Click here to skip to content

Asian studies: Selected internet links

The following pages provide links to other institutions in the United Kingdom and overseas with an interest in Asian studies, or associated with the India Office Records. The links are collected into three categories, namely, Asian Studies: General, Linguistic/Geographic groups - Jewish Studies, Middle East, South Asian, Southeast Asian, East Asian - and Archives of the East India Company/India Office. 

Links for the study of the Pacific region can be found here on our pages about Australia and New Zealand. Links for artistic interests are to be found below under Asian studies: Prints, drawings, photographs and maps. Additional internet links may be found on some pages relevant to specific languages, including Hebrew and Japanese.

Asian Studies in general

Linguistic / Geographic groups

Archives of the East India Company and India Office

Asian Studies: UK Sources

  • School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London - major partner of the British Library with its strong academic foundations and its convenient location. Access to the SOAS Library Catalogue.
  • Bodleian Library, Oxford University - main research library in Oxford and also a legal deposit library. Bodleian has several dependent libraries, including the Oriental Institute Library, the Eastern Art Library, Bodleian Japanese Library and the Indian Institute Library
  • Cambridge University Library - also one of the legal deposit libraries of the UK, with excellent collections of Oriental materials. The link provides direct access to its main on-line searching catalogue: WWW catalogue
  • Wellcome Library for the History and Understanding of Medicine, Oriental Manuscripts and Printed Books - holds some 11,000 Oriental MSS and 4,000 printed books in 43 different languages. The subjects covers not only the history of medicine but also other aspects of Asian cultures
  • John Rylands University Library of Manchester - its holdings of individual manuscript items now cover more than fifty languages, including all the major European and Middle Eastern languages, and numerous Far Eastern scripts
  • Mapping Asia - a database for resources in all subject areas of the humanities and social sciences relating to Asia, the Middle East and North Africa, with collection descriptions and search facility of newspaper holdings in UK libraries.
  • Moving Here - images of library, archive and museum collections relating to the migration of South Asian, Caribbean, Irish and Jewish people to England.
  • National Art Library, Victoria & Albert Museum, London - the National Art Library (NAL) is both a major reference library and the Victoria and Albert Museum's curatorial department for the art, craft and design of the book. The library has substantial collections of publications on Oriental art and craft, e.g. textiles, ceramics, calligraphy
  • British Museum - the Museum's extensive Asian collections date from the earliest civilizations (c.5000BC). The website serves as major educational tool for schools and Orientalists alike
  • National Committee for Information Resources on Asia (NACIRA) - formerly NCLOR. A general forum for librarians, archivists and researchers involved in the collection, development and use of library resources and services for Asian and Middle Eastern studies.
  • Centre of South Asian Studies, University of Cambridge - the home of South and Southeast Asian research in Cambridge.
  • South Asia Archive & Library Group (SAALG) - representatives of libraries, archives in the UK specialised in South Asian Studies meet twice annually for information exchange on collection development

Asian Studies: international sources

Asian Studies: USA

Asian Studies: Europe

Asian Studies: Australia

Asian Studies: Prints, Drawings, Photographs and Maps

Europe

India

North America

Other

Jewish Studies

Middle East

Middle East: Arabic/Arab world

Arab world internet resources

UK libraries with Arabic collections

Apart from the British Library, the UK university libraries with substantial holdings of materials relevant to the study of the Arab world include: Cambridge, Durham, Edinburgh, Exeter, Glasgow, Heriot-Watt, Leeds, Manchester, Oxford, SOAS (School of Oriental and African Studies, London), St Andrews and Westminster.  The holdings of these libraries can be searched in the Copac National, Academic, & Specialist Library Catalogue.

except for:

Other UK institutions with substantial collections of Arabic material or material oabout the Arab world, include:

UK Arab associations etc

Books, booksellers, ejournals : culture

Literary and cultural website: includes extensive links to websites of Egyptian and Arab authors and literature corner with extensive selection of poetry and short stories in Arabic and in translation.

