Nature and Scope
“An important resource enabling students and scholars everywhere to trace in detail the rise of the East India Company, which laid the foundations of the British Raj in India.”
Prof. H. V. Bowen, Swansea University
Nature and Scope
“An important resource enabling students and scholars everywhere to trace in detail the rise of the East India Company, which laid the foundations of the British Raj in India.”
Prof. H. V. Bowen, Swansea University
From sixteenth-century origins as a trading venture to the East Indies, through to its rise as the world’s most powerful company and de facto ruler of India, to its demise amid allegations of greed and corruption, the East India Company was an extraordinary force in global history for three centuries.
This digital resource allows students and researchers to access a vast collection of primary source documents from the India Office Records (IOR) held by the British Library, the single most important archive for the study of the East India Company.
From before the Company’s charter was granted by Queen Elizabeth I in 1600 to Indian independence in 1947, East India Company tells the story of European trade with Asia, conflicts, politics, and the rise and fall of the British Empire. It records the challenges of a globalising world and sheds light on many contrasting lives – from those of powerful political figures to ordinary people in Britain and Asia, including the individual traders who lived and worked in the Company's settlements.
This story is told through the manuscript records of the period, with over five million pages of content set to be digitised. This ambitious project transforms the accessibility of these archival documents, with enhanced searching and browsing tools allowing for easy navigation.
East India Company is an essential resource for scholarship of empire, maritime trade, global commerce, and the history of one of the first multinational corporations.
For a very detailed guide to all of the IOR classes, including those available in this resource, please see Martin Moir’s book A General Guide to the India Office Records.
Overview
From sixteenth-century origins as a trading venture to the East Indies, through to its rise as the world’s most powerful company and de facto ruler of India, to its demise amid allegations of greed and corruption, the East India Company was an extraordinary force in global history for three centuries.
This digital resource allows students and researchers to access a vast collection of primary source documents from the India Office Records (IOR) held by the British Library, the single most important archive for the study of the East India Company.
From before the Company’s charter was granted by Queen Elizabeth I in 1600 to Indian independence in 1947, East India Company tells the story of European trade with Asia, conflicts, politics, and the rise and fall of the British Empire. It records the challenges of a globalising world and sheds light on many contrasting lives – from those of powerful political figures to ordinary people in Britain and Asia, including the individual traders who lived and worked in the Company's settlements.
This story is told through the manuscript records of the period, with over five million pages of content set to be digitised. This ambitious project transforms the accessibility of these archival documents, with enhanced searching and browsing tools allowing for easy navigation.
East India Company is an essential resource for scholarship of empire, maritime trade, global commerce, and the history of one of the first multinational corporations.
For a very detailed guide to all of the IOR classes, including those available in this resource, please see Martin Moir’s book A General Guide to the India Office Records.
The East India Company was established under a charter from Queen Elizabeth I in 1600. Users of this resource can trace the Company's first voyages, its early attempts to trade in the Spice Islands (modern-day Indonesia), India and Japan, and its skirmishes with pirates and rival trading companies.
By the mid-eighteenth century, the East India Company had unprecedented powers to raise armies, purchase and occupy territories, mint currency, levy taxes and administer criminal justice in the territories it occupied. It straddled the globe with its domination of international commodity networks, and generated nearly half of the world’s entire trade.
By the nineteenth century, the Company had become deeply embroiled in scandals, diplomatic crises, uprisings and wars but had also come to dominate the valuable trade in tea and opium with China. The Indian Uprising of 1857 was the death knell for the Company, which was stripped of all its functions by the British government in 1858. British-occupied territories in India and Burma were thereafter placed under the direct rule of the British government until independence in 1947.
About the East India Company
The East India Company was established under a charter from Queen Elizabeth I in 1600. Users of this resource can trace the Company's first voyages, its early attempts to trade in the Spice Islands (modern-day Indonesia), India and Japan, and its skirmishes with pirates and rival trading companies.
By the mid-eighteenth century, the East India Company had unprecedented powers to raise armies, purchase and occupy territories, mint currency, levy taxes and administer criminal justice in the territories it occupied. It straddled the globe with its domination of international commodity networks, and generated nearly half of the world’s entire trade.
By the nineteenth century, the Company had become deeply embroiled in scandals, diplomatic crises, uprisings and wars but had also come to dominate the valuable trade in tea and opium with China. The Indian Uprising of 1857 was the death knell for the Company, which was stripped of all its functions by the British government in 1858. British-occupied territories in India and Burma were thereafter placed under the direct rule of the British government until independence in 1947.
East India Company presents new research opportunities for teachers and students of the history of exploration, empire, international finance, transnational trade, commodities, warfare and diplomacy, and the interaction between European imperial powers and colonial elites.
