South Asians in Georgian Britain

As with the history of Black communities in the UK, many are under the misapprehension that South Asian communities in Britain didn’t really exist until after the Second World War. But it’s just not true. In fact, there has been a considerable South Asian presence in Britain since the 1600s and this grew significantly during the 18^th and 19^th centuries. For South Asian Heritage Month, let’s look at South Asians in Georgian Britain.

What is South Asia?

South Asia comprises modern day India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Butan, Nepal, Bangladesh, the Maldives and Sri Lanka. Before the 20^th century, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and parts of Afghanistan were all combined as India and people from any of those countries were called Indians. Sri Lanka (then known as Ceylon) was a separate country but was administrated as a British colony from 1795.

South Asia encompasses several religions, including Hinduism, Islam, Sikhism, Buddhism and Christianity.

The history of Anglo-Indian connections

Anglo-Indian connections were established in 1600, when Elizabeth I granted a charter to a group of London merchants giving them a monopoly on trade with the East. These merchants formed the East India Company and started trading with India for its textiles and spices.

With the permission of the Moghul Emperors, the East India Company established four trading posts which grew to become port cities in Bombay (Mumbai), Surat, Madras (Chennai) and Calcutta (Kolkata). Civil and military personnel were sent to India to administrate and protect the growing enterprise, opening both commerce and travel between the two countries.

After the Indian Rebellion in 1857, Britain established direct governance over India, creating the British Raj from 1858 until 1947.

South Asians in Georgian Britain

Lascars

The East India Company hired Indian sailors to man their ships as soon as trade with India began. They became known as lascars and were also hired during times of war to shore up the ranks of the British army, militia and navy.

As such, lascars were a familiar sight in the larger port cities of Britain and many established communities in London, Cardiff, Liverpool and Glasgow throughout the 18^th and 19^th centuries.

However, the employment system was corrupt and resembled debt slavery. Lascars were paid half that of British sailors and allocated half the food rations.

When lascars first arrived in Britain, no provision was made to house them when they were onshore. They were also not paid until the end of their return journey. Many were left to roam the streets homeless, starving and begging, especially at the end of periods of war when soldiers and sailors were dismissed.

In 1801, the East India Company was forced to take responsibility for its employees and built a set of barracks in Shadwell to house them while they were onshore. Following a parliamentary enquiry in 1814, the East India Company was also ordered to provide adequate clothing and provisions for their lascar seamen.

Servants

Many of the administrators of the East India Company hired Indian servants and brought them back to Britain on their return. By 1753, hundreds of households employed Indian servants. Indian labour was much cheaper, and Indian servants became a symbol of wealth and status.

However, like the lascars, many Indian workers experienced harsh exploitation from their employers. Some hired servants to attend them on their journey to Britain with the promise of a free return passage to India, only to be abandoned by their employers as soon as they arrived.

One group of female servants known as ayahs, were frequently cast aside to face destitution in Britain. Ayahs were Indian women and girls employed as domestic servants and nannies. So, like lascars, Indian women were left to roam the streets, fighting for survival in any way possible. Homes for abandoned ayahs were not established until the 1900s.

Many Indians remained in Britain because they had no means of returning to India. Despite the British government’s discouragement of Indian settlement, 18th-century parish records reveal the establishment of Indian communities in London neighbourhoods like Tooting, Whitechapel, Greenwich and Lewisham. Old Bailey records also evidence that South Asians were victims, witnesses and perpetrators of crime in 18^th century London.

Inter-racial relationships

We know British people had relationships with Indian immigrants, British men had relationships with Indian women while they worked for the East India Company and that these relationships produced children.

In theory, if an Indian converted to the Church to England (I’m not sure about Scotland or Ireland), they could legally marry in England and produce legitimate children. Those children could inherit property and titles from their fathers. Society may have accepted them (even if they endured prejudice), but any illegitimate offspring would have likely faced stigma regarding the circumstances of their birth and racial prejudice.

William Kirkpatrick and Catherine Aurora Kirkpatrick were the children of East India official James Kirkpatrick and Khair-un-Nissa, a Muslim noblewoman in the household of the Nizam’s court in Hyderbad. The pair were married according to Muslim law, but only the children arrived in England in September 1805 and were given English names. However, it’s uncertain whether they moved in high society as adults.

Like many children produced by relationships between British men and their Indian mistresses, the children were removed from their mothers and anglicised by their fathers.

Some men brought their Indian mistresses back to Britain. Halima Begum was a Muslim noblewoman in the Nawab’s princely court in Lucknow and the mistress of a French mercenary. She came to England with her children in the 1790s and lived on Great Portland Street.

What about high society?

Not all Indian immigrants ended up destitute when they came to Britain. Dean Mahomed came to Ireland as a servant, established several business ventures in England and worked for the Prince Regent.

One source suggests aristocratic Indians were accepted amongst high society in Britain, and claims that members of the Indian nobility visited England at the turn of the 19^th century for education and leisure. It also says Indians studied in Britain so they could be employed as administrators for the British in India.

However, I need to research this further because another source suggests the arrival of the more educated classes of Indian society in Britain may not have happened until the mid-19^th century. That author says it wasn’t until the establishment of the Raj that Indian students, lawyers and politicians made Britain their home and established a stable South Asian community in Britain.

Sources

East Asian Communities

Pre-1947 Direct Migration to the UK from South Asia

South Asian British History

Real South Asian Women in Regency England

The Hidden History of Asians in Britain