Record

LevelSub-sub-sub-fonds
Finding Number (Click this to view full catalogue structure)CMS/B/OMS/I3
TitleWestern India Mission
Extent31 vols. of letter-books, mission books and precis books, 19 boxes of original papers and 2690 docs. (including journals)
Date1820-1935
DescriptionPre and post-1880 papers of the Western India mission to 1935.
Access StatusOpen
Physical DescriptionThe archive reference numbers for the pre-1880 papers have been marked in pencil on the back of each individual item [e.g. C I3/O2/9]. The post-1880 papers are each individually marked in red ink, and this number, plus the year, comprises the reference for each item [e.g. G2 I3/1901/146]. G2 I3 is missing hundreds of numbers [consult in-house finding aid for details].
Administrative HistoryA Corresponding Committee for CMS work in Bombay was formed in June 1818, but the first missionary arrived from England in 1820. Work spread from Bombay to Nasik (1832), Junir (1843), Malegaon (1848), Aurangabad (1860) and Poona (1882). There was special work amongst the Muslims and Parsees. There was also work amongst the Bhils in Kherwara (1880), Lusadia and Biladia (1901). The latter places were transferred to the control of the Western India mission in 1915, having originated with the Central Provinces mission.
Work in Sind centered on Karachi (1850), Hyderabad (1856) and Sukkar (1859). When the diocese of Lahore was established in 1877 the Sind mission was amalgamated with the Punjab mission (taken from the North India mission) [I 1] and from 1878 was set up independently as the Punjab and Sind mission.
NB The Western India mission series includes information on the work in Abyssinia and East Africa. This is because administration of finance and supplies was run from Bombay by the mission secretary from 1828 onwards; also German missionaries in Bombay corresponded with their fellow-countrymen in East Africa.
Custodial HistoryPapers catalogued by Rosemary A. Keen 1983.
Related MaterialCentral Provinces mission: G2 I 8; Punjab and Sind mission: I4