Topics covered include:
- Administrative and ecclesiastical appointments
- Agriculture
- Charters and the Company’s relationship to the English/British Crown
- Courts and legal affairs, including legislation
- Diplomacy, treaties and ambassadorial expeditions
- Finance and debt
- The machinery of government
- Pay and pensions for Company servants and their families
- Railways
- Trade
- Early voyages to Japan and the Spice Islands (modern-day Indonesia)
- Warfare and military matters
Topics and research interests
East India Company presents new research opportunities for teachers and students of the history of exploration, empire, international finance, transnational trade, commodities, warfare and diplomacy, and the interaction between European imperial powers and colonial elites.
Topics covered include:
- Administrative and ecclesiastical appointments
- Agriculture
- Charters and the Company’s relationship to the English/British Crown
- Courts and legal affairs, including legislation
- Diplomacy, treaties and ambassadorial expeditions
- Finance and debt
- The machinery of government
- Pay and pensions for Company servants and their families
- Railways
- Trade
- Early voyages to Japan and the Spice Islands (modern-day Indonesia)
- Warfare and military matters
This module consists of the complete IOR classes A, B, C, and D and their associated Z-class indexes, comprising 932 volumes.
Date range:
1599-1947
Document types include:
- Minutes of council meetings (Court of Directors, Court of Proprietors and Council of India)
- Memoranda and papers laid before councils
- Council resolutions
- Proceedings of revenue boards
- Charters
- Text of legislation
- Printed books
- Correspondence
- Lists of administrative, military and ecclesiastical personnel
File Classes:
IOR/A/1
(111 volumes, 1600-1947)
These manuscript charters, commissions of voyages, letters patent, indentures, letters of marque and other legal documents are mostly catalogued individually or in small bound bundles.
IOR/A/2
(27 volumes, 1720-1851)
This sub-series consists of larger, bound volumes, often printed, which deal with relations with a British Government which undertook ever-increasing scrutiny of the Company’s commercial and administrative activities as the eighteenth century turned into the nineteenth.
The volumes include an assortment of papers, most concerning the periodic renewal of the Company’s charters and privileges, such as correspondence between Government and Company representatives, petitions, transcripts of evidence taken by Parliamentary committees, and statutes relating to the Company.
IOR/B
(275 volumes, 1599-1858)
These manuscript volumes are mainly minutes of meetings of the Court of Directors of the Company, with a minority of volumes relating instead to dissents to the Court, and others to the Court of Proprietors (which appointed the directors). The series ends with the transfer of authority from the Company to the Crown in 1858.
The B-class volumes are organised in date order, by meeting; for ease of navigation we have subdivided each volume by month, quarter or year, as most appropriate.
Most B-class volumes have indexes to their content within them, but some do not. Some of these latter volumes are covered by a Z-class index or indexes. All indexed volumes can be viewed in conjunction with their indexes in our split-screen image-viewer.
IOR/C
(145 volumes, 1858-1947)
This series consists mainly of minutes of meetings of the Council of India, which succeeded the courts of the East India Company as the central executive authority for British India. Like the courts, it met in London. It ceased to exist in 1937, when India gained greater self-government under the Government of India Act 1935. The volumes from after this date are of minutes of meetings of the Secretary of State for India’s advisers, and volumes of miscellaneous correspondence. As in the B class, there are also volumes of dissents.
Minute volumes have been subdivided by month, quarter or year, as most appropriate. Many of the later volumes in this series are printed or in typescript and some have indexes, which can be viewed alongside related content in split screen mode.
IOR/D
(256 volumes, 1700-1858)
The majority of these records were produced by, or are closely associated with, the Committee of Correspondence, the most important of the standing committees of the Company appointed by the Court of Directors. They include minutes of the meetings of the Committee, its reports and resolutions, and its memoranda.
The D class also includes many volumes of ‘auditor’s references’, comprising assorted papers mostly relating to the financial claims of Company employees. There are also a few miscellaneous volumes of papers on topics such as ecclesiastical appointments and the legal proceedings against Governor-General Warren Hastings.
Where these volumes are indexed, content and index pages can be viewed simultaneously in the split-screen image-viewer. Some volumes are indexed in Z-class indexes (see below).
Please note that volumes IOR/D/64-65 and 68-71 have been mislaid and are therefore not available in this resource.
IOR/Z
(119 volumes, 1702-1858 in Module 1)
Volumes from IOR/Z included in Module 1 act as indexes to volumes in the B and D classes.
These index volumes have not been compiled in a consistent pattern and can be difficult to navigate; some Z-class indexes relate to only one content volume whilst others relate to multiple content volumes.
