates mainly to Europeans in India up to c. 1947, but there are a few entries for Indians. It contains details of thousands of births, baptisms, marriages, deaths and burials, mainly for Bengal, but also for Madras, Bombay and Burma as well as other places connected with the East India Company or the British in India, such as St Helena, Malacca and Kuwait. Rich biographical notes are also included. The website will include a Sources page which explains exactly what is in the index and the source of the information.

The original source material can be viewed in the Asian and African Studies reading room. In many cases, copies can be ordered online.

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