Left: Princess Sophia Duleep Singh selling copies of The Suffragette outside Hampton Court Palace, 1913, Right: Queen Victoria's munshi, Abdul Karim, who taught her Hindustani, 1894British Library Board
The website includes more than 750 entries and 30 new oral histories, featuring digitised archival documents, interactive network diagrams and maps
Indian pilots training with the RAF on arrival in London, October 1940British Library Board
A new interactive digital resource offering fascinating insights into the history of South Asian people living in Britain has been launched in conjunction with South Asian Heritage Month 2025, which runs until 17 August.
The new interactive website, South Asian Britain: Connecting Histories, includes more than 750 entries and 30 new oral histories, featuring digitised archival documents, interactive network diagrams and maps, highlighting the multilayered and interconnected histories of South Asians across Britain in the last two centuries, covering the period from the 1830s to the present day.
The resource stems from the collaborative research project 'Remaking Britain: South Asian Connections and Networks, 1830s to the Present' led by the University of Bristol and Queen Mary University of London in partnership with the British Library. The project is funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (Grant number: AH/X001520/1).
South Asians in Britain are prominent in contemporary public life – former prime minister Rishi Sunak, London mayor Sadiq Khan, actor Meera Syal, actor-musician Riz Ahmed, celebrity cook Nadiya Hussein, campaigner Malala Yousafzai. South Asian Britain: Connecting Histories highlights notable figures with South Asian heritage in British history including MP Dadabhai Naoroji, suffrage campaigner Sophia Duleep Singh, East End pastor Kamal Aton Chunchie, rock legend Freddie Mercury, as well as lesser-known figures across the four nations.
According to the 2021 Census, 1,927,150 people of Indian/British Indian ethnicity (2.9%), 1,662,286 people of Pakistani/British Pakistani ethnicity (2.5%), 651,834 people of Bangladeshi/British Bangladeshi ethnicity (1.0%), and an estimated further 700,000 from other South Asian heritage backgrounds live in the United Kingdom.
South Asian migration to the United Kingdom goes back to at least 1614, and by the 1830s a diverse range of South Asians were beginning to move to the United Kingdom. Engaging with themes such as multiple migrations, women's activism, religion, family life, arts and culture, and politics, South Asian Britain: Connecting Histories showcases a diverse assortment of people, organizations and events, including underrepresented communities, such as people who identify as LGBTQIA+, as well as those from working-class or caste-oppressed communities.
Professor Sumita Mukherjee, Professor of Modern History at the University of Bristol, said: "We're delighted to launch South Asian Britain: Connecting Histories for South Asian Heritage Month 2025. This project has been very much a team-effort, and we are grateful to all our collaborators, partners and participants who have helped us develop and shape this wonderful resource."
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 from the Outer Hebrides to Cornwall to Belfast to Huddersfield and we are delighted to share many unexpected stories and connections made by South Asians across the centuries. We are especially excited by our new oral history interviews which offer a window into the lives and experiences of people ranging from their 20s to their 90s, from a variety of backgrounds and walks of life. The site also includes newly digitised archival materials which illuminate the rich historical diversity of South Asian life in Britain over the last 200 years."
Dr Florian Stadtler, Senior Lecturer in Literature and Migration at the University of Bristol, added: "We hope this resource will be used by the widest possible audiences and that it will inspire multiple generations around the world of all heritages. The stories we showcase in this resource – of the challenges of migration, of activism and resistance, of cultural production and of family life – are universal. We will continue to grow and develop this resource as more people come forward with their stories and uncover new materials that highlight the enormous diversity of South Asian Britain and show how integral they are to Britain's island story."
The resource launched at a special South Asian Heritage Month event held at Chapter Arts Centre in Cardiff on Tuesday 22 July with further events planned in the autumn, including the British Library on 19 September.
South Asian Britain: Connecting Histories has absorbed and expanded the online database created by the Arts and Humanities Research Council funded research project 'Making Britain: South Asian Visions of Home and Abroad, 1870-1950' led by the Open University in collaboration with Oxford University, King's College London and the British Library between 2007 and 2010.
You can access the South Asian Britain: Connecting Histories resource here: southasianbritain.org.
Read about five entries from the new resource handpicked by the team in a new University of Bristol Arts Matter blog here: Launch of 'South Asian Britain: Connecting Histories' in South Asian History Month – Arts Matter.
