second edition, 2001

2001

on microfiche

The Gazetteers of
of British
British India,
India,1833-1962
1833-1962

Gazetteers are:

of historical,
treasure houses
houses of
archaeological,
archaeological, political, economic,
economic,
sociological, commercial and
statistical data
data
among the
the prime
prime reference
reference
resources of
of scholars
scholarsof
of the
the Indian
resources
sub-continent
descriptions
descriptions of a district, state
state or
province of (British) India,
province
India,
published
series, either
published in series,
either privately
or under
under the
the auspices
auspices of
of aa
government
government body
body

DRAWERS OF WATER,
DEAWBES
WATEK, MADRAS.
MADRAS.

Editor:
Emeritus, Ames
Ames Library
Library of South Asia, University
University of
Editor: Henry
Henry Scholberg,
Scholberg, Curator Emeritus,
of Minnesota

H IDC
PUBLISHER S

P U B L I S H E R S

The Gazetteers
Gazetteers of British India, 1833-1962
1833-1962
`The gazetteers
gazetteersofofBritish
British India
India are
'The
are among
among the
the prime
prime reference
reference resources
resources of scholars whose
whose interest is
is the
the
Indian sub-continent.
sub-continent. ""
Burton Stein, Ph. D., Prof.
Prof, of Indian History, University of
of Minnesota
Minnesota

series of gazetteers designed

designed to further
further the
In 1815
1815 The East India Company began publishing a series
territories. This
This practice continued after
after 1858
1858 and
and lasted
lasted until 1947.
Some of the
knowledge of its territories.
1947. Some
gazetteers continued to appear after Indian independence. This series
series of
of gazetteers
gazetteers which
which have
have been
been
valuable for officials
officials of the
the East
East India Company and
and subsequently the
the Crown
Crown Colony
Colony of
of India, have
have also
proven of immense value to scholars to this day.
day. The typical gazetteer
gazetteer is
is aa treasure
treasure house
house of
of data.
data.
IDC Publishers offers
offers three main series on microfiche: The
Gazetteers, the
Series and
The Imperial
Imperial Gazetteers,
the Provincial
Provincial Series
The
District Gazetteers.
(1970) lists
lists 1,344 district gazetteers,
gazetteers, published
published in the twenty
twenty
The District
Gazetteers. The bibliography (1970)
provinces of British India. Over 1,200
1,200 of these are
are available
available on
on microfiche.
microfiche.
Historical background
background

Fifty years
years after
after the Battle of Plassey
Fifty
East India Company
Company saw the need
the East
learn about the land it had acquired
to learn
acquired
in the subcontinent of Asia. In a
Despatch of 1807
Despatch
1807 are these words: "We
opinion that a Statistical Survey
are of opinion
of the country would be attended with
much utility; we therefore
therefore recommend
much
recommend
proper steps
steps to be taken for the
proper
execution of the same." This was the
execution
beginning of a series
beginning
series of gazetteers,
gazetteers,
which, valuable they may have been for
officials
officials of the East India Company
Company and
subsequently
Crown Colony
Colony of
subsequently the Crown
India, have also proven
proven of immense
immense
value to scholars to this
this day.
day. Some
Some
gazetteers were commercially
commercially published
published
while others
others were governmental
governmental or
quasi-governmental documents.
The
Imperial Gazetteers
The Imperial
Gazetteers

Sir William Wilson

Wilson Hunter
Hunter
(1840-1900), Father
Father of
of the
the Gazetteers
Gazetteers

of India, brought out

out his
his Imperial
Gazetteer
of India in 1881
Gazetteer of
1881 in nine
nine
years later a fourteenvolumes. Four years
fourteenvolume work was produced,
produced, the
fourteenth volume of which was an
wrote:
index. In his preface the author wrote:
"Every article
article in the original
"Every
original edition
has been submitted to the Provincial
Provincial
Government of India,
India, and through them
Government
to the District Officers
Officers for criticism
criticism and
suggestions." Sir
Sir Herbert
Herbert Risley,
Risley, W.S.
W.S.
Meyer, Richard Burn and J.S. Cotton
Meyer,
Cotton
compiled
compiled the monumental twenty-six
of India
volumes Imperial Gazetteer
Gazetteer of
after Hunter's
Hunter's death. The first
after
first four
volumes are devoted to descriptive,
descriptive,
historical, economical
economical and

administrative aspects of the Colony.