In addition to this, some IOR/Z volumes refer to original versions of minutes which have been lost, but which the British Library holds a textually identical copy of.
To make navigation as easy as possible for users, we have cross-referenced each ‘Z’ index with the volume(s) it refers to, while split screen mode enables users browse the content and index volumes simultaneously.
This module consists of 919 volumes from 34 factories or factory groups.
Date range:
1613-1830
Document types include:
- Correspondence
- Consultations (public and military)
- Ledgers
- Minutes
- Proceedings of governors' councils and courts
- Trading journals
- Wills
File classes:
IOR/G, Factory Records, 1613-1830
These relate to factories established in India and the East Indies during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The remainder of this class, dealing with factories elsewhere, principally in China and Japan, is covered in Module 3.
IOR/L/PS, Political and Secret Department records
Included in this module are some of IOR/L/PS/9: Political and Secret Department Records: Correspondence relating to areas outside India, 1781-1911.
The Secret Department was reserved for highly sensitive correspondence involving war, peace and diplomacy, whereas the Political Department dealt with the everyday matters involving relations with the Indian states and foreign governments. This distinction was blurred after 1875, with records from both departments filed together in the same volumes.
Highlights of Module 2 include:
- Correspondence on rivalries between the English and Dutch East India Companies in Java (IOR/G/21/1)
- A translation of the Sultan of Sulu’s cession of Banquay in 1765 (IOR/G/4/1)
- Accounts of three East India Company embassies to Ceylon in 1762-1795 (IOR/G/11/1)
- Letters giving an account of the siege of the Karwar factory by the Sonja Raja in 1717 (IOR/G/22/1)
- Papers related to Sir Stamford Raffles and Singapore (IOR/G/35/50 and IOR/G/35/51)
Please note that the following volumes have been mislaid or have been deemed by the British Library curators to be too fragile to digitise, and so are not available in East India Company: IOR/G/1/2A-C, IOR/G/21/67, IOR/G/21/69, IOR/G/35/28, IOR/G/35/49, IOR/G/35/55, IOR/G/35/61, IOR/G/36/35, IOR/L/PS/9/219.
Module 2: Factory Records for South Asia and South-East Asia
This module consists of 919 volumes from 34 factories or factory groups.
Date range:
1613-1830
Document types include:
- Correspondence
- Consultations (public and military)
- Ledgers
- Minutes
- Proceedings of governors' councils and courts
- Trading journals
- Wills
File classes:
IOR/G, Factory Records, 1613-1830
These relate to factories established in India and the East Indies during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The remainder of this class, dealing with factories elsewhere, principally in China and Japan, is covered in Module 3.
IOR/L/PS, Political and Secret Department records
Included in this module are some of IOR/L/PS/9: Political and Secret Department Records: Correspondence relating to areas outside India, 1781-1911.
The Secret Department was reserved for highly sensitive correspondence involving war, peace and diplomacy, whereas the Political Department dealt with the everyday matters involving relations with the Indian states and foreign governments. This distinction was blurred after 1875, with records from both departments filed together in the same volumes.
Highlights of Module 2 include:
- Correspondence on rivalries between the English and Dutch East India Companies in Java (IOR/G/21/1)
- A translation of the Sultan of Sulu’s cession of Banquay in 1765 (IOR/G/4/1)
- Accounts of three East India Company embassies to Ceylon in 1762-1795 (IOR/G/11/1)
- Letters giving an account of the siege of the Karwar factory by the Sonja Raja in 1717 (IOR/G/22/1)
- Papers related to Sir Stamford Raffles and Singapore (IOR/G/35/50 and IOR/G/35/51)
Please note that the following volumes have been mislaid or have been deemed by the British Library curators to be too fragile to digitise, and so are not available in East India Company: IOR/G/1/2A-C, IOR/G/21/67, IOR/G/21/69, IOR/G/35/28, IOR/G/35/49, IOR/G/35/55, IOR/G/35/61, IOR/G/36/35, IOR/L/PS/9/219.
This module consists of 641 volumes from 7 factories or factory groups.
Date range:
1608-1870
File classes:
IOR/G, Factory Records, 1608-1858
These are the IOR/G volumes relating to factories in east Asia, the Middle East and Africa, from the early seventeenth to the mid-nineteenth century.
Document types include:
- Correspondence
- Consultations (public and military)
- Ledgers
- Proceedings of governors' councils and courts
- Trading journals
- Wills
IOR/R, India Office records transferred later through official channels
Module 3 also includes the complete run of volumes from IOR/R/19, Records of East India Company and India Office Agencies in Egypt (1832-1870).
The volumes in this class consist mostly of correspondence and accounts.
