A Reflection of Home: Defining the Space of the Raj, 1857-1914

Abstract

Using anthropological ideas about understanding identity through material culture, this piece seeks to unlock how racial identity was created and maintained by colonial Britons in India from 1857-1914. From the layout of British settlements to discourse over the sola topee, the domestic side of the Raj is contrasted with wider ideologies to discover and reveal the instability and liminal nature of this colonial project.