The Families British India Society (FIBIS) is a
genealogical
Genealogy () is the study of families, family history, and the tracing of their lineages. Genealogists use oral interviews, historical records, genetic analysis, and other records to obtain information about a family and to demonstrate kin ...
organisation which assists people in researching their family history and the background against which their
ancestors led their lives in
British India
The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...
.
Scope
FIBIS was formed in November 1998 to provide research and social history resources for India from 1600 up to (and even after)
Indian Independence in 1947. It covers the earlier part of the
British East India Company
The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and South ...
's history and provides help and advice on researching it both in England and abroad, and all EIC stations, including those outside the Indian sub-continent.
The Society states that it "does not concentrate on the Raj period nor solely on the British in India because to do so would exclude a number of other nationalities who played an important part and became part of the Indian culture."
Resources
FIBIS provides books, journals, online resources and community facilities to assist research into individuals' ancestors and the social structure in which they lived. They also host a
wiki
A wiki ( ) is an online hypertext publication collaboratively edited and managed by its own audience, using a web browser. A typical wiki contains multiple pages for the subjects or scope of the project, and could be either open to the pub ...
to aid information sharing and research.
Transcription and publishing of records
In conjunction with the
British Library
The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and is one of the largest libraries in the world. It is estimated to contain between 170 and 200 million items from many countries. As a legal deposit library, the British ...
, FIBIS have a programme of transcribing and publishing
East India Company
The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and South ...
and
India Office material that was previously only available in the
India Office Records
The India Office Records are a very large collection of documents relating to the administration of India from 1600 to 1947, the period spanning Company and British rule in India. The archive is held in London by the British Library and is public ...
at the library. These
transcription
Transcription refers to the process of converting sounds (voice, music etc.) into letters or musical notes, or producing a copy of something in another medium, including:
Genetics
* Transcription (biology), the copying of DNA into RNA, the fir ...
s are freely available to the general public in searchable form on the FIBIS website.
[Which site has been archived for preservation by the British Library, pl se]
/ref> Information available covers areas including lists of Indian cemeteries, ecclesiastical records (births, marriages and deaths), passenger lists, military history and wills.
See also
*British Association for Cemeteries in South Asia
British Association for Cemeteries in South Asia (BACSA) is an organisation founded in 1977 that seeks to maintain and record for posterity European cemeteries in former Indian Subcontinent and Southeast Asia territories of the East India Compa ...
*Indian Military Historical Society
Indian Military Historical Society (IMHS). is an organisation and learned society, which is based primarily in the United Kingdom but with a wide membership extending to the British Commonwealth and several other countries around the world. The soc ...
*Commonwealth War Graves Commission
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) is an intergovernmental organisation of six independent member states whose principal function is to mark, record and maintain the graves and places of commemoration of Commonwealth of Nations m ...
*British Raj
The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent;
*
* it is also called Crown rule in India,
*
*
*
*
or Direct rule in India,
* Quote: "Mill, who was him ...
*Company rule in India
Company rule in India (sometimes, Company ''Raj'', from hi, rāj, lit=rule) refers to the rule of the British East India Company on the Indian subcontinent. This is variously taken to have commenced in 1757, after the Battle of Plassey, when ...
*Family history
Genealogy () is the study of families, family history, and the tracing of their lineages. Genealogists use oral interviews, historical records, genetic analysis, and other records to obtain information about a family and to demonstrate kin ...
* The Asiatic Journal and Monthly Register for British India and its Dependencies
References
{{reflist
External links
FIBIS Web siteFree transcribed records on fibis.org (searchable)
Non-profit organisations based in the United Kingdom
History organisations based in the United Kingdom
FIBIS (Families In British India Society)
British people in colonial India
Organizations established in 1998
Wikis