Colony.
Volumes five
five to
to twenty-four go from A
Volumes
to Z, describing
describing district by district
district and
town by town.
town. The twenty-fifth
town
twenty-fifth volume
volume
is an Atlas and
and the
the twenty-sixth
twenty-sixth an
an
Index.
The Provincial Series
The
Series
Published simultaneously
simultaneously with
with The
Published
The
was The
The Imperial
Imperial Gazetteer
Gazetteer was
Gazetteer
of India:
India: Provincial
Gazetteer of
Provincial Series.
Series.
Unlike any
Unlike
any of
ofthe
the gazetteers
gazetteers mentioned
mentioned
above which
which were
published in London
above
were published
London
either by Trubner
either
Trbner or
Wm. H. Allen, the
the Provincial Series
Series
was published
published in Calcutta by the
was
Superintendent of Government
Superintendent
Printing. There
nineteen volumes
volumes in
in
There are nineteen
this series,
series, published in 1908-09.
1908-09. Each
Each
volume is devoted
devoted to at
at least
least one
country, province or
or Indian
Indian state,
state, and
and
some
include two. Afghanistan
some include
Afghanistan and
and
Nepal make one
one volume as do
Nepal
Andaman and Nicobar Islands, East
East
Bengal, Assam, Mysore and
and Coorg.
Coorg.
The District Gazetteers
The
Gazetteers

It is the part
part of irony that
that district
gazetteers,
which were manuals for
gazetteers, which
for use
use
were
by Collectors and Officials, were
designated
as manuals
manualsin
in only
only one
one of
of
designated as
the provinces:
Madras. Beginning in
provinces: Madras.
in
1853, district
district manuals
were published
1853,
manuals were
there. Then
Then in the late nineteenth
century Madras
Madras followed the
the lead
lead of the
the
rest of
of the
the Colony and brought out
rest
From 1894
district gazetteers.
gazetteers. From
1894 to 1919
1919
Madras published district
Madras
districtgazetteers,
gazetteers,
of
followed in
in the
the 1900s
1900s by a series
series of
four "Statistical
"Statistical Appendices,"
Appendices," each
each a
decade apart
apart making
making use
decade
use of the
the

decennial census.
census. The BuchananHamilton Series
Bengal, which
Series of Bengal,
begun in
in 1833
were not
not called
called district
begun
1833 were
gazetteersbut
butAccounts
Accounts of
of the
the District.
District.
gazetteers
Between 1822
Between
1822 and 1904
1904 there were the
the
Bengal Statistical
Statistical & Geographical
Bengal
Geographical
Reports. Hunter edited
edited aa twentytwentyReports.
volume
Statistical Accounts in
volume set
set of Statistical
1875-77.
Then in 1906-23
1875-77. Then
1906-23 there
there is the
the
O'Malley Series,
authored
mostly
by
Series, authored
L.S.S. O'Malley. Whatever
L.S.S.
Whatever titles
titles they
they
went by, they
they qualified as
as district
gazetteers
of the highest
highest order.
gazetteers of
order. The
United Provinces
Provinces provided the
the bestbestorganized
in India. There were
organized series
series in
were
forty-eight districts
districts in
in the
the province.
province.
Forty-eight district
district gazetteers
gazetteers were
were
brought out between
between 1905
1905 and
and 1911.
1911.
Then, ten years
years after
after the
the district
Then,
gazetteers,
came four
four sets
gazetteers, came
sets of BB series,
series,
each
decade apart.
apart.Like
Like those
those of
of
each aa decade
Madras,
bringing
Madras, they are supplements
supplements bringing
statistics up to
to date.
date.
A Treasure
Treasure House
House
The typical
typicalgazetteer
gazetteer isis aa treasure
treasure house
house
of data.
data. The author and his contributors
are likely
likely to be
of the
the Indian
are
be members
members of

Civil Service
Civil
Service (I.C.S.). Typically, a
gazetteer contains
contains aa table
table of contents
gazetteer
that he/she
he/shewill
will find
telling the scholar
scholar that
information on
on history,
history, topography,
topography,
cultivation, livestock,
livestock, manufactures,
manufactures,
trade, population,
population, migration,
migration, religion,
trade,
language, education,
education, crime, etc.,
language,
etc.,
preceded by
by a list of
preceded
of sources
sources and
and
followed by
by an
an index.
index.

Henry
Scholberg
Henry Scholberg
Curator Emeritus.
Emeritus. Ames
Ames Library
Library of South
Curator
South Asia,
University of Minnesota
Minnesota

Contents
Main Series
Main
Series and
and subseries
subseries

I.