Middle East: general Arabic resources

Middle East: academic and library associations

Middle East: Arab newspapers and news portals

Newspapers on the internet : includes links to most Arabic newspapers in the Middle East and in the UK

Middle East: other language groups (Persian and Turkish / Turkic languages)

South Asian languages

Southeast Asian languages

East Asian languages

East Asian: general

  • Asian Studies WWW Monitor
  • Findouter China
  • Chinese Christian Texts Database - database of primary and secondary sources concerning the cultural contacts between China and Europe from 1582 to ca. 1840.
  • EAJRS - European Association of Japanese Resource Specialist
  • Harvard-Yenching Library - one of the most important libraries in the US with comprehensive coverage of East Asian subjects. Provides various online resources for Chinese, Japanese, and Korean and direct links to major libraries in Asia
  • Bodleian Library, Department of Oriental Collections - includes Oriental Institute Library, Eastern Art Library, Japanese Library and Institute for Chinese Studies Library. Also the main host of the CJK online Research Support Libraries Programme in the UK. See below
  • Cambridge University Library - a substantial collection of Chinese books and MSS including over 4,300 volumes of the 18th-19th centuries printed books donated by Sir Thomas Wade and 800 oracle bones bequeathed by L.C.Hopkins
  • Department of East Asian Studies, Durham University Library- the library has a small collections of manuscripts and papers of oriental (Middle and Far East) interest as well as some archival materials. The website also provides online exam paper reviews, course reviews, and a small number of Chinese and Japanese electronic journals
  • University of Sheffield Library - holds some 50,000 items on East Asia, in English and in Japanese, Chinese and Korean. A wide range of databases, e-journals and e-books is also available. Subject coverage is principally of modern history, social sciences, language, literature and religion.
  • School of Asian Studies, Edinburgh University - significant collection of Chinese and a growing number of Japanese and Korean materials. The website provides a wide range of links to various CJK resources on the Internet
  • Great Britain China Centre - practical information on UK China exchange programme
  • International Dunhuang Project - digitisation project of Medieval MSS found in Chinese Turkestan
  • Chinese Maritime Customs Project - Collaboration between Bristol University and Cambridge University for the cataloguing of 55,000 files of archival material.
  • Bridge to Japan -links to many Japan-related internet resources
  • Duke University Libraries East Asian Collections - Japanese Studies Resources - links to online catalogues for Japanese Collections in the US, with a range of online finding aids: bibliographies, indexes and other reference sources
  • Japan Center for Asian Historical Records (JACAR) - provides access to official documents selected from three archival institutions, i.e. National Archives of Japan, The Diplomatic Record Office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Library of the National Institute for Defence Studies and the National Defence Agency. The materials, spanning from the Meiji era to the end of the Pacific War, mainly concern Japan's past relationship with various neighbouring Asian countries and regions.
  • National Diet Library, Japan
  • National Library of Korea
  • National Library of China

East Asia: online catalogues

East India Company and India Office: other archive repositories

Major archive resources in connection with the East India Company / India Office Records are as follows:

  • The National Archives - launched in April 2003, and brings together two existing organisations, the Public Record Office and the Historical Manuscripts Commission (see below). The former Public Record Office has a wide range of records relating to the East India Company under the following departmental and subject headings: Admiralty, Board of Trade, Civil Service Commission, Colonial, Foreign, Home, Privy Council and War Office, House of Lords, Maps and Treasury Board Papers. PRO is also the host of A2A project (=Access to Archives) which aims to create a virtual national archives catalogue. Currently part of the India Office Records lists, the Board's Collections are available through PRO's online catalogue. The website also includes the Family Records Centre
  • ARCHON, National Register of Archives, Historical Manuscripts Commission - the indexes to the NRA contain references to papers of c 150,000 corporate bodies, persons and families relating to British history with a further 100,000 connected records.
  • Centre of South Asian Studies, University of Cambridge - archive which relates to the economic social and political conditions during the period of British rule in India, Burma and Ceylon: manuscripts, tape-recordings, photographs and home movies.
  • University of Chicago Southern Asia Collection - a searchable catalogue of Official Publications of India mainly to be found in the BL's collection.
  • South Asia through Official Eyes - provides access to the national collection of South Asian official publications. A joint project hosted by the Bodleian Library and funded by the Research Support Libraries Programme.
  • Mundus Gateway - a guide to more than four hundred collections of overseas missionary materials held in the United Kingdom. A joint project hosted by the School of Oriental and African Studies and funded by the Research Support Libraries Programme.
  • Moving Here - images of library, archive and museum collections relating to the migration of South Asian, Caribbean, Irish and Jewish people to England.
  • South Asia Archive & Library Group (SAALG) - representatives of libraries, archives in the UK specialised in South Asian Studies meet twice annually for information exchange on collection development

