AM builds on successful East India Company resource with new Board of Commissioners module
East India Company, module VI: 'India Office Records, F: The Board of Commissioners: Establishment of the Board', the latest module of the flagship East India Company resource drawn from the holdings of the British Library, spotlights the role of the influential Board of Commissioners in the administration of the East India Company and its role in India during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
The resource delves into the historical establishment and functioning of the Board, which exercised supervision over the Company’s policies in India and played a key role from its formation in 1784 until the reorganisation of 1858.
This series has been much anticipated by academics involved with the resource and digitises one of the most heavily used collections within the East India Company records at the British Library. Interestingly, the digitisation team at the British Library were able to successfully capture 16 oversized documents for the resource, some exceeding four meters in length. These documents, now stored separately for preservation, offer a unique glimpse into historical events and were met with real excitement after undergoing the conservation process.
This new module encompasses the Board's correspondence, maps, and draft dispatches, shedding light on the decision-making processes that shaped the East India Company's expansion into a dominant power in India. Utilising AI-driven Handwritten Text Recognition, the material becomes fully searchable, providing scholars and researchers with unprecedented access to these critical historical documents.
'India Office Records, F: Board of Commissioners' will be divided into four modules, with the first available now.
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