Asians In Britain: 400 Years of History

by Rozina Visram

This is a comprehensive history of Asians from the Indian subcontinent in Britain. Spanning four centuries, it tells the history of the Indian community in Britain from the servants, ayahs and sailors of the seventeenth century, to the students, princes, soldiers, professionals and entrepreneurs of the 19th and 20th centuries. Rozina Visram examines the nature and pattern of Asian migration; official attitudes to Asian settlement; the reactions and perceptions of the British people; the responses of the Asians themselves and their social, cultural and political lives in Britain. This imaginative and detailed investigation asks what it would have been like for Asians to live in Britain, in the heart of an imperial metropolis, and documents the anti-colonial struggle by Asians and their allies in the UK. It is an invaluable contribution to our understanding of the origins of the many different communities that make up contemporary Britain.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, British Literature, Asia

504 pages, Paperback

First published April 12, 2002

Reviews

[Katie Lumsden · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really fascinating history book - on the more academic side, but really well done and interesting.

[Satinder · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is impossible to review this book in an objective way; it is personal to me. Overall it was eye opening. Some moments of joy and surprise, but mainly depressing.

The overarching knowledge I gained from this book is that discrimination against ethnic minorities in Britain, in housing, policing and the media, is a very old state of being. Despite the laws, what has really changed?

I considered myself well versed in colonialism and the whitewashing of British history- seems like I knew nothing. And if I know nothing- someone who does the research and wants to find out- what does the average person who doesn't, know? They believe what is a version of the truth. We don't see Indian soldiers in war movies. No one mentions Asian suffragettes. Many of us had no idea about the extent of British slavery until David Olusoga's documentary, Britain's Forgotten Slave Owners. The industrial revolution is taught with vague references to merchants and traders; the brutal truth of the Empire is completely obfuscated.

Like I said, a depressing read in many ways. The levels of injustice and inhumanity white British people have been capable of, the historical justification of hate for the purposes of material gain, these were a profound shock to my system.

However, some of this book's joyful moments included reference to white British people who extended hands of friendship and support to early Asians, or who set up charitable institutions to help them. It is important to remember this goodness. But it is also clear that this country has a dismal record in treating 'others' fairly, which actually makes recent political events and current attitudes easier to understand: British people have always been this way. Or at least those in charge and with an agenda have always been this way.

The real moments of joy came from encountering the lives of Asian servants, lascars, ayahs, artists, politicians, entrepreneurs, royals and everyday people. I feel there is remembrance in the very reading and writing of these names.

I finished this book with a sense of humble respect to those that went before, and demanded their rights, the ones who established lives and careers despite everything, which ensured that life for subsequent generations of British Asians is such a different experience. We're standing on the shoulders of bloody giants.

[Sevket Akyildiz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thought-provoking, topical and readable. I recommend Rozina Visram's book for history and culture students and the general reader. The 400 years of relations between the peoples of South Asia and Britain and Ireland is explained and discussed in detail. I enjoyed the chapters: Chapter 1 A Long Presence; Chapter 2 Early Arrivals, 1600-1830s; Chapter 3 A Community in the Making, 1830s-1914; Chapter 4 Through Indian Eyes; Chapter 6 Indians in the First World War; Chapter 11 Contributions in the Second World War. The conclusion is concise and informative. The author brings to life the men and women, from all classes and social backgrounds, who travelled to Great Britain for work, education, military service, and to visit the metropolis (as the centre of the British imperial empire). Moreover, the book explains the changing attitudes and perceptions of the Asian visitors/British citizens/subjects in the eyes of the British masses and elites--and equally in the eyes of the Asians. Topics covered include business, labour, marriage, class, racism and prejudice, citizen/subject classifications, world wars, national independence, education, political activism, and the everyday interactions between people. (This book does not cover in a comparative context Arabs, Turks, Africans, and Jews.) However, 'Asians in Britain' educates the reader--and enlightens us about the history of Asians in Britain and Asian-British citizens.

[Malcolm · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like Peter Fryer's 'Staying Power' this is a fine recovery history telling a largely untold story of the long presence of South Asians in Britain. She gets beyond the obvious tales of the wealthy to take inside the international division of labour and the long reliance of the British economy on South Asian workers. As I live through debates about Britishness, the rise of neo-fascist politics in the UK, and a growing sense that the UK late in 2008 is increasingly scary, we need more of these kinds of books to give the lie to the lies of the forces of reaction.

[Farah Mendlesohn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a good book. One to pair with David Olusoga's Black and British. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3...

The book is an excellent mixture of both overview and short biographies; it doesn't get stuck in London as far too many books about migrants do, it really is about *Britain*, and it does a fantastic job of exploring the nuances of experience, the different ways in which racism manifested and the different effects it had on different social classes of Indians. Thmost depressing aspect is the ramping up of racism and discrimination in the late nineteenth and the first half of the twentieth century: and if you think I'm going to say it's got better, I'm not. The kind of discriminatory migration laws that successive governments (of both major parties) have brought in since the '50s are foreshadowed in the 1930s when Indian citizens of the Empire were stripped of the right to settle in a country they had been taught they belonged to.

I would particularly recommend this book if you are writing historical fiction: far too many authors write the early 19th century scene as if it's the late 19th century and Visram and Olusaga both do a fantastic job of exploring how different it was, and why.

There are too many fantastic stories for me to easily choose favourites, but I was embarrassed to realise it had never occurred to me to ask what happened to Seke Dean Mohammed, the Shampooer (masseur and surgeon) of Brighton, or to consider whether he had a family. In fact, his grandchildren entered the professions (much like the grandchildren of immigrants today) and anyone who suffers from hypertension, owes a debt to Frederick Akbar Mohamed https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederi...

[Jbondandrews · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really thought that this was a very well written book. I only wish that Rozina had continued on with the twentieth century. Of course it made me wonder did my ancestors interact with any Asians. I know my great grandfather would have tried out the early Indian restaurants to see if they would remind him of home.

[Rei A · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very comprehensive survey of the history of Asians--that is, people from the Indian subcontinent--living in Britain, Asians in Britain is going to be very useful as a source for future historical fiction stories, though I read it with no particular story in mind and just read it to learn. And learn I did!

[Aneeka · Rating 5 out of 5]

acknowledge the past!

[Syed Kashif]

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