Complicit colonials : Border Scots and the Indian Empire, c. 1780-1857
This thesis examines several interconnected families from the Scottish Borders who served in the East India Company between 1780 and 1857. Utilising the letters, diaries and wills of the members of these families, I present an âintimateâ history of Company service. Asserting the complex and multifarious connections of the eighteenth and nineteenth-century Borders with India scotches the perception of the area as essentially parochial. Starting with the poetry of Walter Scott, chapter one advances an argument for a distinctive Border identity that was based on an appeal to the medieval Anglo-Scottish Border conflicts. Company service offered Border Scots the chance to enact this identity (often violently) in India. Chapter two suggests the centrality of hunting in maintaining connections to Scotland while in India. Instead of focussing on the phenomenon of âbig gameâ hunting, I suggest the importance of âmarginalâ game and hunting landscapes. Taken together, these two chapters argue that the Border landscape, both physical and imaginative, was integral to sustaining Company service for the families under examination. The third chapter âblackensâ the Borders by examining the lives of mixed-race
Filor, E. S.
Complicit colonials : Border Scots and the Indian Empire, c. 1780-1857. This thesis examines several interconnected families from the Scottish Borders who served in the East India Company between 1780 and 1857. Utilising the letters, diaries and wills of the members of these families, I present an âintimateâ history of Company service. Asserting the complex and multifarious connections of the eighteenth and nineteenth-century Borders with India scotches the perception of the area as essentially parochial. Starting with the poetry of Walter Scott, chapter one advances an argument for a distinctive Border identity that was based on an appeal to the medieval Anglo-Scottish Border conflicts. Company service offered Border Scots the chance to enact this identity (often violently) in India. Chapter two suggests the centrality of hunting in maintaining connections to Scotland while in India. Instead of focussing on the phenomenon of âbig gameâ hunting, I suggest the importance of âmarginalâ game and hunting landscapes. Taken together, these two chapters argue that the Border landscape, both physical and imaginative, was integral to sustaining Company service for the families under examination. The third chapter âblackensâ the Borders by examining the lives of mixed-race
colonial border scots indian empire examines several interconnected family scottish serve east_india_company utilising letter diary will member_family present intimate history company service complex multifarious connection eighteenth nineteenth_century india perception area essentially parochial starting poetry advance argument distinctive border identity base appeal medieval anglo scottish_border conflict company service offer border scots chance enact identity often india suggest centrality hunt maintain connection scotland india instead_focus phenomenon big game hunting suggest importance marginal game hunt landscape taken together argue border landscape physical imaginative integral sustain company service family examination third examine life mixed race