Some people eat, sleep and chew gum, I do genealogy and write...

Sunday, January 7, 2018

Where are the genealogy records for India?

https://www.familysearch.org/search/collection/location/1927063?region=India
Considering the number of people that live in India and the number that have lived there in the past, the number of genealogically important records from that vast sub-continent are few and far between. FamilySearch.org has a small collection of records. Here are some of the ones listed in the FamilySearch.org Catalog:


The little camera icons indicate that there are images available. The Catalog lists quite a few other records, most of which appear to be books. There are a number of records that pertain to the East India Company, i.e. the British records during the time they occupied India. It is noteworthy that any reference to vital records is missing.

Findmypast.com has a huge collection of British India Office records mostly dealing with British subjects in India. You can view the list by searching in the A-Z of record sets.


Ancestry.com also has a small selection of records from India, some of which appear to be the same as those on FamilySearch.org.


MyHeritage.com also has a small collection of records from India.


One resource to use is the FamilySearch.org Research Wiki. Here is a screenshot of the Wiki page with a link.

https://www.familysearch.org/wiki/en/India_Genealogy

The Research Wiki also has links to the large online websites and a few other resources as well.

https://www.familysearch.org/wiki/en/India_Online_Genealogy_Records
One of the difficulties faced by genealogists is that civil registration for all of India did not begin until 1969. Even the best record sources only cover a minority of the population. It is important to follow all of the links from the Research Wiki.


4 comments:

  1. I live in Dubai. The guy who runs our apartment building is from India, from Rajasthan. One day I asked him, how could he discover his ancestry? He replied that he would go down to the Ganges, find the brahmin for his city and caste, and the brahmin would have the book. Perhaps we need to send imaging teams to the Ganges.

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    1. Some of those records are supposed to be on FamilySearch, but I have a lot of comments that say they cannot be accessed in India.

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  2. Absolutely crucial to anyone wanting to understand the records relating to the British in India - https://wiki.fibis.org/w/Main_Page
    The FIBIS website and its Wiki.

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    1. Thanks for the link. Actually the comments I am getting are from natives to the country, not the British. :-)

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