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The '''British Association for Cemeteries in South Asia''' (or BACSA) was established in 1976 to care for, and to record, European cemeteries wherever the [[East India Company]] operated. It has published an extensive series of books, including transcriptions of gravestones throughout India, [[Pakistan]], [[Bangladesh]], [[Malaysia]] and surrounding areas, as well as more general information on the British presence in this region.
BACSA have put indexes to the majority of their cemetery books online and these indexes are free to browse. If an indexed name is of interest then application can be made to BACSA for details of the relevant burial inscription - charges apply for this service. Many of the burials indicated in the search facility do not appear in the N Series of burials held in the British Library and this is , therefore, an invaluable supplementary resource to those records. Names on India related Monumental Inscriptions known to BACSA have also been included in the search facility - many of these being UK inscriptions.. See Cemeteries and Burials/Burials Information which is[httphttps://bacsa.frontis.co /bin/index.php BACSA Search] for more information.
In addition to their published material, the archive containing all of BACSA's transcripts is deposited in the private papers collection (shelf mark Mss Eur F370) at the [[British Library]], where it may be consulted by readers. [httphttps://www.bacsa.org.uk/?page_id=697 archives/cemetery-files/ BACSA Cemetery files] and [httphttps://www.bacsa.org.uk/?page_id=699 archives/#other-archive-resources BACSA Other archive resources] has details about the items contained in the BACSA Archive. The latter link includes "Publications containing data chiefly of biographical interest" and [httphttps://www.bacsa.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/20132020/1201/Reference-materials-geographical.pdf "Publications containing data chiefly of geographical interest"].
In respect of category 1 "Cemetery files and registers", the website advises previously advised "Some files contain little information. Others may include information of all kinds, for example photographs, reports and correspondence on the cemetery's condition, burial registers, copies of inscriptions, notes on individuals buried there, or descriptions of the town in which the cemetery is situated" (and there is now similar wording). The archive includes some card indexes/papers prepared by Lt Col H K Percy Smith (1897-1975) who also prepared the Percy Smith card index collection at the [[Society of Genealogists]].
It is also possible to browse the contents of the BACSA archive from the [http://searcharchives.bl.uk/primo_library/libweb/action/search.do?vid=IAMS_VU2 British Library catalogue] by entering the name BACSA, or Library reference Mss Eur F370.
==See also==
*Fibiwiki page [[Cemeteries and monumental inscriptions reading list]] for a list of BACSA publications. To view the Cemetery Record books currently available, and also those out of print, go to [https://www.bacsa.org.uk/product-category/cemetery-record-books/ BACSA Shop: Cemetery Record Books]. Also see [https://web.archive.org/web/20201027174942/http://www.bacsa.org.uk/?page_id=875 BACSA Books2334 an archived page about Cemetery books] and select Cemetery Record Booksas at October 2020, (bacsa.org.uk) which mentions some out of print cemetery books.*Fibiwiki page [[Cemeteries]] for more information about cemeteries generally.
==FamilySearch digitised books==
==External links==
*[httphttps://www.bacsa.org.ukBACSA website]**Cemeteries and Burials/ Burials Information which is the [https://bacsa.frontis.co/bin/index.php BACSA websiteSearch]
===Historical books online===
*[http://www.digitalhimalaya.com/collections/journals/chowkidar/ Online editions of ''Chowkidar'' from 1977] Digital Himalaya, University of Cambridge.