Highlights of Module 3 include:
- Papers relating to Sir Thomas Roe’s embassy to the Mughal Emperor Jahangir (1616) (IOR/G/40/10)
- Diaries of the factory at Tonqueen [Tonkin] (1672-1697) (IOR/G/12/17/1 to IOR/G/12/17/10)
- A narrative description of the Cape of Good Hope, advocating Britain’s annexation of the Cape as a supply station on the way to and from India (1785) (IOR/G/9/1)
- Letters relating to Lord Macartney’s embassy to China (1787-1810) (IOR/G/12/91 Part 1 to IOR/G/12/93)
- Papers relating to Sir Harford Jones’s residency at Baghdad and mission to Persia (1794-1811) (IOR/G/29/32)
- Letters relating to Napoleon Bonaparte’s removal to St Helena (1815-17) (IOR/G/32/162)
Module 3: Factory Records for China, Japan and the Middle East
This module consists of 641 volumes from 7 factories or factory groups.
Date range:
1608-1870
File classes:
IOR/G, Factory Records, 1608-1858
These are the IOR/G volumes relating to factories in east Asia, the Middle East and Africa, from the early seventeenth to the mid-nineteenth century.
Document types include:
- Correspondence
- Consultations (public and military)
- Ledgers
- Proceedings of governors' councils and courts
- Trading journals
- Wills
IOR/R, India Office records transferred later through official channels
Module 3 also includes the complete run of volumes from IOR/R/19, Records of East India Company and India Office Agencies in Egypt (1832-1870).
The volumes in this class consist mostly of correspondence and accounts.
Highlights of Module 3 include:
- Papers relating to Sir Thomas Roe’s embassy to the Mughal Emperor Jahangir (1616) (IOR/G/40/10)
- Diaries of the factory at Tonqueen [Tonkin] (1672-1697) (IOR/G/12/17/1 to IOR/G/12/17/10)
- A narrative description of the Cape of Good Hope, advocating Britain’s annexation of the Cape as a supply station on the way to and from India (1785) (IOR/G/9/1)
- Letters relating to Lord Macartney’s embassy to China (1787-1810) (IOR/G/12/91 Part 1 to IOR/G/12/93)
- Papers relating to Sir Harford Jones’s residency at Baghdad and mission to Persia (1794-1811) (IOR/G/29/32)
- Letters relating to Napoleon Bonaparte’s removal to St Helena (1815-17) (IOR/G/32/162)
This Module consists of 793 volumes, comprising original, draft and abstracted correspondence from class IOR/E plus their associated H- and Z-class indexes, and the Z-class indexes for the Madras and Bombay Presidencies.
It includes correspondence between the East India Company and the Board of Commissioners for the Affairs of India (the Board of Control), the Company’s various settlements and Presidencies throughout Asia, government departments, and European houses of agency. These records offer a fascinating insight into the early voyages of the Company and its shifting interests from trade to the gaining of territorial power, and are interspersed with a number of petitions, reports (including quarterly 'Narratives of Proceedings' produced by regional administrations), financial accounts, inventories and other documents.
Date Range:
1600-1858
File Classes:
IOR/E, East India Company General Correspondence, 1600-1858
This class of documents comprises correspondence relating to a wide range of subjects, regions, and the various administrative units of the East India Company. Series E is further divided into sub-series of original incoming and draft outgoing correspondence, arranged chronologically and/or geographically. The sub-series included in Module 4 are as follows:
IOR/E/2: Correspondence with the Board of Control, 1784-1858. IOR/E/2 comprises correspondence between the East India Company’s Court of Directors and the Board of Commissioners for the Affairs of India (generally shortened to the ‘India Board’ or ‘Board of Control’), the government body appointed to oversee the operations of the East India Company.
IOR/E/3: Correspondence with the East, 1602-1753. IOR/E/3 comprises correspondence between the East India Company’s London offices and its overseas agents, factories, and presidencies. The correspondence covers both original letters received from ‘The East’ and copies of outgoing correspondence from London. The geographical scope of this sub-series is broad, covering the entire range of regions in which the Company maintained a presence.
IOR/E/4: Correspondence with India, 1703-1858. The largest of the IOR/E sub-series, comprising original, draft, and summarised correspondence between the East India Company’s Court of Directors and its various administrations. IOR/E/4 documents featured in Module 4 concern the governance of India and Bengal; correspondence from 1785 onwards is arranged by administrative department.
IOR/H: Home Miscellaneous Series, c.1600-1900
This series comprises records collected by the India Office which did not fit within the regular archive series. Included in this module are the two Catalogues of Original Correspondence at IOR/H/711 and IOR/H/712, which act as indexes to sub-series IOR/E/3 (Correspondence with the East, 1602-1753).
