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.

See also

• Presidencies
• Browse British India locations

External links

Historical books online

	The FIBIS Google Books Library has books tagged: History of India

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 Please note the dates that these have been written in order to be aware that some of the content may be outdated or incompatible with modern sensibilities.

• Also see East India Company.
• Also see Governor-General.
• Early English Adventurers in the East by Arnold Wright 1917 Archive.org
• The First Englishmen in India. Letters and Narratives of sundry Elizabethans... by J Courtenay Locke 1930 Archive.org. Part of the series The Broadway Travellers.
• A philosophical and political history of the settlements and trade of the Europeans in the East and West Indies by Abbé Guillaume-Thomas-François Raynal 1804 edition, first published in an English translation 1783 Volume 1, Volume 2 (out of 6 volumes) Google Books
• Bengal and Madras papers: recounting the growth of British power in India edited by G W Forrest 1928. Published by Imperial Record Department, Calcutta.

Volume I [1670-1688]; Vol. II [1688-1757]; Vol. III [1757-1785]. Links to pdf downloads Digital Repository of GIPE, Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics, Pune, India.

• "India, or Hindostan" page 56 The New Universal Traveller: Containing a Full and Distinct Account of All the Empires, Kingdoms, and States, in the Known World by J Carver 1779 Google Books
• Transactions in India, from the commencement of the French War in seventeen hundred and fifty-six, to the conclusion of the late peace, in seventeen hundred and eighty-three: Containing a history of the British interests in Indostan, during a period of near thirty years; distinguished by two wars with France, several revolutions and treaties of alliance, the acquisition of an extensive territory, and the administration of Governor Hastings by John Moir 1786 Google Books
• British India analyzed: The provincial and revenue establishments of Tippoo Sultaun and of Mahomedan and British conquerors in Hindostan, stated and considered. In Three Parts by Charles Francis Greville 1795 Google Books
  • Part 1 The Object and Principles Of The New Act; The Revenue Regulations of Tippoo Sultaun; and The Provincial Establishments Of Mahomedan Conquerors In British India
  • Part 2 Provincial and Revenue Establishments Of British Conquerors
  • Part 3 Deductions From The History Of Mahomedan and European Conquerors
• The View of Hindoostan. Volume I Western Hindoostan by Thomas Pennant 1798 Archive.org. Contents, Index

The View of Hindoostan. Volume II Eastern Hindoostan Contents, Index. Part of the same Archive.org digital file. Also available Volume II Heidelberg University Library version.

• The Nabobs : a Study of the Social Life of the English in Eighteenth Century India by Percival Spear. Reprint edition 1980, first published 1932, second enlarged edition 1963. Archive.org Books to Borrow/Lending Library.
• The East Indian chronologist : where the historical events respecting the East Indian Company are briefly arranged in succession from the date of their Charter in 1600, to the 4th of June 1801, with other particulars necessary to be known, as interesting to the inhabitants of India by John Hawkesworth 1801 (Calcutta) Google Books version, Archive.org version- note many pages are marked.
• The History of British India Vol 1, by James Mill (1817) Vol 2 (1708-84), Vol 3 (1784-1805) Google Books
• History of the Possessions of the Honorable East India Company by R. Montgomery Martin 1837. Volume I, Volume I, 2004 reprint edition; Volume II Archive.org, including Granth Sanjeevani Collection.
• The History of British India 1805 to 1835 Vol 1, by Horace Hayman Wilson (1848), Vol 2 from 1813, Vol 3 from 1823 Google Books
• The History of the British Empire in India Vol 1, by Edward Thornton (1841) Vol 2, 1766-98, Vol 3, 1797-1805, Vol 4, 1805-19, Vol 5, 1823-33, Vol 6, 1833-43 2nd edition 1859 with an “entirely new and enlarged glossary", chronological index, and index Google Books

The History of the British Empire in India...1844 to 1862: Forming a Sequel to Thornton's History of India Vol 1, by Lionel James Trotter (1866) Google Books, Vol 2 (Archive.org)

