There’s a lot to read between the lines when you’re reading a history book. Much has been omitted, and more has been rephrased to the liking of the writer. That it is biased, reads in bold. Between the pages of such books, what goes unwritten is the ‘unmentionable’ of its times, or that which is plain less ‘important’ to be printed.
Three years ago, a team from the Open University wanted to explore such unwritten history of Indians in Britain. Extensive research (read going through archives, surveillance reports, and old newspapers) followed. Today, the team is touring Indian cities to showcase what they discovered — Beyond the Frame, India in Britain, 1858-1950. Did you know that Sophia Duleep Singh, daughter of Maharaja Duleep Singh, campaigned for women’s right to vote in Britain? A believer in ‘no vote, no tax’ she refused to pay her taxes and was even prosecuted for it. Or that diplomat VK Krishna Menon, who is known for his political career and closeness to Jawahar Lal Nehru, was a Labour Party councillor and co-founded the non-fiction arm of Penguin publishers — Pelican Books? The exhibition features many such stories of Indians in Britain from various fields (arts, sports, defence, literature, social et al) between 1858 and 1950, and the way they shaped the British society.
The project and its challenges
While much has been written and talked about the British influence on India — the railways, city landmarks like the India Gate, Rashtrapati Bhawan, Gateway of India, Hindu-Muslim divide, and more — India’s influence on the British society is a rather unsung chapter. And this prompted Susheila Nasta, the principal investigator and director of Beyond the Frame project, to delve into the subject. It started as a project for the Open University, where she holds a chair in modern literature. Along came Dr Florian Stadtler, as a research associate for the project, and also at the Open University, while the archival support was provided by Penny Brook, the lead curator of India Office Records at the British Library, who is also the co-curator of the exhibition. The project was also supported by Arts and humanities Research Council, The World Collections Programme, National Archives of India and the British Council, India.
The idea, that Nasta was toying with, took shape when she read historian and educationist Rozina Visram’s book Asians in Britain: 400 Years of History. “I wanted to do this project, and the book became a cornerstone for the project,” recounts Nasta, who also consulted Visram for the project. About her choice of the subject, Nasta says, “This is little known history of Indians in Britain, before the well-known period of migration, ie, post 1950. Influences came from unexpected corners, like the ayahs.”
The ‘interesting’ project also brought along with it a new set of challenges. To begin with, the team had to dig into the history which wasn’t written. Dr Stadtler cites an example, “The Indian Lascar Sailors, who were employed by the British Army at various Indian ports — Konkan, Gujarat, Bangladesh (then India), and more. They were, indirectly, extremely important for Britain. Without them, what would Britain eat?”
During the research the team found a few pictures or letters pertaining to the Lascars, the history books too had sidelined them, while the archives showed a big presence of the sailors. Nasta sums it up, “There were several silences and gaps. We had to wear several different spectacles to look at the subject.”
The unsung stories
That the canvas was big, explains the three years that went into the study and compilation of the project. And the result is an interesting milieu of stories that were hitherto unheard of. From the huge influence of Indians in the British Army during the two World Wars; to the story of Lascar Sailors; to Indians’ contribution in Britain’s fight for social justice, healthcare, women’s rights; the stories are aplenty, and equally unknown.
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