IOR/Z/E: Indexes of the East India Company’s correspondence with India
These indexes cover selected volumes from the IOR/E/4 sub-series, many of which do not have indexes within the volumes themselves.
Highlights of Module 4 include:
- Letters of William Adams (the first Englishman known to have visited Japan), Richard Cocks, and other Company agents in Japan (IOR/E/3/1/2, IOR/E/3/2/1, IOR/E/3/3, IOR/E/3/4/2, IOR/E/3/5/2)
- Copies of letters from King Charles II of England (IOR/E/3/86)
- An ‘Account, from his journal, of James Bearblock's voyage from Assada to Bantam in the Supply’ (IOR/E/3/22)
- Documents relating to pirates, including William Kidd (IOR/E/3/52 and IOR/E/3/53)
- Correspondence between the Board of Control and the East India Company's Board of Directors, concerning government oversight of the Company (IOR/E/2/1 to IOR/E/2/57)
- Correspondence between the East India Company's Court of Directors and the Governors-General of India (throughout sub-series IOR/E/4)
Please note that some letterbooks in the E/3 sub-series (IOR/E/3/71 to IOR/E/3/83) have not been digitised, as they are duplicates.
Module 4: Correspondence: Early Voyages, Formation and Conflict
This Module consists of 793 volumes, comprising original, draft and abstracted correspondence from class IOR/E plus their associated H- and Z-class indexes, and the Z-class indexes for the Madras and Bombay Presidencies.
It includes correspondence between the East India Company and the Board of Commissioners for the Affairs of India (the Board of Control), the Company’s various settlements and Presidencies throughout Asia, government departments, and European houses of agency. These records offer a fascinating insight into the early voyages of the Company and its shifting interests from trade to the gaining of territorial power, and are interspersed with a number of petitions, reports (including quarterly 'Narratives of Proceedings' produced by regional administrations), financial accounts, inventories and other documents.
Date Range:
1600-1858
File Classes:
IOR/E, East India Company General Correspondence, 1600-1858
This class of documents comprises correspondence relating to a wide range of subjects, regions, and the various administrative units of the East India Company. Series E is further divided into sub-series of original incoming and draft outgoing correspondence, arranged chronologically and/or geographically. The sub-series included in Module 4 are as follows:
IOR/E/2: Correspondence with the Board of Control, 1784-1858. IOR/E/2 comprises correspondence between the East India Company’s Court of Directors and the Board of Commissioners for the Affairs of India (generally shortened to the ‘India Board’ or ‘Board of Control’), the government body appointed to oversee the operations of the East India Company.
IOR/E/3: Correspondence with the East, 1602-1753. IOR/E/3 comprises correspondence between the East India Company’s London offices and its overseas agents, factories, and presidencies. The correspondence covers both original letters received from ‘The East’ and copies of outgoing correspondence from London. The geographical scope of this sub-series is broad, covering the entire range of regions in which the Company maintained a presence.
IOR/E/4: Correspondence with India, 1703-1858. The largest of the IOR/E sub-series, comprising original, draft, and summarised correspondence between the East India Company’s Court of Directors and its various administrations. IOR/E/4 documents featured in Module 4 concern the governance of India and Bengal; correspondence from 1785 onwards is arranged by administrative department.
IOR/H: Home Miscellaneous Series, c.1600-1900
This series comprises records collected by the India Office which did not fit within the regular archive series. Included in this module are the two Catalogues of Original Correspondence at IOR/H/711 and IOR/H/712, which act as indexes to sub-series IOR/E/3 (Correspondence with the East, 1602-1753).
IOR/Z/E: Indexes of the East India Company’s correspondence with India
These indexes cover selected volumes from the IOR/E/4 sub-series, many of which do not have indexes within the volumes themselves.
Highlights of Module 4 include:
- Letters of William Adams (the first Englishman known to have visited Japan), Richard Cocks, and other Company agents in Japan (IOR/E/3/1/2, IOR/E/3/2/1, IOR/E/3/3, IOR/E/3/4/2, IOR/E/3/5/2)
- Copies of letters from King Charles II of England (IOR/E/3/86)
- An ‘Account, from his journal, of James Bearblock's voyage from Assada to Bantam in the Supply’ (IOR/E/3/22)
- Documents relating to pirates, including William Kidd (IOR/E/3/52 and IOR/E/3/53)
- Correspondence between the Board of Control and the East India Company's Board of Directors, concerning government oversight of the Company (IOR/E/2/1 to IOR/E/2/57)
- Correspondence between the East India Company's Court of Directors and the Governors-General of India (throughout sub-series IOR/E/4)
Please note that some letterbooks in the E/3 sub-series (IOR/E/3/71 to IOR/E/3/83) have not been digitised, as they are duplicates.