• History of British India with Continuation comprising the Afghan War- The Conquest of Sinde and Gwalior-War in the Punjaub Etc by Hugh Murray 1851. Originally published 1832. Archive.org, K.K. Venugopal Collection.
• Political and Military Events in British India: From the Years 1756 to 1849: Vol 1 (to 1814) by William Hough (1853) and Vol 2 (1814-49) Google Books
• Charles Grant and British Rule in India by Ainslie Thomas Embree 1962 Archive.org Lending Library. Grant (1746-1823) used his influential position as a director of the East India Company to advance the evangelical chaplains and defended the Baptist Missionaries in India.
• The Three Presidencies of India by John Capper 1853 Archive.org. Full title The Three Presidencies of India: a history of the rise and progress of the British Indian Possessions…
• A comprehensive History of India, civil, military and social, from the first landing of the English, to the suppression of the Sepoy revolt by Henry Beveridge 1862 editions (first published 1858) Google Books Volume 1( -1767) (Books 1, 2, 3), Volume 2 (1762 -1803) (Books 4, 5, 6), Volume 3 (1808-) (Books 7, 8,9), Index to all Volumes
• ‪India in 1858‬: ‪A Summary of the Existing Administration, Political, Fiscal, and Judicial, of British India, Together with the Laws and Public Documents Relating Thereto, from the Earliest to the Present Time‬ by Arthur Mills 1858 Google Books
• The Administration of India from 1859-1868: the First Ten Years of Administration under the Crown by Iltudus Thomas Prichard 1869 Volume 1,Contents; Volume 2, Contents Google Books
• The Englishman in India by Charles Raikes 1867 (Google Books)
• A Short History of India and of the Frontier States of Afghanistan, Nipal and Burma by J Talboys Wheeler 1899. Printed in London. Archive.org

India and the Frontier States of Afghanistan, Nipal and Burma by J Talboys Wheeler 1899 Printed in New York. Volume I, Volume II Includes a supplementary chapter in Volume II, but otherwise the text is probably the same.

• A History of India by A F Rudolf Hoernle, Indian Educational Service (Retired List) and Herbert A Stark, Bengal Educational Service. [1st edition] 1904, 3rd edition 1906; Fourth Edition, Revised and Enlarged [1909] All Archive.org
• History of India published 1906-07 (Archive.org):

• 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

• The Cambridge History of India published 1922-1932.

Volume V British India 1497-1858 edited by H H Dodwell 1928

Volume VI The Indian Empire 1858-1918. With chapters on the development of Administration 1818-1858 edited by H H Dodwell 1932

Earlier volumes in the series All Archive.org.

• Dictionary of British-Indian dates: being a compendium of all the dates essential to the study of the history of British rule in India 1866 Google Books
• Slave Trade (East India). [Also] Slavery in Ceylon. Correspondence between the Directors of the East India Company and the Company's Government in India, on the subject of Slavery. Communications relating to Slavery in the Island of Ceylon. House of Commons Parliamentary Papers 31 July 1838. Google Books
• Slavery and the slave trade in British India: with notices of the existence of these evils in the islands of Ceylon, Malacca, and Penang, drawn from official documents Published 1841 Google Books
• India in 1880 by Sir Richard Temple Second Edition1881 Contents Archive.org
• The Administration of the Marquis of Lansdowne as Viceroy and Governor-general of India, 1888-1894 by George W Forrest 1894 Archive.org
• "Ancient and Modern Political Divisions" page 170 The History of India by Sir Roper Lethbridge September 1900 edition, with corrections 1898 (First edition 1875)
• The Economic History of India under early British rule, from the rise of the British power in 1757 to the accession of Queen Victoria in 1837 by Romesh Dutt 6th edition 1920 Archive.org. First published c 1902.

The Economic History of India in the Victorian Age: From the Accession of Queen Victoria in 1837.... Original title was India in the Victorian Age; an Economic History of the People 1904 edition, 3rd edition 1908 Archive.org.

