Who were they? Where did they come from? Why did they come? What was their impact on Britain? Sophia Duleep Singh Lascars Ayahs Cornelia Sorabji Sake Dean Mahomed www.teachithistory.co.uk 2018 29554 Page 1 of 6
Sophia Duleep Singh Sophia Duleep Singh (1876-1948) was the daughter of Duleep Singh, Maharaja of Punjab until 1849. Sophia was god-daughter to Queen Victoria and one of her favourites. She was raised according to her birth as an aristocrat, albeit an English aristocrat with a mixed-heritage background. The Princess was often featured in society pages wearing the latest fashions. Sophia travelled to India as a young woman and this changed her. She returned to England as a radical, beginning a life-long battle to bring about social justice and equality in her country. Sophia not only became involved in battles for women's rights, but also fought tirelessly for Indian independence, supported the cause of destitute lascars, and provided funds and clothing for Indian soldiers during the First World War. www.teachithistory.co.uk 2018 29554 Page 2 of 6
The lascars: Britain's colonial sailors Lascars, curry and shampoo: How has South Asia contributed to Britain? Lascars, or Indian sailors, first began to be employed in small numbers from the seventeenth century by the East India Company, which was set up by private merchants in 1600 to establish trade links with India. Lascars were engaged to fill the manpower gap on ships returning from India, as some British sailors deserted their ships in India and others died. Once in Britain lascars had to wait, often for months, before they could get a return ship back to India. A small population of lascars grew in London, Liverpool, Cardiff and Glasgow and formed the earliest Indian working-class communities in Britain. These port cities became multiracial settlements with sailors from diverse countries mixing with the local population, some marrying and starting families. Lascars in Britain earned their living by various means e.g. as sellers of Indian articles like curry powder or perfume, or as café and curry-house owners largely serving their fellow sailors. Lascars. / Credit: BRITISH LIBRARY / SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY / Copyright Science Photo Library/ For Education Use Only. This and millions of other educational images are available through Britannica Image Quest. For a free trial, please visit www.britannica.co.uk/trial www.teachithistory.co.uk 2018 29554 Page 3 of 6
A home for the ayahs: from India to Britain and back again British families living in India often sought to escape the summer heat by visiting Britain between March and October. These families often asked their ayahs (Indian servants) to accompany them, or engaged an experienced travelling ayah to look after their children and baggage. By the 1850s, the number of ayahs brought to Britain increased (between 100 and 140 travelling ayahs visited Britain every year). Once in Britain the duties of ayahs were over and they were discharged, often without arrangements for their return home. Many had to advertise their services for a return passage to India. A few found employment in Britain. For instance the 1871 census for Ealing, Southall shows the name of Brinoo, a Calcutta-born 49-year-old widow, as a nurse and servant; and at Cheltenham, Christchurch, we find Ruth, an adult native of Madras, an ayah in the employment of Colonel Rolandson. Indian ayah with her European charges, c 1870. / Credit: Science and Society Museum/ Universal Images Group / Copyright Science and Society Museum / For Education Use Only. This and millions of other educational images are available through Britannica Image Quest. For a free trial, please visit www.britannica.co.uk/trial www.teachithistory.co.uk 2018 29554 Page 4 of 6
Cornelia Sorabji at Oxford Indian students at British universities included Mohandas Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru and Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the leaders of the Indian independence movement. Qualifications from British universities were needed to obtain a job in the Indian government, medicine, law, education, the police and engineering. Even degree-level education obtained from an Indian university was not considered good enough for local professions. Cornelia Sorabji studied at Deccan College, Oxford. Despite the fact that she had gained a first class honours degree in her finals, Sorabji, as a woman, did not qualify for the Government of India scholarship. She won her campaign for equality in higher education, a first step to opening up the Bar (to be a barrister) for women. However, women had to wait until 1919 before they could be called to the Bar and Cornelia Sorabji had to wait until 1923 when she again visited England. Sorabji returned to India in 1894 and worked as a legal adviser for women with property cases. She was awarded the Kaiser-I-Hind Gold medal in 1909 for her work. In 1930 she returned to live in Britain. She died in 1954, aged 88. www.teachithistory.co.uk 2018 29554 Page 5 of 6
Sake Dean Mahomed Almost 200 years before the Indian restaurant became a fixture on the British high street, Mahomed, a Muslim soldier, founded the first curry establishment in Britain, the Hindoostane Coffee House in Portman Square, London. At age 11 Mahomed entered the East India Company Army in 1769, rising to the rank of captain. He became best friends with a Captain Godfrey Baker and accompanied him on his return to Ireland. In Cork, Mahomed became Captain Baker's house manager. He married Jane Daly, the daughter of a wealthy Irish family, and wrote The Travels of Dean Mahomed, the first book in English published by an Indian. He is also said to have introduced shampoo to England whilst working at Sir Basil's vapour bath in Portman Square. In 1810 Mahomed opened his Indian restaurant. It was described as a place for the nobility and gentry, where they might enjoy the hookha with real chilm tobacco and Indian dishes of the highest perfection. After being declared bankrupt in 1812 he revived his career by opening special treatment baths in Brighton, where he became shampoo surgeon to the Prince of Wales, George IV, and then to William IV. He published another book, Shampooing or Benefits Resulting from the use of Indian Medical Vapour Bath in 1822, which became a bestseller. He died in December 1850 and his tombstone in St Nicholas' churchyard, Brighton, reads simply: Sake Dean Mahomed of Patna Hindoostan. S.D. Mahomed / Credit: BRITISH LIBRARY / SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY / Copyright Science Photo Library / For Education Use Only. This and millions of other educational images are available through Britannica Image Quest. For a free trial, please visit www.britannica.co.uk/trial www.teachithistory.co.uk 2018 29554 Page 6 of 6