The Imperial Archives

India and the subcontinent stimulated the curiosity of the British who came to India as traders. Each aspect of life in India-its people, customs, geography, climate, flora and fauna-was documented by British travellers, traders, administrators and soldiers to make sense to the European mind. As they 'discovered' India and occupied it, they also attempted to 'civilise' the natives.
The present volumes focus on select aspects of the imperial archives: the accounts of 'discovery' and exploration-flora and fauna, geography, climate; the people of the subcontinent; English domesticity and social life in the subcontinent; the wars and skirmishes-including the 'Mutiny' of 1857-1858; and the 'civilisational mission'.
Volume 1, 'Discoveries', Explorations and the Imperial Survey, consists of documents that deal with England's discovery of India, its exploration and mapping of the subcontinent.
Volume 2, Indian People and Society, includes English studies of Indian languages, people and communities, and the social order.
Volume 3, Domesticity, the Social Scene and Leisure, shifts the focus to the English home and social life.
Volume 4, Rebellions and Wars, is a collection of accounts of a very different British life in India: as prisoners, under siege and in conditions of war.
Volume 5, The 'Civilisational Mission', documents England's social reform and other efforts at 'improving' the colonised.
Volume 6, Thugs and Dacoits, documents how the practice of thugee was viewed by the British: as if it symbolised everything that was wrong with the social order in India.
These six volumes are a treasure trove of original documents that throw light on the process of colonisation and its contexts, and provide a glimpse into the mind of the colonisers.

Pramod K. Nayar, FEA, FRHistS, teaches at the Department of English, University of Hyderabad, India.