Political and Secret Department Records

During the period of the East India Company and Board of Control (i.e. pre-1859) most of the records in this group - minutes, correspondence with India, and Home correspondence - originated either in the activities of the EIC Secret Committee (1784-1858) or in the work of the Secret and Political Departments of the Board of Control (1784-1858) and the Political Department of the EIC Examiner's Office (1804-1858). The group also covers (in L/PS/1 and 2) the records of various other early committees concerned with Secret or Political affairs. For the period of the India Office proper (1858-1947) L/PS is mainly made up of archives from the following departments:- Political and Secret 1858-1930; Political (Internal) 1931-1941; Political 1941-1944; Political (States) 1944-1947; Political (External) 1931-1941; External 1941-1947. Originally, under the East India Company and Board of Control, the Secret Department was reserved for highly important and sensitive correspondence involving war and peace, and diplomacy, whereas the Political Department dealt with more routine and/or less confidential questions regarding relations with the Indian States and foreign governments. Under the India Office (post-1858) the distinction between Secret and Political tended to become territorial, with the Secret Department being employed for external and frontier policy, and the Political Department mainly used for questions relating to the Indian Princely States as well as (mainly in the third quarter of the 19th century) the supervision of the Non-Regulation Provinces, i.e. those provinces, such as the Punjab, which were governed directly by the Government of India through a Commission. From the point of view of locating documents the distinction between Secret and Political is less important after 1875 since from that year Secret and Political documents were no longer bound separately but were filed together in the same volume. The following are the main subjects covered by L/PS:- 1) Relations with other European Powers in South Asia (French, Portuguese, Dutch, Danish). 2) Relations with countries bordering on British India or which fell within the British Indian sphere of interest. 3) Foreign consuls in India. 4) Frontier affairs (Baluchistan, North-West, Northern and North-East Frontiers). 5) Honours questions (both Indian and Imperial Honours, to both Asians and Europeans), questions of protocol, gun salutes. 6) Indian Political Service and Government of India Foreign and Political Departments. 7) Indian Princely States (including Sikkim). 8) Indian States Forces (before 1922 known as Imperial Service Troops). 9) Indian Non-Regulation Provinces (mainly in the period 1850-1875). 10) North-West Frontier Militia, Levy Corps and Cavalry. 11) Political movements etc. in India (scattered materials c1887-1904). 12) Returns of political prisoners and pensioners. 13) State functions, coronations, addresses to Royal Family, etc.

The IOR/L/PS records are broadly similar in scope to those of the India Foreign/Political Department: see India and Provincial Foreign/Political/Secret Proceedings [IOR/P] 1781-1936. For the period 1796-1858 see also Board's Collections [IOR/F/4], which consist mainly of India and Provincial Foreign/Political (but not Secret) Proceedings, arranged by subject.

• East India Company
• India Office

Available for research unless otherwise stated