Railway construction in India: select documents

The history of Indian railway construction of the 19th century could be divided into the following three broad phases: (1). under old terms of ‘guarantee system’ (1844–69); (2). under State supervision and management (1869–79); and (3). under the terms of new ‘guarantee system’ (1879–1900). The present study aims at presenting the documents of vital importance for writing such a history. The principle followed in listing the documents is chronological, and the following three volumes comprise a total number of three hundred and sixty documents, selected out of a total of 10,000 pages of material collected during 1922–97. These documents cover the protracted controversy between individuals and groups interested in laying railway in India, despatches of the Court of Directors of the East India Company and the Board of control headed by a British cabinet minister, and the Government of India in the early phase of its construction (1832–53) etc. These documents highlight the nature of ownership, role of the British private enterprises backed by a system of guaranteed interest, approval of capital by the British Government and contribution of joint venture by private and State sectors, etc. Each of the documents presented here is provided with a title, a gist of contents, and the source reference; these are succeeded by the original document. The end notes comprise editiorial comments and, wherever necessary, cross-references.