Thacker's Indian Directory
Encyclopedia
Thacker, Spink & Co. was a well known Kolkata
publishing company. Thacker's Bengal Directory was published from 1864 to 1884 and covered the Bengal Presidency
– which included the present day Myanmar
and Bangladesh
. From 1885 the Directory covered the whole of British India and was renamed "Thacker's Indian Directory". It continued to be published until 1960.
The directory was essentially an almanac
which listed British and Foreign Merchants and Manufacturers, Commercial Industries, Army, railway and government departments and office holders, European residents, and separately, prominent non-European residents. Earlier editions of Thacker had street directories of major cities, such as Kolkata and Yangon
, together with the name of the residents of each house.
Similar directories published included:
Kolkata
Kolkata , formerly known as Calcutta, is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal. Located on the east bank of the Hooghly River, it was the commercial capital of East India...
publishing company. Thacker's Bengal Directory was published from 1864 to 1884 and covered the Bengal Presidency
Bengal Presidency
The Bengal Presidency originally comprising east and west Bengal, was a colonial region of the British Empire in South-Asia and beyond it. It comprised areas which are now within Bangladesh, and the present day Indian States of West Bengal, Assam, Bihar, Meghalaya, Orissa and Tripura.Penang and...
– which included the present day Myanmar
Myanmar
Burma , officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar , is a country in Southeast Asia. Burma is bordered by China on the northeast, Laos on the east, Thailand on the southeast, Bangladesh on the west, India on the northwest, the Bay of Bengal to the southwest, and the Andaman Sea on the south....
and Bangladesh
Bangladesh
Bangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...
. From 1885 the Directory covered the whole of British India and was renamed "Thacker's Indian Directory". It continued to be published until 1960.
The directory was essentially an almanac
Almanac
An almanac is an annual publication that includes information such as weather forecasts, farmers' planting dates, and tide tables, containing tabular information in a particular field or fields often arranged according to the calendar etc...
which listed British and Foreign Merchants and Manufacturers, Commercial Industries, Army, railway and government departments and office holders, European residents, and separately, prominent non-European residents. Earlier editions of Thacker had street directories of major cities, such as Kolkata and Yangon
Yangon
Yangon is a former capital of Burma and the capital of Yangon Region . Although the military government has officially relocated the capital to Naypyidaw since March 2006, Yangon, with a population of over four million, continues to be the country's largest city and the most important commercial...
, together with the name of the residents of each house.
Similar directories published included:
- Thacker's Bombay Directory, city and island (together with a directory of the chief industries of Bombay, etc);
- Thacker's medical directory of India, Burma and Ceylon;
- Thacker's Directory of the Chief Industries of India, Burma and Ceylon.