The File General of Indies was established in 1785 by desire of King Charles III, in order to centralize in one place the documentation in the Spanish colonies had been dispersed in different files: Simancas, Cádiz and Seville.
The file retains some 43,000 bundles, with some 80 million pages and 8,000 maps and drawings that come mainly from metropolitan agencies responsible for the administration of the colonies.