This book is a history of British India from 1599 to 1947. It is divided into three parts addressing political history, topical studies, and a collection of four hundred biographies of noteworthy English men and women who played a role in the creation of British India. As the Elizabethan era approached its end, English life exuded a high sense of energy and optimism that drove men to the ends of the earth. The lure of wealth in the spices of the East Indies correlated well with English naval strengths. In London, the East India Company set the national vision of competition with the Portuguese, Dutch and French while in India it developed the ports of Madras, Bombay, and Calcutta. Britain dominated India's political landscape for over 300 years, yet in the twentieth century, the emergence of Gandhi and his use of civil disobedience shook the British government to its foundations. By March 1947, Lord Mountbatten had little more choice than to grant Indian independence or see it taken by Indians themselves.

This selected annotated listing of 580 published personal writings of Englishmen involved in India from 1583 is intended to round out the scattered bibliographical compilations on the history of British India. Included are memoirs and autobiographies, collections of personal letters, diaries and journals, and travel narratives. The term British India is used in a broad historical sense to include Afghanistan, Nepal, Tibet, and Burma during the relevant periods of British influence. With a few exceptions, the volume excludes official minutes, reports, and correspondence. Although each work provides a unique account of the British experience, a number of broad trends emerge. One of the most striking is the initial experience of parting from family and homeland and embarking on what was, before 1830, a five to seven-month sail around the Cape of Good Hope. Travel within India, on the other hand, was a high point of the British experience and thus provides the subject for much of the writings. Other topics include the violence of the British-Indian conflict, and the constant danger of death from disease, accidents, or other mishaps. Light is also cast on the role of the Western missionaries, who were active in education, translating Indian languages, and writing dictionaries. Although they effected little change in such practices as infanticide, the missionaries did reinforce the prevalent British view of the Indians as savages. The bibliography is divided by time period, beginning with the British entry into India in 1583, the rise and consolidation of British India, and the Indian mutiny (1857-1858). The subsequent sections list and annotate writings of Imperial India, the period of reform and reaction that followed (1905-1920), and India's move toward independence. It will serve as an important reference for historians of the period, and will be a useful addition to college and university libraries.

With over 5,000 entries, this book provides information on the men and women who played a significant role in British India from 1583 to 1947. In addition to military and governmental leaders, the book includes entries on leaders in business, the church and missions, art and literature, and science and medicine. An effort has also been made to include the women who played an important role in India. The only other reference work on the subject, Buckland's Dictionary of Indian Biography, was published in 1906. This book updates that work, covering the last 40 years of the British Raj, and provides more balanced coverage of types of leaders.

This guide provides a selection of the key collections of correspondence, documents, and papers written in English located in libraries outside India and Pakistan. Organized on a geographic basis, entries range in date from the 18th through the 20th centuries. Each entry includes the individual's or institution's name (for the former, birth and death dates are provided when available). Descriptive elements include the type and size of the collection's manuscript material, its period of coverage, and its shelf mark or classification number where possible. The volume concludes with a proper name index. In addition to British India's famous administrators and military leaders, ranging from Lord Clive and Mountbatten to General Coote and Field Marshal Slim, materials representing the various missionary groups, business and industry, the medical profession, and literary figures are included. An indispensible source for researchers of India as well as Afghanistan, the Persian Gulf, Tibet, and Burma.