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British East India Company records

 Collection
Call Number: MS 925

Scope and Contents

The two volumes which constitute this small collection pertain to the activities of the British East India Company in the Mahi Kantha, a fiscal and military district now making up part of the state of Gujarat in western India. The first volume contains copies of reports (1821-1827) made to company officials in Baroda and Bombay from local agents, while the other volume contains copies of despatches (1826-1839) sent from Bombay to the Court of Directors of the East India Company in London. There is also one loose despatch from 1863. Taken together, these papers provide a history of the Mahi Kantha before 1821 and detail political and military events there through 1839.

These papers were purchased for Yale University in 1949. They were formerly known as the Bombay Presidency Papers.

Dates

  • 1821-1853
  • Majority of material found within 1821 - 1839

Creator

Conditions Governing Access

The entire collection is available on microfilm. Patrons must use HM 264 instead of the originals.

Conditions Governing Use

Unpublished materials authored or otherwise produced by the creator(s) of this collection are in the public domain. There are no restrictions on use. Copyright status for other collection materials is unknown. Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.) beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners. Works not in the public domain cannot be commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owners. Responsibility for any use rests exclusively with the user.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Purchased, 1949.

Extent

0.25 Linear Feet

Language of Materials

English

Catalog Record

A record for this collection is available in Orbis, the Yale University Library catalog

Persistent URL

https://hdl.handle.net/10079/fa/mssa.ms.0925

Abstract

Reports of agents of the East India Company in Mahi Kantha in Gujarat (western India) and dispatches from East India officials in Bombay sent to London. The reports provide a history of the Mahi Kantha before 1821 and describe political events there through 1839. The documents are all copies.

Biographical / Historical

The British East India Company was founded around 1600 in order to control British trade, especially in spices, from India, China, and neighboring regions. Initially, the company held a monopoly on such activities and both exploited and expanded British colonial power, by acting as an agent to the Crown from the early eighteenth century to the mid nineteenth century.

Title
Guide to the British East India Company Records
Status
Under Revision
Author
compiled by Janet Elaine Gertz
Date
June 1983
Description rules
Finding Aid Created In Accordance With Manuscripts And Archives Processing Manual
Language of description note
Finding aid written in English.

Part of the Manuscripts and Archives Repository

Contact:
Yale University Library
P.O. Box 208240
New Haven CT 06520-8240 US
(203) 432-1735
(203) 432-7441 (Fax)

Location

Sterling Memorial Library
Room 147
120 High Street
New Haven, CT 06511

Opening Hours