This module contains 987 documents, comprising the remainder of correspondence in the IOR/E class along with the IOR/Z/E/1 index volumes.
The module features correspondence between the East India Company and British Government Departments, and the East India Company’s Bombay and Madras Presidencies, in addition to the Home Correspondence series (IOR/E/1) containing letters between Company officials and merchants, traders, officials and members of the general public. These documents offer valuable insights into the Company’s relationships with the men and women who interacted with them, including merchants, traders, ship’s captains, soldiers and more.
Date Range:
1699-1859
File Classes:
IOR/E, East India Company General Correspondence, 1600-1859
This class of documents comprises correspondence relating to a wide range of subjects, regions, and the various administrative units of the East India Company. Series E is further divided into sub-series of original incoming and draft outgoing correspondence, arranged chronologically and/or geographically. The sub-series included in Module 5 are as follows:
IOR/E/1: Home Correspondence, 1699-1859. This sub-series comprises two parallel groups of records: Miscellaneous letters received (1701-1858), which consists of letters received by the Company's Court of Directors from correspondents in Britain and abroad; and Miscellanies (1699-1859), copies of official letters sent to Company agents, servants and Government departments.
IOR/E/4: Correspondence with India, 1703-1858. The largest of the IOR/E sub-series, comprising original, draft, and summarised correspondence between the East India Company’s Court of Directors and its various administrations. E/4 documents featured in Module 5 concern the governance of Madras and Bombay; correspondence from 1785 onwards is arranged by administrative department.
IOR/Z/E: Indexes to the East India Company’s correspondence with India
These indexes cover selected volumes from the E/1 and E/4 sub-series, many of which do not have indexes within the volumes themselves.
Highlights of Module 5 include:
- Letters from members of the public to the Company (throughout the E/1 Home Correspondence sub-series)
- Letter relating to the foundation of the Parsee Benevolent Institution, an educational institution in Western India founded by Sir Jamsetji Jijibhoy, the first Indian man to receive a British knighthood (IOR/E/4/1084)
- Material relating to early inoculations with the smallpox vaccine in India (IOR/E/4/296)
- Letter from American naturalist, Thomas Horsfield, describing his discovery of a flying gecko (Ptychozoon horsfieldi) in modern-day Indonesia (IOR/E/1/255)
- Letter discussing a treaty signed with Tipu Sultan (1751-1799), ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore and a fierce opponent of Company expansion in India (IOR/E/4/322)
- Material relating to the 'Java Expedition', the British invasion of Java in 1811 (IOR/E/4/341)
Please note that IOR/E/4/448 has been mislaid, and so is not available in East India Company.
Module 5: Correspondence: Domestic Life, Governance and Territorial Expansion
This module contains 987 documents, comprising the remainder of correspondence in the IOR/E class along with the IOR/Z/E/1 index volumes.
The module features correspondence between the East India Company and British Government Departments, and the East India Company’s Bombay and Madras Presidencies, in addition to the Home Correspondence series (IOR/E/1) containing letters between Company officials and merchants, traders, officials and members of the general public. These documents offer valuable insights into the Company’s relationships with the men and women who interacted with them, including merchants, traders, ship’s captains, soldiers and more.
Date Range:
1699-1859
File Classes:
IOR/E, East India Company General Correspondence, 1600-1859
This class of documents comprises correspondence relating to a wide range of subjects, regions, and the various administrative units of the East India Company. Series E is further divided into sub-series of original incoming and draft outgoing correspondence, arranged chronologically and/or geographically. The sub-series included in Module 5 are as follows:
IOR/E/1: Home Correspondence, 1699-1859. This sub-series comprises two parallel groups of records: Miscellaneous letters received (1701-1858), which consists of letters received by the Company's Court of Directors from correspondents in Britain and abroad; and Miscellanies (1699-1859), copies of official letters sent to Company agents, servants and Government departments.
IOR/E/4: Correspondence with India, 1703-1858. The largest of the IOR/E sub-series, comprising original, draft, and summarised correspondence between the East India Company’s Court of Directors and its various administrations. E/4 documents featured in Module 5 concern the governance of Madras and Bombay; correspondence from 1785 onwards is arranged by administrative department.
IOR/Z/E: Indexes to the East India Company’s correspondence with India
These indexes cover selected volumes from the E/1 and E/4 sub-series, many of which do not have indexes within the volumes themselves.