• India in 1907 page 226 More Changes More Chances by Henry W. Nevinson 1925 Archive.org. He was sent to India by the Manchester Guardian to report on the "unrest" movement, following which he wrote The New Spirit in India by Henry W. Nevinson 1908 Archive.org
• The Empire of India by Sir Bampfylde Fuller, Indian Civil Service (retired) 1913 Archive.org. 2nd digital file, better text, poorer photographs Archive.org
• The Passing of Empire by H Fielding-Hall [Harold] 1913 Archive.org. A handwritten note on the title page indicates he was a senior lawyer in Burma in the Civil Service. Undated edition: For circulation in India only Archive.org.
• A New Geography Of The Indian Empire And Ceylon by Cameron Morrison. 3rd edition, revised and enlarged 1915, (first published 1906). Archive.org, Digital Library of India Collection. Additional digital files available Archive.org
• Provincial Geographies of India 1913-23.

[Volume 1] The Panjab, North-West Frontier Province and Kashmir by Sir James Douie 1916. [Volume 2] Bengal, Bihar and Orissa, Sikkim by L S S O’Malley 1917. [Volume 3] The Madras Presidency with Mysore, Coorg and the Associated States by Edgar Thurston 1913. [Volume 4] Burma by Sir Herbert Thirkell White 1923 Archive.org

• England's Debt to India: a Historical Narrative of Britain's Fiscal Policy in India by Lajpat Rai 1917 Archive.org
• British India from Queen Elizabeth to Lord Reading by an Indian Mahomedan 1926 Archive.org. Catalogued as British India
• The Rt. Hon. Mr. E. S. Montagu on Indian Affairs, published 1917. Archive.org. Mr Montagu was Secretary of State for India, in Britain. Includes the Indian Budgets 1910-1913 and Mr Montagu’s views of the inefficiencies of the structure of Indian Government, as revealed by the Mesopotamian Commission.
• Political Trouble In India 1907-1917 by James Campbell Ker ICS. Reprint edition with Foreword and Bibliographical Note by Mahadevaprasad Saha. 1960. Archive.org. First published 1917 as Secret and Confidential. This report was a secret document provided to the Sedition Committee, see following Report, and "was the real source-book for the Committee" (page vii)

1973 reprint of 1917 original with "About this book" by Jamna Das Akhtar. Archive.org.

• Sedition Committee 1918 Report Superintendent Government Printing, Calcutta. 1918. Archive.org. There was also a Secret Edition ref: IOR/V/26/262/1 British Library. One of the aims of the Committee was to “investigate and report on the nature and extent of the criminal conspiracies connected with the revolutionary movement in India.” See previous item for the book by James Campbell Ker.

Sedition Committee 1918 Appendices Archive.org version, mirror from Digital Library of India.

• Disorders Inquiry Committee 1919-1920 : Report published 1920. Archive.org, Granth Sanjeevani Collection. Also see Massacre at Amritsar‎‎ for volumes of evidence considered by this Committee.
• Punjab Unrest Before And After by H N Mittra 1920 edition, 2nd edition 1921 Archive.org
• The Lost Dominion by Al. Carthill (pseudonym) 1922. Archive.org. Some editions may have had the additional title A review of recent political events in India, 1925 additional title The story of England's abdication in India. The author's full name was Bennet Christian Huntingdon Calcraft-Kennedy (1871–1935), sometimes seen as B C Kennedy, who went to India in 1891 and worked as a Collector and Judge in Bombay Presidency, retiring in 1926.
• Histories Of The Non-Co-Operation And Khilafat Movements by P C Bamford 1925. Pdf download, KrishiKosh: An Institutional Repository of Indian National Agricultural Research System. Also available on Archive.org Digital Library of India Collection
• Communism In India [by] Sir Cecil Kaye with Unpublished Documents from National Archives of India (1919-1924) compiled and edited by Subodh Roy 1971 Archive.org, Public Library of India Collection. Communism In India first published 1925. The author had been Director of the Department of Central Intelligence. Cecil Kaye Wikipedia. His daughter was the author M M Kaye, see her autobiographies.
• Statistical Abstract relating to British India HMSO . A broken range of various editions covering the period 1840 to 1920. dsal.uchicago.edu.
• The Indian Year Book. A Statistical and Historical Annual of the Indian Empire. With an explanation of the principal topics of the day. First issued 1914. Edited by Sir Stanley Reed. 1919: Sixth year of issue Contents, Index; 1920, Contents, Index Archive.org. Archive.org versions, filtered to show author Reed There may be additional volumes showing other authors, or no author.
• India in 19**-19**: A statement prepared for presentation to Parliament, at least some editions by L F Rushbrook Williams. Government of India Central Publication Branch

Report on the Administration of India for the year 1916-17 Pdf download Digital Repository of GIPE-Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics [Pune India].

