Writer

A writer was the lowest occupation in the East India Company. They were the clerks who maintained the ledgers and records of the Company, but who if they lived long enough become very rich and powerful progressing through the ranks of the Company service. Even after the demise of the Company around 1860, clerks in the Indian Civil Service were termed, unofficially at least, writers. The term was/is also used in the Royal Navy for clerks.

Contributed to the India list by Anthony West, March 7, 2007