II.

III.

IV.

(3 editions) (1,495)
(1,495)
Imperial Gazetteer (3
1.
1. Hunter, 1881
1881 (9 v.)
v.)
1885-87 (14
(14 v.)
v.)
2. Ed. 2, Hunter, 1885-87
3. New ed., Risley,
Risley, et al, 1907-09 (26 v.)

Imperial
ImperialGazetteer.
Gazetteer. Provincial
ProvincialSeries
Series1908-09
1908-09 (19
(19 v.)
(975)
(975)
Afghanistan and Nepal
Afghanistan
Andaman and Nicobar Isl.
Baluchistan
Baroda
Bengal
Berar
Berar
Bombay
Bombay Presidency
Burma
Central India
Central Provinces
East Bengal & Assam
Assam
Hyderabad
Hyderabad State
State
Kashmir and Jammu
Kashmir
Madras
Mysore
Mysore and Coorg
N.W. Frontier Province
N.W.
Province
Punjab
Rajputana
United Provinces
Provinces
Imperial
Gazetteer. District
DistrictSeries
Series1833-1962
1833-1962 (1,221 v.)
Imperial Gazetteer.
(20,695)
(20,695)
Assam
Baluchistan
Bengal
Bengal
Berar (Central Provinces &)
Bihar
Bombay
Bombay (Presidency)
Burma
Central
Central India
India
Central Provinces
Provinces
Central States
States
East Bengal
Bengal & Assam
Hyderabad
Hyderabad State
Kashmir
Ladak
(for add'!
add'l District
District titles,
titles, see
see below,
below, *)
Madras (for
Maharashtra
Maharashtra
Mathura
Mysore and Coorg
Mysore
N.W. (Frontier)
N.W.
(Frontier) Provinces
Provinces
Punjab
Punjab States
States
Rajputana
Sind
Sikhim
United Provinces
Provinces
* Madras,
Madras, additional:
additional:
1. Twenty
Twenty District
District Gazetteers,
Gazetteers, known
known as
as 'Madras
'Madras manuals',
1.
manuals',
1853-1898
2. One on Madura, 1868
1868
Arcott, 1906
3. One on South Arcott,
1906
4. One on Malabar & Anjengo,
Anjengo, 1908
1908

Imperial
and Index
Index of
of Imperial
Imperial
ImperialGazetteer.
Gazetteer. Checklist and
Series,
Provincial Series
and District
District Series
Series, Provincial
Series and
Series

Order nr.

of fiche
fiche
Nr. of

1-1060
1-1061
1-1061
1608
1608

58

95
218
218

608
608

33
2
3
3
19
19
5
5
22
17
17

9
10
10
13
13
6
6
3
3

21
21
7
7

6
6

18
10
21
21

1601
1601

114
91
91
630
88
169
506
285
11
11
430
95

22
66
13
8
8
507
83

12
115
115

273
273

752
128
109

46
11
11
688

1-150

150
150

1-744
I-744
1-743
1-745

17
17
9

1-1200

10

Illustration from: MARSHALL,

MARSHALL, J. and A. FOUCHER.
FOUCHER .The
The monuments
of Sanchi. Delhi, 1944.
of
1944.
'A- 'K)PTHFR\ <

Cover illustration
illustration from:
from: Letters
from India
Indiaand
andKashmir.
Kashmir.
London,
1874.
Cover
Letters from
London,
1874.

General information
General
Scope
Scope

3 editions of Imperial
volumes of
of
Imperial Gazetteers;
Gazetteers; 19 volumes
Provincial Series;
Series; 1,221
1,221 volumes of District Gazetteers
Gazetteers

Number of fiches

5,868

Size of fiche

105 x 148 mm. / 90 xx 120

120 mm.
mm.

Film type

Positive silver halide

Reduction ratio

Varies depending
depending on
on the
the size
size of the original
Varies

Internal
finding aids
finding

headers on every fiche

Eye-legible headers
fiche

External
finding aids
aids

Guide to all Gazetteers

Gazetteers on
on microfiche:
microfiche: "Gazetteers
"Gazetteers of
of
Guide
India in the British
India
British period", the Netherlands, Leiden,
Leiden,
1991
1991
Bibliography of District Gazetteers:
Bibliography
Gazetteers: "The
"The District
Gazetteers of British India, A Bibliography", by Henry
Gazetteers
Scholberg, Zug, Switzerland, 1970
Scholberg,
1970 [xerox
[xerox copy]
copy]

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