Nationalism, Education and Migrant Identities: The England-returned

192 Pages·2010·1.796 MB·English

by  Sumita Mukherjee

Nationalism, Education and Migrant
Identities
This book examines the role western education and social standing played in
the development of Indian nationalism in the early twentieth century. It
highlights the influences that education abroad had on a significant propor-
tion of the Indian population. A large numberof Indian students – including
key figures such as Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, Mohammad Ali Jinnah
and Jawaharlal Nehru – took up prominent positions in government service,
industry or political movements after having spent their student years in
Britain before the Second World War. Having reaped the benefits of the
British educational system, they spearheaded movements in Indiathat sought
to gain independence from British rule. The author analyses the long-term
impact of this short-term migration on Britain, South Asia and Empire, and
deals with issues of migrant identities and the ways in which travel shaped
ideas about the ‘Self’ and ‘Home’. Through this study of the ‘England-
returned’, attention is drawn to contemporary concerns about the politicisa-
tion of foreign students and the antecedents of the growing South Asian stu-
dent population inthe USA and Europe today,aswellasof Britain’sgrowing
South Asian diaspora.
Sumita Mukherjee is a Post-Doctoral Researcher at the Universityof Oxford,
UK, working on South Asian interactionswith British life pre-1950.
Routledge Studies in South Asian History
1 The Social History of Health and Medicine in Colonial India
Edited by Biswamoy Pati and Mark Harrison
2 Decolonization in South Asia
Meanings of freedom in post-independence West Bengal, 1947–52
Sekhar Bandyopadhyay
3 Historiography and Writing Postcolonial India
Naheem Jabbar
4 Nationalism, Education and Migrant Identities
The England-returned
Sumita Mukherjee
Nationalism, Education
and Migrant Identities
The England-returned
Sumita Mukherjee
Firstpublished2010
byRoutledge
2ParkSquare,MiltonPark,Abingdon,OxonOX144RN
Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada
byRoutledge
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Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2010.
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© 2010 Sumita Mukherjee
Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthisbookmaybereprintedorreproducedor
utilisedinanyformorbyanyelectronic,mechanical,orothermeans,now
knownorhereafterinvented,includingphotocopyingandrecording,orin
anyinformationstorageorretrievalsystem,withoutpermissioninwriting
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ISBN 0-203-09218-X Master e-book ISBN
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ISBN978-0-203-09218-7(ebk)
Contents
List of illustrations vi
Preface and acknowledgements vii
Abbreviations used in references ix
Introduction: the England-returned 1
1 Indian students in the UK (1900–1947) 13
2 Images of Britain, India and the England-returned 30
3 The social interactions of the England-returned 50
4 The political identities of the England-returned 81
5 The careers and long-term impact of the England-returned 113
Conclusion: the future for the England-returned 138
Notes 143
Bibliography 161
Index 178
Illustrations
Figure
1.1 Indian and Dominion students in Britain, October 1925 24
Tables
1.1 Indians selected for the ICS, 1911–1920 20
1.1 Indians at Oxford and Cambridge Universities 23
1.1 Indian students at British universities, 1930–1940 26
Preface and acknowledgements
There are no stories of the ‘England-returned’ in my family before 1947. My
maternal grandfather, Bimalaksha Chaudhury, the son of an industrialist,
came to London in 1948 and joined Gray’s Inn to study for the Bar. He was
thefirstinhisfamily tostudyabroad,butthiswasafter independence,and he
did not ‘return’ permanently to India – bringing his wife and two children
over for the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953 without telling them
that he had no intention to return. My paternal grandfather, Amar Nath
Mukherjee, was born in 1914 and educated in the Murshidabad village of
Kagram.Heleftschoolagedsixteentosupporthisnineyoungerbrothersand
sisters but worked his way up from clerk to Chief Accountant of a major
British electrical engineering company in Calcutta in the 1950s. Even though
he was massively successful without a degree or foreign qualifications, my
grandfather placed enormous weight upon the importance of education and
held British education in the highest esteem. By studying the England-
returned, I hoped to answer some of the questions I had growing up about
why my paternal grandfather had so much regard for British education and
understand the rhetoric about the England-returned that he must have grown
up with.
This book comes out of the doctoral thesis I wrote at the University of
Oxfordunder thededicatedsupervision of JudithM.Brown, whohas been of
great support throughout my postgraduate career and beyond. Maria Misra,
Polly O’Hanlon and Ian Talbot readvarious forms of the thesis and provided
very helpful comments. I would also like to thank the late Richard Symonds
whowasalwayssoencouraging.The membersoftheGraduateWorkshopfor
Imperial and Commonwealth History were great friends during my student
days, particularly Iqbal Sevea, my viva buddy. Thank you to Rakesh Ankit
for help with the final touches. Sincere thanks to Elleke Boehmer for guiding
methroughtheEnglishFacultyattheUniversityofOxford,andmycolleagues
on the AHRC-funded project ‘Making Britain: South Asian Visions of Home
and Abroad, 1870–1950’: Rehana Ahmed, Susheila Nasta, Ruvani Rana-
sinha, Florian Stadtler and Rozina Visram. This book would not have been
published without the advice of the two anonymous readers and Dorothea
Schaefter who has been a most patient and supportive editor.
viii Preface and acknowledgements
The research for this book was carried out in various libraries and I thank
the librarians and archivists at the Asia, Pacific and Africa Collections, British
Library;theIndianInstitute,Oxford;MertonCollege,Oxford;StJohn’sCollege,
Oxford; Trinity College, Cambridge; King’s College, Cambridge; the South
AsianStudiesCentre,Cambridge;theInnerTemple;theNationalArchivesof
India; the Nehru Memorial Library in Delhi; and the Visva-Bharati archive
in Santiniketan.
Thank you to friends who have sustained me away from the academic world
and to family in Lake Gardens and Cricklewood. However, the most impor-
tant thanks go to the three people who have stood by me throughout – my
father, mother and brother: Arabinda, Nita and Chiron. From financial sup-
porttoalltheemotional encouragement,forteachingmetostandonmyown
feet and for sharing in all the joy and laughter, I dedicate this book to them.
Abbreviations used in references
ISD Report Report of the Indian Students’ Department, India
Office, London
Lee-Warner Report Report and Minutes of Evidence of the Committee
Appointed by the Secretary of State for India to Inquire
intothePositionofIndianStudentsintheUnitedKingdom,
London: Eyre & Spottiswoode, 1907
Lytton Report Report of the Committee on Indian Students 1921–22,
London: India Office, 1922
NAI National Archives of India, New Delhi
NMML Nehru Memorial Library, New Delhi
OIOC Asia and Africa Collections, British Library, St Pancras
PRO Public Record Office, Kew
Technical Scholarships Report Report of a Committee Appointed by the
Secretary of State for India to Inquire into the System of
State Technical Scholarships Established by the Govern-
mentofIndiain1904,London:Eyre&Spottiswoode,1913