South Asians and the Shaping of Britain, 1870–1950

This sourcebook offers alternative ways of conceiving of the making of modern Britain. It intervenes in contemporary debates about Britain’s heritage by illuminating the remarkable, yet still overlooked, impact that South Asians had on shaping the nature of British culture, politics and national identity during the period 1870-1950. The first anthology of primary material interdisciplinary study of the history of the South Asian presence in Britain over the period, it selects a wide range of official and non-official archival sources. and identifies four key areas of South Asian impact – minority rights, war, culture and reception, and representation. The current relevance of South Asian engagement is underscored, projecting contemporary national concerns back into the past.