Reconsidering the ‘Transition Narrative’: The Domiciled Britons of Company Rule, c.1760-1857

Emily Webb

doi:10.5920/ppp.544

Abstract

This article engages with narratives of the domiciled British community during Company Rule in India. It traces the development of the ‘transition narrative’ which locates the differences in society, culture and beliefs of domiciled Britons in the early eighteenth century with those of their nineteenth-century counterparts and challenges the duality of this narrative highlighting its over-reliance upon the ‘colonial archive’ and limiting the scope for research. Through an exploration of developing approaches and methods which challenge both the ‘colonial archive’ and ‘transitional narrative’, it seeks to demonstrate potential new areas for research into this community

Highlights

The British domiciled community in India has long fascinated their fellow countrymen in the metropole.[1]
As outlined by Ian Barrow and Douglas Haynes, these include the conquest of Mysore and the defeat of the Maratha Confederacy, the design and implementation of the Permanent Settlement and indirect rule of ‘princely states’, the introduction of Utilitarianism and missionary activity, the emergence of ‘racial’ hierarchies, and the reshaping of the domiciled British community.[5]
I used ‘domiciled British community’ to refer to those Britons living and working in India, under the authority of the East India Company. It does not include those of mixed European-Indian heritage, who shall be referred to as Eurasian. This is at odds with Satoshi Mizutani’s (2011) definition in The Meaning of White: Race, Class and the ‘Domiciled Community’ in British India 1858-1930, Oxford: OUP, who uses the term to refer to persons of mixed descent as well as unmixed European heritage

Summary

Introduction

The British domiciled community in India has long fascinated their fellow countrymen in the metropole.[1]. The British domiciled community in India has long fascinated their fellow countrymen in the metropole.[1] From the early eighteenth century to the decline of the Raj, innumerable publications describing the life and work of Britons in India informed and entertained the British public.[2] Colonial India remains a popular setting for novels, documentaries, films, and television dramas, and has been linked to a rise of imperial sentiment in post-colonial British society.

Results

Conclusion