The 1881 census was conducted on a single, coordinated census date across British India and many princely states, widely treated as the first truly synchronous all-India enumeration under the Raj.
Official reports for the 1881 census were issued in substantial printed volumes (including statistical appendices), helping standardize how population, occupation, caste, and language were documented for administrative use.
Ahead of the 1891 enumeration, the Government of India circulated orders and general instructions (a key part of building repeatable, decennial census procedures across provinces and states).
The 1891 census continued the now-established decennial schedule, producing imperial tables and provincial/state outputs used for governance, taxation, and public administration.
A consolidated general report for the 1891 census (authored by J. A. Baines, Census Commissioner for India) was published, synthesizing results on population distribution, movement, occupation, and ethnographic classifications.
The 1901 Census of India generated a large set of volumes issued by region ("series"/volumes), reflecting the census’s expansion into an increasingly standardized imperial statistical program.
The 1901 census is often described in the historical record as the first reliable census for India under the British Raj, and it reported a total for British India on the order of 294 million people.
The 1911 decennial census produced extensive tabulations; catalogued holdings (e.g., Bombay’s Imperial tables) show the continuing bureaucratic scale and documentary output of the census system.
Archival files for Census 1921 include census tables, the census report, and related commentary—evidence of how census outputs circulated through India Office and imperial administrative channels.
A review in the Journal of the Royal Statistical Society discussed the Census of India 1921 and its published report (Vol. I, report issued in 1924), indicating the census’s importance beyond colonial administration—within international statistical circles.
The 1931 census is commonly referenced as the last decennial census in India to record caste comprehensively at the individual level under the Raj, making it a major historical reference point for later debates about caste enumeration.
The 1941 census was conducted during World War II and still produced a major multi-volume publication program (with volumes for India as a whole and for provinces/states).
Decennial censuses of British India (1881-1941)
