Trace and Tell your Family's Empire Stories
Research guide
'Moving Here' is an online resource for tracing your overseas family created by The National Archives. It contains a migration history of South Asians in Britain as well as detailed hints and tips on how to start your research, including useful contact addresses.
http://www.movinghere.org.uk/
galleries/roots/asian/countrie
s/countries.htm
Family History in India is a website for people tracing their British, European and Anglo-Indian family history. The site includes a wealth of online databases which you can search. The website has an index of over 235,000 names of Europeans who were in India during colonial times.
http://members.ozemail.com.au
/~clday/index.html
You can also use the Families in British India society website to trace British ancestors who went to India. You can join and receive their newsletter, which is aimed at anyone interested in tracing family in British India.
There are many websites that may be of use to Indians living in Britain who are interested in their heritage. For example, Non-Resident Indians Online is useful for news and current affairs. It also contains an interesting history of India and the migration of Indians around the world.
http://www.nriol.com/indiandi
aspora/indians-abroad.asp
History Talking is an online talk radio service for non-resident Indians and other South Asians and it contains a large collection of oral history. Websites such as these can help you put your findings into a worldwide context, as well as providing a background to your research.
The Registrar General for India: Office of the Registrar General, India, 2A, Mansingh Road, New Delhi-110 011, India.
The office of the Registrar General can provide information on census data. The website is a fascinating source of modern census data, including a map-building tool which enables you to discover more about current living conditions including literacy levels, housing and disability for groups in each state and district of India.
Newspapers are a great resource for tracing your ancestors, as not only will they provide you with a rich picture of life at the time, but in most cases will contain notices of births, marriages and deaths. It can be a lengthy search, but if you know dates of events then they can be very useful and reliable. ABZ Newspapers has links to newspapers from around the world, and although these mainly cover more recent history, some sites include archived stories too.
http://www.abyznewslinks.com/
india.htm
There are also a number of physical collections of records which can help you in your search. You will need to visit these in person.
The India Office Records at the Asia, Pacific and Africa Collection in the British Library.
The records contain information on East India Company servants, civil servants, Indian Army personnel and Europeans resident in pre-1947 India. Further information on the collection is contained on their website. If you are planning on visiting the British Library, make sure you phone ahead as some of the documents are held off site and take a few days to deliver.
http://www.bl.uk/collections/
orientaloffice.html
The British Library Newspaper Collection: Colindale Avenue, London, NW9 5HE Tel: +44 (0)20 7412 7353
The British Library holds a number of newspapers from India dating back to the 1830s.
The Gazette of India holds important genealogical information that is not always found in newspapers. The Gazette is essentially a newspaper and one was published by the government of each colony. The amount of information available in the Gazette can vary according to the date and some time periods don't hold as much information as others. The Gazette may sometimes provide important genealogical information not always found in other newspapers.
Unfortunately the Gazette is not available on the web. For much of the nineteenth century, Gazettes had no contents page and are not indexed, so be prepared to spend some time looking through these records. The British Library reference is IOR/V/11/1-359. An almost complete set of the Gazettes is available for 1864-1947.
http://www.bl.uk/collections/
indian.html
The School of Oriental and African Studies: Thornhaugh Street, Russell Square, London WC1H 0XG Telephone +44 (0)20 7637 2388
This is the only higher education institution in the UK specialising in the study of Asia, Africa and the Near and Middle East. It contains records relating to all aspects of Asian study, including India, and as a college of the University of London, has impressive secondary sources and collections which may be of interest. If you wish to use the collections, contact the SOAS before you go.
http://www.soas.ac.uk/library
/index.cfm?navid=1481
The National Archives of India: Director General of Archives, Janpath, New Delhi 110001 Telephone +91 11 23383436
Pre-independence census records are available for the period 1871-1923. These can be useful in establishing household relationships, dates of birth and occupations for both Indian nationals and Britons born in India. The National Archives of India was established in 1891 as the Imperial Record Department. Digitisation of some records is in progress but you will need to visit to view all records. The National Archives of India now has four regional offices at Bhopal, Jaipur, Bhubaneswar and Pondicherry. Full contact details for all offices are available on their website.
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Map Repository, National Archives
Using maps and plans can give you a sense of where your ancestors lived in India, as well as how the land and boundaries have changed over the years. Under British rule, 'India' included a number of different countries which came under the jurisdiction of the East India Company or were governed by the India Department modern day. These include India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Myanmar (Burma), as well as other areas such as Persia and the Persian Gulf, Afghanistan, the Philippines and Malaya.
To find out which Province/District and Presidency of India a particular town belonged to before constitutional reform took place in India, check the Map of India available on the British Library website.
http://www.bl.uk/collections/oiocfamilyhistory/fa
milyindiamap.html
The Imperial Gazetteer of India is held at the British Library and contains geographical information about India. This may be interesting if you wish to build up a picture of the climate, and conditions of various parts of India. Some of the Gazetteer is available online. http://dsal.uchicago.edu/reference/gazetteer/
Modern maps are also available to download which can help you pinpoint the exact geographical location in which your ancestor may have lived.
http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/middle_east_and_as
ia/india_rel01.jpg
There is not a lot of documented information about what life was like for the typical Indian living under colonial rule, but this website gives some useful detail about literacy rates for Indians, urban development, and general conditions. The site also contains essays about various aspects of South Asian history.
