New digital resource launched to showcase the contributions of South Asians to British life

The Ayahs' Home in Hackney for destitute Indian and Chinese nannies.

South Asian Britain: Connecting Histories is a freely accessible website that brings together over 750 entries and 30 newly recorded oral histories. The site features digitised archival materials, interactive maps, and network diagrams that highlight the rich and complex histories of South Asians in the UK from the 1830s to the present day.

The resource is the result of the Remaking Britain: South Asian Connections and Networks, 1830s to the Present project, funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC). The project is led by Professor Sumita Mukherjee and Dr Florian Stadtler at the University of Bristol, and Dr Rehana Ahmed at Queen Mary University of London, in partnership with the British Library. The wider research team includes Dr Maya Parmar (Queen Mary) and Aleena Din (Bristol), working in collaboration with the Bristol Research IT team.

Dr Rehana Ahmed, Reader in Postcolonial and Contemporary Literature at Queen Mary University of London, said:

“One of our key motivations has been to extend this research to all the four nations of the United Kingdom... Our new oral history interviews offer a window into the lives and experiences of people ranging from their 20s to their 90s, and our digitised archival materials illuminate the rich historical diversity of South Asian life in Britain over the last 200 years.”

The project builds on earlier research from the AHRC-funded ‘Making Britain’ project, and aims to reach broad audiences including educators, community organisations, and the wider public. Alongside well-known figures such as Dadabhai Naoroji, Freddie Mercury, and Meera Syal, the site features lesser-known individuals and stories that highlight underrepresented communities, including working-class, caste-oppressed and LGBTQIA+ South Asians.

The resource was launched at a special South Asian Heritage Month event at Chapter Arts Centre in Cardiff, with a further event planned at the British Library in September.

Visit the site: https://southasianbritain.org