Highlights of Module 5 include:
- Letters from members of the public to the Company (throughout the E/1 Home Correspondence sub-series)
- Letter relating to the foundation of the Parsee Benevolent Institution, an educational institution in Western India founded by Sir Jamsetji Jijibhoy, the first Indian man to receive a British knighthood (IOR/E/4/1084)
- Material relating to early inoculations with the smallpox vaccine in India (IOR/E/4/296)
- Letter from American naturalist, Thomas Horsfield, describing his discovery of a flying gecko (Ptychozoon horsfieldi) in modern-day Indonesia (IOR/E/1/255)
- Letter discussing a treaty signed with Tipu Sultan (1751-1799), ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore and a fierce opponent of Company expansion in India (IOR/E/4/322)
- Material relating to the 'Java Expedition', the British invasion of Java in 1811 (IOR/E/4/341)
Please note that IOR/E/4/448 has been mislaid, and so is not available in East India Company.
This module contains 1257 documents comprising the correspondence of the Board of Commissioners along with IOR/Z/F/4 index volumes. These documents offer valuable insight into the Company’s decisions in the political, financial and military aspects of controlling the East India Company’s vast territory. It also places the India Office into the wider global context of the company’s influence.
Date Range:
1784-1827
File Classes:
IOR/F: Correspondence and papers of the Board of Commissioners
IOR/F/4: This class of documents comprises the records of the Board of Commissioners. Most of the documents are split into sections denoting changes of subject matter, i.e. the first section concerns financial matters, the second section comprises correspondence with a specific individual.
IOR/W/F: These documents contain material that has been separated out of IOR/F/4 volumes as part of the conservation and digitisation process due to their size. Each IOR/W/F document is a small part of a larger whole; for example IOR/W/F/4/18 has been separated from IOR/F/4/18 and should be considered a part of IOR/F/4/18. All the items in IOR/W/F are in excess of a metre long and are now listed as individual documents that form part of a full document.
IOR/Z/F: Indexes to the correspondence of the Board of Commissioners
Registers of Board's Collection 1794/5-1858; the indexes cover specific dates within the IOR/F class rather than serving the class as a whole.
Highlights of Module 6 include:
- Letters regarding vaccination in Bengal (IOR/F/4/427)
- Letters discussing the sample of Bourbon cotton sent to the Directors (IOR/F/4/840)
- Material about the establishment of Hindu Colleges at Nadia in Bengal (IOR/F/4/408)
- Communications between the government of Nepal and the Court of the Chinese Emperor at Peking [Beijing] (IOR/F/4/809)
- Discussion of the plants and seeds sent from the Calcutta Botanical Garden to the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew (IOR/F/4/540)
- Documents relating to the introduction of the 'new native commissioned rank of Subador Major' (IOR/F/4/565)
Please note that due to their delicate condition IOR/F/4/722 and IOR/F/4/882 are unable to be digitised and as such, are not available in this resource.
Module 6: Board of Commissioners: Establishment of the Board
This module contains 1257 documents comprising the correspondence of the Board of Commissioners along with IOR/Z/F/4 index volumes. These documents offer valuable insight into the Company’s decisions in the political, financial and military aspects of controlling the East India Company’s vast territory. It also places the India Office into the wider global context of the company’s influence.
Date Range:
1784-1827
File Classes:
IOR/F: Correspondence and papers of the Board of Commissioners
IOR/F/4: This class of documents comprises the records of the Board of Commissioners. Most of the documents are split into sections denoting changes of subject matter, i.e. the first section concerns financial matters, the second section comprises correspondence with a specific individual.
IOR/W/F: These documents contain material that has been separated out of IOR/F/4 volumes as part of the conservation and digitisation process due to their size. Each IOR/W/F document is a small part of a larger whole; for example IOR/W/F/4/18 has been separated from IOR/F/4/18 and should be considered a part of IOR/F/4/18. All the items in IOR/W/F are in excess of a metre long and are now listed as individual documents that form part of a full document.
IOR/Z/F: Indexes to the correspondence of the Board of Commissioners
Registers of Board's Collection 1794/5-1858; the indexes cover specific dates within the IOR/F class rather than serving the class as a whole.
Highlights of Module 6 include:
- Letters regarding vaccination in Bengal (IOR/F/4/427)
- Letters discussing the sample of Bourbon cotton sent to the Directors (IOR/F/4/840)
- Material about the establishment of Hindu Colleges at Nadia in Bengal (IOR/F/4/408)
- Communications between the government of Nepal and the Court of the Chinese Emperor at Peking [Beijing] (IOR/F/4/809)
- Discussion of the plants and seeds sent from the Calcutta Botanical Garden to the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew (IOR/F/4/540)
- Documents relating to the introduction of the 'new native commissioned rank of Subador Major' (IOR/F/4/565)
Please note that due to their delicate condition IOR/F/4/722 and IOR/F/4/882 are unable to be digitised and as such, are not available in this resource.
This module contains 578 documents comprising the correspondence of the Board of Commissioners. This module covers material containing later collations of correspondence and offers insight into the Company’s expanding influence in the areas of law and education.
