LibGuides: History: Modern South Asia: Primary Sources

Primary Sources at UVic Libraries

For more on Primary Sources (what they are, how to find them, etc.) please see History How-To: Primary Sources.

UVic owns the following primary source databases on the History of India:

Eighteenth Century Journals Portal Volume III includes magazines published outside the UK, including in Canada, the US, India and Jamaica. Includes the Bombay Courier, Calcutta Gazette, Asiatic Mirror, and others from India.
Empire Online This project has been developed to encourage undergraduates, postgraduates, academics and researchers to explore colonial history, politics, culture and society. Material in the collection spans five centuries, charting the story of the rise and fall of empires; from the explorations of Columbus, Captain Cook, and others, right through to de-colonisation in the second half of the twentieth century and debates over American Imperialism.
Foreign Office Files for India, Pakistan and Afghanistan, 1947-1980 Sourced from the British Foreign Office files, this is a resource for the political and social history of India, Pakistan and Afghanistan from 1947-1980. There is an immense variety of material including diplomatic dispatches, telegrams, newspaper cuttings and transcripts, maps, photographs, political and economic reports, accounts of visits and tours, minutes of meetings, conference proceedings, letters, leaflets and other ephemera.
India, Raj and Empire Drawing upon the wonderfully rich and diverse manuscript collections of the National Library of Scotland this resource will be of great value to all those teaching or researching into the History of South Asia between the foundation of the East India Company in 1615 and the granting of independence to India and Pakistan in 1947.
House of Commons (UK) Parliamentary Papers - 18th, 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries The House of Commons Parliamentary Papers are vital to the historical record of Britain, its former Colonies and the wider world. They are among the richest and most detailed primary sources for the history of the past two centuries, and are fundamental to an understanding of current legislation, policy making and the political environment.
Foreign Broadcast Information Service (FBIS) daily reports 1974-1996 Records of the United States' political and historical open source intelligence for nearly 75 years. The original mission of the FBIS was to monitor, record, transcribe and translate intercepted radio broadcasts from foreign governments, official news services, and clandestine broadcasts from occupied territories. FBIS Daily Reports constitutes a one-of-a-kind archive of transcripts of foreign broadcasts and news that provides fascinating insight into the second half of the 20th century.

Centre for Research Libraries - Early Colonial South Asia UVic Libraries, as a member of CRL, can borrow their collections. Request via Interlibrary Loan. Undergrads will need permission of instructor.
Centre for Research Libraries - South Asian Studies UVic Libraries, as a member of CRL, can borrow their collections. Request via Interlibrary Loan. Undergrads will need permission of an instructor.

You might also find some newspapers useful:

Times Digital Archive 1785 Onwards 1785-2008. Times of London, fully digitized. Search or browse.

Newspapers -- World
Newspapers held by UVic Libraries, or available via subscription databases, that are from a geographic area outside of Canada, the US or the UK.
Dutch Historical Newspapers 1618 to 1995

And there are many great sources on the web:

Internet India History Sourcebook
Indian Independence (British Library)
Road to Partition 1939 - 1947 (National Archives)
Southeast Asia Visions (Cornell University) Southeast Asia Visions is a collection of European travel accounts of pre-modern Southeast Asia from Cornell University Library's John M. Echols Collection. The site provides online access to more than 350 books written in English and French.

Primary sources can also be found in books:

Search for key players as "authors", for example Gandhi, Mahatma, 1869-1948. Churchill, Winston, 1874-1965.
Search for your topic and a word that denotes a primary source, for example "sources" "speeches" "diaries" "letters" "memoirs" For example, "India History Sources" "Mogul History Sources" "East India Company Sources". You'll find books like:
- British Encounters with India 1750 - 1830L: a source book
Track down any legal or government documents cited in your secondary sources (as well as any manifestos, speeches, letters, newspaper articles, and more). For example, "Indian Independance Act 1947"