<P> Although the East India Company was established as a trading company, it became more and more involved in local affairs in India during the early 18th century, and eventually came to hold large swaths of land in the subcontinent . In the mid-18th century, the Company began to undertake a governmental role in large parts of India, in order to organize the nascent colony to better facilitate trade . </P> <P> In an effort to increase its own involvement in the administration of India, the British Government passed Pitt's India Act in 1784, which established the Board of Control to direct the East India Company in its governing role . </P> <P> In 1858, in the aftermath of the Indian Rebellion of 1857, the British government abolished the East India Company's right to govern India, and brought the subcontinent directly under the control of the British Empire . The India Office, under the direction of the Secretary of State for India, was established to maintain administrative control over the increasingly important colony . In 1937, a separate Burma Office was established to alleviate some of the India Office's administrative burden . </P> <P> The India Office Records themselves have a very interesting history . There were different levels of care for the records over the years, but interest in preserving them was established very early . A "Keeper" of East India Company records was appointed in 1771, with a mission to arrange current records and to preserve historical records . </P>

Why do you think british preserve the official documents