Sumita Mukherjee’s new book, Imperial Footprints, follows the history of South Asian child migrants to Britain from the 1830s to 1947 (the main era of formal British rule in the Indian subcontinent) and puts forward insights into the shifting and multiple identities of British South Asian children across time. It discusses the impact these children had on social and political change not only in Britain but also on the subcontinent at a time when the British Empire was at its height, focusing particularly on the paradoxes relating to identity under imperialism.

Often absent from historical accounts and narratives Imperial Footprints posits that these migrant children were instrumental not only in shaping Indian national and diasporic identities during the time of the British Empire, but British identity too. In fact, to truly understand the British Asian predicament of belonging today we should look at the historical roots of its identity through the stories of South Asian children in Britain from the Victorian era to the end of the Second World War.

The book is wide-ranging, discussing white children born in India who were sent to Britain for their schooling such as Rudyard Kipling and Iris Butler. To the children of South Asian heritage who lived in poverty, usually in urban centres such as the East End of London, and those ‘displayed’ in imperial exhibitions. To children of mixed heritage, some of whom were children of lascars (sailors) in British port cities and their engagement with figures such as Kamal Chunchie and Shapurji Saklatvala. It discusses the sons and daughters from Indian princely families, including the Duleep Singh family who lived in Norfolk, and their experiences at elite public schools. But it was not just aristocratic Indians who attended British boarding schools, and Imperial Footprints shows how South Asian boys and girls engaged in sports and other societies at these schools, and how these educational establishments became the breeding grounds for nationalism, socialism and engagement with pressing political issues such as female suffrage. It also engages with the involvement of South Asian children in the two world wars – from combatants and volunteers to evacuees and tragic victims. Furthermore, it discusses the child refugees of partition and the legacies of migration post-independence. At times writing this book was deeply personal but is based on a range of archival sources and careful attempts to trace numerous names and lives – not all of whom could be included in the end. The book includes eight black and white photos, emphasising the rich diversity of South Asian child migrants in Britain.

The issue of migration and child migration are ongoing political issues and Imperial Footprints concludes with an epilogue that discusses more contemporary figures such as Malala Yousafzai and Shamima Begum. As young people continue to engage with political struggles in the contemporary moment, Imperial Footprints presents a historical perspective on young people’s radicalism and engagement with the British Empire, and offers (hopefully) a deeper understanding of race and migration.

Sumita Mukherjee