On Archive.org, many being mirror versions from from Digital Library of India.

1917-18; 1919; 1920;

1921-22; 1922-23 (1923), Contents, Index; 1923-24 (1924), Contents, Index; 1924-25; 1925-26 (1926) Contents, Index; 1926-27; 1927-28; 1928-29; 1929-30;

1930-1931 (1932), Contents, Index; 1931-32; 1932-33; 1933-34; 1934-35. Additional files are also available for these years.

• The Indian Recorder was intended to be a reference book for the period. Archive.org, including Digital Library of India Collection.

April-June 1932; July-September,1932; October-December,1932; January- March 1933.

• Indian Annual Register and Indian Quarterly Register. 1923 title is Indian Annual Register: Being an Annual Chronicle and Digest of Public Affairs of India in Matters Political, Educational, Economic, etc. Editions available on Archive.org. Editions available on Digital Repository of GIPE as pdf downloads Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics [Pune]. Broken range 1919-1947.
• The Political System Of British India by E.A. Horne 1922 Archive.org.
• Report Of The Administration Of Lord Reading Viceroy And Governor General Of India (1921-1926) by J Coatman 1927. Archive.org version, mirror from Digital Library of India.

Years Of Destiny India 1926-1932 by J C Coatman 1932. Reprinted in 1985 as India The Years Of Struggle For Freedom. Archive.org version, mirror from Digital Library of India.

The Indian Riddle by John Coatman 1932. Archive.org version, mirror from Digital Library of India. Full title: The Indian Riddle: a Solution Suggested

India The Road To Self Government by John Coatman 1942. Archive.org version, mirror from Digital Library of India.

• Must England lose India? [The Nemesis of Empire] by Lieutenant-Colonel Arthur Osburn 3rd edition December 1930 (first published May 1930]. Archive.org, Digital Library of India Collection. Archive.org Lending Library edition possibly better print quality. This book was banned in India. The author had been in the RAMC.
• Indian chapters about events in India in 1930 commencing with “Flight to India” page 547The Way of a Transgressor by Negley Farson 1936 Archive.org Lending Library. The India pages continue to page 593. 2nd file, different edition with differing page numbers, India chapters commence page 582 Archive.org. Negley Farson Wikipedia. The author was then an American foreign correspondent, one of the most renowned of his day.
• "The Surrender to Swaraj" Chapter XVI page 296 The Surrender of an Empire by Nesta H. Webster 1931 Archive.org
• Rise And Fulfilment Of British Rule In India by Edward Thompson and G T Garratt 2nd edition 1935, first published 1934. Archive.org. A history.
• Turmoil & Tragedy in India 1914 and After by Lt Gen Sir George MacMunn 1935. Archive.org version, mirror from Digital Library of India.
• The White Sahibs in India by Reginald Reynolds 1937. Full title  : The White Sahibs in India. An examination of British rule in India. Archive.org version, mirror from Digital Library of India.
• Budget For 1941-1942 Archive.org
• Strangers In India by Penderel Moon 1944 Archive.org
• The British In India by Sir Percival J Griffiths 1946. Archive.org version, mirror from Digital Library of India.
• Churchill, Cripps, and India, 1939-1945 by R J Moore (Robin James) 1979. Archive.org Lending Library.
• The British In Asia by Guy Wint 1947 Archive.org
• The British Overseas : Exploits of a Nation of Shopkeepers by C E Carrington 1950. Archive.org Books to Borrow/Lending Library. Includes many chapters about India, from the early days of the East India Company to 1947.
• India and the Passing of Empire by Sir George Dunbar 1951. Archive.org version, mirror from Digital Library of India.
• The British Impact on India by Sir Percival J Griffiths 1952. Archive.org version, mirror from Digital Library of India.
• The Men Who Ruled India, published in three volumes, The Founders (1953), Archive.org version, mirror from Digital Library of India; The Guardians, Volume I, Archive.org version mirror from Digital Library of India; and The Guardians, Volume lI, Archive.org version mirror from Digital Library of India; (1954) by Philip Woodruff (pseudonym). The author was Philip Mason who joined the Indian Civil Service in 1928.
• The Transfer of Power in India 1945-7 by E W R Lumby 1954 Archive.org
• The Transfer of Power in India by V P Menon 1957 Archive.org
• The Last Days of the British Raj by Leonard Mosley 1960 Archive.org
• Martial Law in India, Pakistan and Ceylon by Joseph Minattur 1962. Archive.org Books to Borrow/Lending Library.
• The Last Years of British India by Michael Edwardes 1963 Archive.org. Also available Archive.org version 2.

