Oriental and India Office Collections, The British Library

Title: Oriental and India Office Collections, The British Library

Description: The Oriental and India Office Collections of the British Library were created in 1991 by the merger of the former Oriental Collections and the India Office Library and Records. The Oriental Collections have their origin in the oriental language manuscripts and printed books in the foundation collections of the British Museum in 1753, while the India Office Library and Records were a recent addition to the British Library, transferring from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in 1982.

The former Oriental Collections comprise holdings in the languages of Asia, Islamic North Africa and the Horn of Africa - Ethiopic, etc. - covering the humanities and social and political sciences. The collections of the India Office Library and Records reflect the territorial interests and activities of the East India Company and the India Office, and include literature and documents on India, Pakistan, Burma, Bangladesh and neighbouring countries, Iran and the Gulf states, South Africa, St Helena, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, China and Japan.

There are over 250,000 printed books in western languages, 900,000 printed books in oriental languages (435,000 of which in South Asian languages), 65,000 oriental manuscripts (20,000 of which in South Asian languages), 14km of archives, about 1km of private papers relating principally to South Asia, 40,000 maps (principally of South Asia), prints, drawings and photographs (over 250,000). While the principal focus is on Asia, there is important material relating to Asians in the Caribbean and Asians in Britain. This material has not yet been quantified. Please also note that the catalogues for much of these collections, apart from western language printed books, are not yet available on the British Library web-site.

Although the Oriental and India Office Collections house little material relating to the Caribbean region the India Office Records do contain resources relating to Asians in the Caribbean, some providing interesting details of living conditions there. They have not been quantified, but there are probably a few hundred items. For further information see the following publication: Thomas, T. 1985, Indians overseas, a guide to source materials in the India Office Records for the study of Indian emigration 1830-1950, The British Library, London.

The India Office Records contain considerable information on Asians in Britain, including lascars, ayahs, students, nationalists, princes, performers, petitioners to the East India Company and India Office, teachers and traders. These records are embedded within series relating to a range of subjects and have not yet been quantified. There are 774 files from the Indian Political Intelligence organisation, many relating to Asians in Britain. Further information will be available on the Oriental and India Office Collections web pages from April 2002. Many references are contained in the following publications: Visram, R. 1986, Ayahs, lascars and princes, Pluto Press, London, and there will be more in Visram, R. (forthcoming in 2002), Asians in Britain: 400 years of history, Pluto Press, London.

The Oriental and India Office Collections house a number of 19th century travel accounts of the UK, written by Indian authors in various languages (Urdu, Bengali, Hindi, Marathi, Gujarati etc). In addition, there are works of literature by poets and short story writers living in the UK, about their experiences (primarily in Panjabi and Bengali). A small amount of papers and correspondence in English of Indians living in the UK will be found in the Private Papers, including unpublished novels by the Bengali writer S N Ghose.

The most important modern source is the collection of South Asian newspapers and serials published in the UK and received under legal deposit. Languages represented in the collection include Panjabi, Gujarati, Tamil, Urdu, Bengali, etc. This collection is a prime source for information on the development of South Asian communities and their contribution to UK cultural and economic life.

Strengths: The main strengths of the India Office Records are the resources about Asians’ interaction with the East India Company and the India Office, as well as social, economic and political information relating to Indians in Britain and in the Caribbean. The strengths of the printed collections are the newspapers and serials in a range of South Asian languages, and printed books relating to the experiences of South Asians in Britain.

Size: Over 500,000 printed books, 20,000 manuscripts, 40,000 maps and 250,000 photographs of South Asian import. c.200 items relevant to Caribbean studies.

Catalogue: BLPC (British Library Public Catalogue)

Catalogue URL: http://blpc.bl.uk/

Main URL: http://www.bl.uk/collections/oriental/

Access: Access is based on the need to use the collections. The British Library web-site at http://www.bl.uk/ gives further details and information on obtaining a reader’s pass.

Acquisition dates: 18th century-present: printed books, newspapers and serials. India Office Records, 1600-1947.

Note:

Interest: Asian, Caribbean

Complete: Complete

Subjects

Trade

South Asian literature

Social history

Political history

Migration

Indic languages

Ethnic groups

Economic history

Asian peoples

Asian cultures

Personal/Corporate names

India Office

East India Company

Places

Trinidad and Tobago

Pakistan

Guyana

Jamaica

India

Bangladesh

Asia