India Church Records

For information about records for non-Christian religions in India, go to the Religious Records page.

Church records are an excellent source for accurate information on names and dates and on places of births, marriages, and deaths. Many people who lived in India have information recorded about them in a church record. Since civil authorities did not begin registering vital statistics until 1872, church records are the best source for family information before that date.

The first step in researching European or Anglo-Indian ancestry in colonial India is to use the church records. For administrative purposes, colonial India was divided into three Presidencies, Bombay, Madras, and Bengal. Protestant and Catholic churches began to keep records in India in 1698 (Madras), 1709 (Bombay) and 1713 (Bengal). Each year, these records were transcribed and sent to the capital of the Presidency, where they were indexed. The records and indexes were then sent to headquarters in London. This practice ceased at Independence in 1947. Learn more about family history in the India Office Records.

Parish maps can help you determine which parish to search. Maps will reveal neighboring parishes to search if your ancestor is not listed in the parish where you expected him or her to be. See India Maps for more information.

Online Records

 * Roman Catholic returns of baptisms, marriages and burials, 1835-1856: These records contain many British Europeans in the service of the East India Company, however, many Spanish and Indian names are also included. The presidencies of Bengal, Madras and Bombay cover nearly all of present-day India, Bangladesh and parts of Pakistan.
 * India and Pakistan, ecclesiastical returns, registered 1949-1967, indexed images.
 * Parish register transcripts from the Presidency of Bengal, 1713-1948 The Presidency of Bengal mainly included the states of Bihar and Orissa. At times the Presidency extended to Punjab and most of Northern India. Includes returns from the British colonies of Burma, Malacca and Singapore.
 * 1698-1948: Parish register transcripts from the Presidency of Madras, 1698-1948 at FamilySearch, images and incomplete index.
 * 1709-1948: Parish register transcripts from the Presidency of Bombay, 1709-1948 at FamilySearch, images and incomplete index.
 * 1713-1948: Parish register transcripts from the Presidency of Bengal, 1713-1948 at FamilySearch, images and incomplete index.
 * 1724-1996: India, Archdiocese of Goa, Roman Catholic Priesthood Candidates, 1724-1996 at FamilySearch, index and images.
 * 1743-1990: India, Madras Diocese Protestant Church Records, 1743-1990 at FamilySearch, images only.
 * 1835-1856: Roman Catholic returns of baptisms, marriages and burials, 1835-1856 at FamilySearch, index and images.
 * 1854-2012: India, Gujarat Diocese Protestant Church Records, 1854-2012 at FamilySearch, images only.

Christian parish records
Record type: Baptisms, marriages, and burials. Includes not only British, and European members, but native Indians as well.

Time period: 1700 to present.

Contents: Burial records give date and place of death and deceased name, if in the military has detachment, if a mariner the name of his ship, if a colonist the words “inhabitant”. European nationality was given if not English and if a native Indian the words “India Man” were used. Initially no age was given however, if an infant it was so noted. Cause of death given. Christenings, baptisms and births are often mixed together in the register. The event’s date, the name and sex of the child, it’s father’s name and sometimes that of the mother is given as is European nationality if other than English. The marriage records show date and place of marriage, full name of bride and groom except in the case of an Indian woman where only a European first name is given, the groom’s military affiliation if any and the word “inhabitant” was generally noted.

Percent in Family History Library: Approximately 90%

Population coverage: About 3% of the Indian population. Virtually 100% of the Christians are found in these records. However, not all are extant. Catholic records in the Goa are being filmed at this time. Also there may be original church records for which transcripts have not been made and Included with the India Office records.

Reliability: Good

Locating Church Records
To find an ancestor in church records, it helps to know his religion and the parish where he lived. The Imperial Gazetteer may help you find the parish. See the "Gazetteers" section of this Wiki for information about the gazetteer and for other help in finding a parish.

More than 200,000 transcriptions of indexes to church records are available on FIBIS Families in British India Society and India Office Family History Search. All of the church record transcriptions and indexes have been microfilmed and are available on microfilm at the Family History Library (direct link to a list of FHL Microfilms of Church registers in India). They can be found by using the Place Search for India - Church Records.

Digital Copies of Church Records in the FamilySearch Catalog
Watch for digitized copies of church records to be added to the collection of the FamilySearch Library. Some records might have viewing restrictions, and can only be viewed at a Family History Center near you, and/or by members of supporting organizations. To find records:
 * a. Click on the records of India.
 * b. Click on Places within India and a list of towns will appear.
 * c. Click on your town if it appears, or the location which you believe was the parish which served your town or village.
 * d. Click on the "Church records" topic. Click on the blue links to specific record titles.
 * e. Some combination of these icons will appear at the far right of the listing for the record. FHL icons.png. The magnifying glass indicates that the record is indexed. Clicking on the magnifying glass will take you to the index. Clicking on the camera will take you to an online digital copy of the records.