Asia In The European Age 1498-1955 by Michael Edwardes 1961. Archive.org, Public Library of India Collection.

The West in Asia, 1850-1914 by Michael Edwardes 1967. Archive.org Lending Library. Covers European powers and Great Britain, including India, Burma, Malaya, North Borneo.

• A trilogy about the rise and decline of Queen Victoria’s Empire by James, who became, Jan Morris, published 1968-78. Includes chapters about India. Archive.org Books to Borrow/Lending Library unless otherwise indicated.

Heaven's Command : an Imperial Progress by James Morris 1980, first published 1973.

Pax Britannica : the Climax of an Empire by James Morris 1968. File 2.

Farewell the Trumpets: An Imperial Retreat by James Morris 1979, first published 1978. Archive.org. File 2 1978. File 3 1980.

• The Great Divide: Britain, India, Pakistan by H V Hodson 1969 Archive.org Books to Borrow/ Lending Library.
• The Administrative History of India, 1834-1947; General Administration by B B Misra 1970. Archive.org Lending Library.
• The Transfer of Power 1942-7. Editor in Chief Nicholas Mansergh, Editor Penderel Moon. Published in 12 volumes 1970- 1983 HMSO. Title page includes the additional title Constitutional Relations between Britain and India. Unpublished documents from the India Office Records.

v. 1. The Cripps Mission, January-April 1942.--v. 2. Quit India, 30 April-21 September 1942.--v. 3. Reassertion of authority, Gandhi's fast, and the succession to the Viceroyalty, 21 September 1942-12 June 1943.--v. 4. The Bengal famine and the new Viceroyalty, 15 June 1943-31 August 1944.--v. 5. The Simla Conference, background and proceedings, 1 September 1944-28 July 1945.--v. 6. The post-war phase: new moves by the Labour Government, 1 August 1945-22 March 1946.--v. 7. The cabinet mission, 23 March-29 June 1946.--v. 8. The interim government, 3 July-1 November, 1946.--v. 9. The fixing of a time limit, 4 November 1946-22 March 1947.--v. 10. The Mountbatten Viceroyalty, formation of a plan, 22 March-30 May 1947.--v. 11. The Mountbatten Viceroyalty announcement and reception of the 3 June plan 31 May-7 July 1947.--v. 12. The Mountbatten Viceroyalty, princes, partition, and independence, 8 July-15 August 1947.

Vol. 1, Vol. 2, Vol. 3, Vol. 4, Vol. 5, Vol. 6, Vol. 7, Vol. 8, Vol. 9, Vol. 10, Vol. 11, Vol. 12 Archive.org Lending Library.

• The Sole Spokesman: Jinnah, the Muslim League and the demand for Pakistan by Ayesha Jalal 1994 edition, first published 1985 Archive.org
• Shameful Flight: The Last Years of the British Empire in India by Stanley A. Wolpert 2006 Archive.org Lending Library.
• Partition: The story of Indian independence and the creation of Pakistan in 1947 by Barney White-Spunner 2017. Sample pages only, Google Books.
• Also see Life in India-Departure and Connections for books about independence in 1947.