Multiple documents included in this module are also linked to IOR/Z/F/4 index volumes included in Module 6: Board of Commissioners: Establishment of the Board. Where available, you can link to these index volumes in the document details page.
Document metadata from this module has been gathered by the Editorial team at AM and also from data provided by the British Library.
Date Range:
1828-1842
File Classes:
IOR/F, Correspondence and papers of the Board of Commissioners
IOR/F/4: This class of documents comprises the records of the Board of Commissioners. Most of the documents are split into sections denoting changes of subject matter, i.e. the first section concerns financial matters, the second section comprises correspondence with a specific individual.
IOR/W/F & IOR/F/W: These documents contain material that has been separated out as part of the conservation and digitisation process due to their size. Each IOR/F/W & IOR/W/F document is a small part of a larger whole; for example, IOR/F/W/4/1703 has been separated from IOR/F/4/1703 and should be considered a part of IOR/F/4/1703. All the items are in excess of a metre long and are now listed as individual documents that form part of a full document.
Highlights of Module 7 include:
- Proceedings of the Indian Law Commission regarding the question of slavery in India. Includes, on page 187, a draft of a proposed Act penalising the maltreatment of enslaved people (IOR/F/4/1765)
- Correspondence regarding the outlawing of aiding Sati tradition and practice (IOR/F/4/1525)
- Papers regarding the passing of significant constitutional laws in India in 1833-1835 (IOR/F/4/1551)
- A Letter to the Right Hon. Sir Henry Hardinge KCBMP on the Effects of Solitary Confinement, on the Health of Soldiers, in Warm Climates (IOR/F/4/1584)
- Extracts from a Private Journal Kept by Captain Jenkins on his late tour through Cachar, including sketches (IOR/F/4/1446)
- Papers regarding the administration of Mysore, including returns of criminal cases for 1834-1835, and a diary of the proceedings of the Mysore Commissioner, Lieut. Colonel Mark Cubbon (IOR/F/4/1588, IOR/F/4/1589)
Module 7: Board of Commissioners: Expansion, Control and Education
This module contains 578 documents comprising the correspondence of the Board of Commissioners. This module covers material containing later collations of correspondence and offers insight into the Company’s expanding influence in the areas of law and education.
Multiple documents included in this module are also linked to IOR/Z/F/4 index volumes included in Module 6: Board of Commissioners: Establishment of the Board. Where available, you can link to these index volumes in the document details page.
Document metadata from this module has been gathered by the Editorial team at AM and also from data provided by the British Library.
Date Range:
1828-1842
File Classes:
IOR/F, Correspondence and papers of the Board of Commissioners
IOR/F/4: This class of documents comprises the records of the Board of Commissioners. Most of the documents are split into sections denoting changes of subject matter, i.e. the first section concerns financial matters, the second section comprises correspondence with a specific individual.
IOR/W/F & IOR/F/W: These documents contain material that has been separated out as part of the conservation and digitisation process due to their size. Each IOR/F/W & IOR/W/F document is a small part of a larger whole; for example, IOR/F/W/4/1703 has been separated from IOR/F/4/1703 and should be considered a part of IOR/F/4/1703. All the items are in excess of a metre long and are now listed as individual documents that form part of a full document.
Highlights of Module 7 include:
- Proceedings of the Indian Law Commission regarding the question of slavery in India. Includes, on page 187, a draft of a proposed Act penalising the maltreatment of enslaved people (IOR/F/4/1765)
- Correspondence regarding the outlawing of aiding Sati tradition and practice (IOR/F/4/1525)
- Papers regarding the passing of significant constitutional laws in India in 1833-1835 (IOR/F/4/1551)
- A Letter to the Right Hon. Sir Henry Hardinge KCBMP on the Effects of Solitary Confinement, on the Health of Soldiers, in Warm Climates (IOR/F/4/1584)
- Extracts from a Private Journal Kept by Captain Jenkins on his late tour through Cachar, including sketches (IOR/F/4/1446)
- Papers regarding the administration of Mysore, including returns of criminal cases for 1834-1835, and a diary of the proceedings of the Mysore Commissioner, Lieut. Colonel Mark Cubbon (IOR/F/4/1588, IOR/F/4/1589)
A variety of research tools provide further contextual information or guidance for teaching and research. From essays and video interviews to an interactive visualisation of the East India Company's trade between 1760 and 1834, you can explore the options under Research Tools or view the full list in Teaching Tools.
Research and Teaching
A variety of research tools provide further contextual information or guidance for teaching and research. From essays and video interviews to an interactive visualisation of the East India Company's trade between 1760 and 1834, you can explore the options under Research Tools or view the full list in Teaching Tools.