British India

Scope of FIBIS' Interest

The main focus of FIBIS activities is the ‘sub-continent’ of India but we are also interested in all areas and activities of the British in South Asia including the following between the founding of the East India Company in 1599 to ‘Indian Independence’ in 1947:

Afghanistan, Aden, Andaman Islands, Bangladesh, Benkulen (Sumatra), Burma (Myanmar), Ceylon (Sri Lanka), China, Macao & Hong Kong, Indonesia (Borneo, Labuan etc.), Malaysia, Mauritius, Persia, Singapore, Straits Settlements.

Also included are the activities of the East India Company in London and St. Helena.

External links

Historical online books

Some general histories available as online books. Please note the dates that these have been written in order to be aware that some of the content may be outdated or incompatible with modern sensibilites.

• The History of British India by James Mill 1817 Volume 1, (Books 1, 2, 3), Volume 2, (Books 4, 5,1708-1784), Volume 3 (Book 6,1784-1805)
• The History of British India 1805 to 1835 by Horace Hayman Wilson 1848 Volume 1, Volume 2 from 1813, Volume 3 from 1823
• The History of the British Empire in India by George Robert Gleig Volume 1, pub. 1830, Volume 2, pub. 1835, Volume 3, pub. 1835, Volume 4, pub. 1835
• Chapters of the Modern History of British India by Edward Thornton 1840 Google Books
• The History of the British Empire in India by Edward Thornton Volume 1, pub. 1841,Volume 2, 1766-1798, pub. 1842, Volume 3, 1797-1805, pub. 1842, Volume 4, 1805-1819, pub. 1843, Volume 5, 1823-1833, pub. 1843 Volume 6, pub. 1845. 2nd edition 1859 Google Books with an “entirely new and enlarged glossary", chronological index, and index
• The History of the British Empire in India: From the Appointment of Lord Hardinge to the Political Extinction of the East-India Company, 1844 to 1862 : Forming a Sequel to Thornton's History of India by Lionel James Trotter 1866 Volume 1, Volume 2 (Archive.org)
• Political and Military Events in British India: From the Years 1756 to 1849 by William Hough 1853 .Volume 1 (to 1814) and Volume 2 (1814-1849) are in the same link; index for Volume 2 is at page 371 (following on from Volume 1), then Volume 2 page numbers recommence from page 1. Google Books
• History of India, published 1906-1907

• Volume 1 From the earliest times to the sixth century B.C., by R.C. Dutt.
• Volume 2 From the sixth century B.C. to the Mohammedan conquest, including the invasion of Alexander the Great, by V.A. Smith.
• Volume 3 Mediaeval India from the Mohammedan conquest to the reign of Akbar the Great, by S. Lane-Poole.
• Volume 4 From the reign of Akbar the Great to the fall of the Moghul empire, by S. Lane-Poole
• Volume 5 The Mohammedan period as described by its own historians, by Sir H.M. Elliot.
• Volume 6 From the first European settlements to the founding of the English East India company, by Sir W.W. Hunter
• Volume 7 The European struggle for Indian supremacy in the seventeenth century, by Sir W.W. Hunter.
• Volume 8 From the close of the seventeenth century to the present time, by Sir A.C. Lyall.
• Volume 9 Historic accounts of India by foreign travellers, classic, oriental, and occidental, by A.V.W. Jackson