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== Explanation ==It was common with commercial and government (Royal) controlled enterprises in earlier years, in which citizens were employed to undertake paid services, to require them to sign a '''Covenant''' of good behaviour and to limit their activities to the requirements of their employer.
It was common with commercial and government (Royal) controlled enterprises in earlier years, in which citizens were employed to undertake paid services, to require them to sign a Covenant of good behaviour and to limit their activities to the requirements of their employer. In order to ensure that the terms of the Covenant were respected, it was practice to obtain ‘Guarantees’ from (usually) two citizens (or, ‘Sureties’) of repute. They would be required to issue '''bonds ''' whereby they undertook to pay a certain sum of money in the event that the employee broke the terms of his Covenant.
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This was the practice adopted by the [[Honourable East India Company]] for all its employees, from its inception in 1600 until its loss of monopoly in India in 1834 and sometimes beyond. Every British citizen wishing to travel to India required the authority of the Company and, in general, was only given that authority if he was an employee of the Company. Exceptions to this were soldiers of the [[East India Company Army|Companies armies]] and officers and soldiers of the [[British Army]] travelling to India, but they were subject to other military forms of obligation to the Company.
==FIBIS resources==
The FIBIS database contains [http://wwwfibis.search.fibisourarchives.org/frontisonline/bin/aps_browse_sources.php?mode=browse_classes&source_class=40 two lists] of individuals undertaking early Bonds, Covenants, etc, covering thousands of names:*[http://www.searchfibis.fibisourarchives.org/frontisonline/bin/aps_browse_sources.php?mode=browse_classes&source_class=40 Early Bonds 1607-1770] - An index of names. The Bonds themselves have long since been lost.*[http://www.searchfibis.fibisourarchives.org/frontisonline/bin/aps_browse_sources.php?mode=browse_components&id=150&s_id=40 Miscellaneous Bonds 1814-1865] issued by the Company after an Act of Parliament in 1813, lifting restrictions on travel to India of Missionaries, Tradesmen – and Women!
The major series of Bonds and Covenants, to be found in the ‘O’ series in the [[India Office Records]] at the [[British Library]], are those issued in respect of [[Writer]]s, Factors and other Civil Servants of the Company’s Trading serviceas mentioned in this B.L. [http://www.bl.uk:80/reshelp/findhelpregion/asia/india/indiaofficerecordsfamilyhistory/occupations/civilservice/civilservice.html link]
==Examples==
''in the Presence of''
[[Category:East India Company records]]
[[Category:Glossary]]
