Abstract

In this thesis, I examine the history of British rule in India through the various physical and social spaces the British carved out for themselves in the subcontinent. Looking in turn at a wide variety of places, from urban social clubs and public monuments to hill station villages, I find that all these spaces served a common set of functions. They helped bind the British ruling elite together, and also shored up their rule over India by either dominating Indian public spaces on behalf of British interests, or concentrating power in seemingly private and nonpolitical spaces that could exclude Indians entirely. Drawing upon club histories, travel guides, memoirs, and other contemporary primary sources, I investigate the history of various kinds of spaces, across the centuries of British power in India. British spaces in India began to take root in tandem with the rise of British power in the subcontinent, and became increasingly prominent, racially exclusive, and politically important over the course of the 19th century. Next, I examine how the system of British spaces ultimately collapsed in the 20th century, overwhelmed by the rising tide of Indian nationalism, and by the internal contradictions of trying to fashion spaces that excluded Indians from access and yet depended on Indians to function. Throughout, I try to get beyond the limited, mostly British sources, to illuminate Indian perspectives and show how they fought for access to these spaces, and I end by considering the legacy of these British spaces in contemporary India. Though my work draws on much existing scholarship, the several kinds of British spaces have rarely been discussed together, and my attempt to transcend the dichotomy between “public” and “private” space clears the way for a better understanding of space in the colonial society of British India.

Advisor

Ng, Wee-Siang Margaret

Department

History

Publication Date

2023

Degree Granted

Bachelor of Arts

Document Type

Senior Independent Study Thesis

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