Search Indian Army Records of Service 1900-1947

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Did your ancestor serve in the Indian Army in the first half of the twentieth century? This small but fascinating collection held at the British Library could shed new light on your ancestor's military past.

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What can these records tell me?

This is an index of nearly 13,000 officers who served in the Indian Army between 1900 and 1947. Typical information found includes:

First name(s)
Last name
Rank
Year
Regiment
Date of commission
Date range
Scope and content

Discover more about these records

This is an index to service records which are held at the British Library. In the 'not a lot of people know that' category, some officers who served in the Indian Army up until Partition may have papers that were lodged with the India Office in London. Most of these records relate to British personnel, although there are a few files relating to Indians.

This small collection includes the British Library reference for each file, which means that, having identified your soldier in this index, you can order copies of any file from the British Library online. Alternatively you can arrange to visit the British Library to see files in person. Unlike records typically found in WO 364 at The National Archives, these Indian Army records have not suffered from over-enthusiastic 'weeding', which means that many contain a lot of information.