East India Company / India Office: archive repositories outside the UK

East India Company / India Office: archival printed resources

  • Janet Foster and Julia Sheppard (eds), British Archives: A Guide to Archive Resources in the United Kingdom, 4th edition (London, 1998)
  • M D Wainright & Noel Matthews (comp), A Guide to Western Manuscripts and Documents in the British Isles relating to South and South East Asia (London, 1965)
  • Noel Matthews & M D Wainwright (comp), A Guide to Manuscripts and Documents in the British Isles relating to the Far East (London, 1977)
  • Noel Matthews & M D Wainwright (comp), A Guide to Manuscripts and Documents in the British Isles relating to the Middle East and North Africa (London, 1980)

East India Company and India Office: Maritime and Mercantile History

East India Company and India Office: Family History Research

  • Familyrecords.gov Project - a joint website hosted by a consortium of national institutions in England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland.
    Families in British India Society (FIBIS) - formed in November 1998 to provide a resource for people researching families and their social history in India from 1600 up to, and even after, Indian Independence in 1947.
    Census Information: Surname Index for the Returns of Europeans Residing in Bombay Presidency in 1851
  • The Indiaman Magazine - a genealogical and historical magazine about the British presence in the Indian Sub-Continent from 1600 to the 20th century. With some useful links of family history search engines.
  • Provinces of India to 1947 - detailed list of Governors, Chief Commissioners or Chief Ministers in all provinces of British India from ca.1700 to 1947.
  • Moving Here - images of library, archive and museum collections relating to the migration of South Asian, Caribbean, Irish and Jewish people to England.
  • Imperial War Museum - Family History Research; also includes: unpublished diaries and memoirs written by officers and other ranks during World Wars I and II; biographical files on persons who received the Victoria or George Crosses; photographs and film footage.
  • National Army Museum - collections of private, regimental and business archives relating to the history of the British Army, the Indian Army to 1947, and British colonial land forces to relevant Independence dates.
  • Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives, King's College London - the Centre holds the private papers of over 500 senior defence personnel who held office in the 20th century.
  • Scottish Record Office - records and private papers relating to the British in India.
  • National Library of Scotland - private papers for Scottish people who were employed by or otherwise connected to the East India Company.
  • BACSA - British Association for Cemeteries in South Asia - a charity organisation formed in 1976 to restore, protect and record old European cemeteries in South Asia. The catalogue of BACSA records are now available in India Office Select Materials (select 'Private Papers', enter 'British Association for Cemeteries in South Asia' in Keywords).
  • Trek out of Burma 1942 - Transcriptions of files in IOR/M/8/57: list of European, Anglo-Burmese, Anglo-Indian, and other non Indian evacuees, list of casualties, and list of Burmese, Chinese and Shans.
  • Commonwealth War Graves Commission - the commission was established in 1917 to mark and maintain the graves of the members of the Commonwealth forces who were killed in the two World Wars.
  • Society of Genealogists
  • Ecclesiastical Calendar
  • Mundus Gateway - missionary collections in the United Kingdom.
  • India Census Material
  • Campaign and Gallantry Medals

East India Company and India Office: family history research:
Institutions without URL

  • Department for International Development, Abercrombie House, Eaglesham Road, East Kilbride, Glasgow G75 8EA. Tel: +44 (0)1355 844000 - responsible for paying pensions to former employees of the British Indian Government. N.B. These records are mainly confidential and therefore there are restrictions on access. Details of pensioners' addresses will not be divulged but the department will forward any correspondence to them.
  • Haileybury and Imperial Service College, Haileybury, Hertford, SG13 7NU. Tel: +44 (0)1732 352703 - the home of former East India College. On its closure, the library and records of the East India College were transferred to the British Library although a small proportion has since been returned to Haileybury.
  • London Borough of Croydon Archives Service, Central Library, Katharine Street, Croydon, Surrey CR9 1ET. Tel: +44 (0)20 8760 5400 - items relating to the East India Company's Military Seminary / Addiscombe College (1740-1909).
  • London Borough of Tower Hamlets, Bancroft Library, 277 Bancroft Road, London E1 4DQ. Tel: +44 (0)20 8980 4366 - some East India Company records (1709-1871) including records of the Poplar Pension Fund, supplementary to those held at OIOC.

Full list of online catalogues