IOR/Z/R/15/1/7

The introductory guide, of which there are three identical copies in the file, comprises a set of explanatory notes describing the filing system used by the Government of India from the eighteenth century until 1948, followed by a subject index.

The notes describe the arrangement and custodial history of the different series comprising the Indian Government archives, namely:

1) the old series (eighteenth and nineteenth centuries);

2) the A series (consisting of confidential and non-confidential files);

3) the B series (consisting of non-confidential files);

4) bound confidential files;

5) unbound confidential files (c.1940-1948)

The subject index that follows lists subjects alphabetically, alongside the A series file numbers, B series file numbers and confidential bound volume numbers.

The file’s date range is based on the latest date given in the file’s contents (1948), and the known date of transfer of the Bushire files to the Foreign Office in London (1953).