IOR/R/2

IOR/R/1 and IOR/R/2 are files from the records in India of the Crown Representative. The office of Crown Representative was created by the Government of India Act 1935 as an additional title for the Viceroy and Governor-General in order to distinguish the Viceroy’s political functions with regard to the independent princes ruling the Indian States from his administration of British India. The ruling princes of the States were in treaty relations with the Crown, and the Crown acted for each State in its dealings with foreign powers and with other Indian States. Before the creation of the office of Crown Representative and the separate administrative machinery of the Political Department these functions were carried out by the Viceroy, through the Government of India Foreign and Political Department, as simply another part of British India’s foreign policy.

The administrative hierarchy headed by the Crown Representative comprised the Political Department secretariat in New Delhi and Simla, and the Residents and Political Agents in the Indian States. The Residents and Agents had regular contact with the ruling princes and the Political Department and could thus provide advice and supervision for the States and information for the Crown Representative.

After the transfer of power in British India to an Indian Government, the Crown Representative continued to have a responsibility to the princes ruling the Indian States. Where rulers of Indian States did not sign conditional Instruments of Accession to the post-transfer India, the Crown’s responsibilities to those rulers continued in full force and the Crown needed the records of its Representative to carry out its continuing functions. Where the States rulers did accede to the post-transfer India, the Crown was bound by treaty relationships to maintain the confidentiality of its Representative’s past dealings with the rulers and their predecessors.