Empress

• Dadabhai Naoroji


  Also known as the "Grand Old Man of India", he was the first MP of Asian origin to sit in the House of Commons
• Dadabhai Naoroji: '"What is scandalous, undemocratic and therefore un-British is that the Indian population pay the taxes but have no voice in the government of India"'
• Dadabhai Naoroji: '"Bless you my child"'
• Dadabhai Naoroji: '"Education is the only path to freedom."'
• Dadabhai Naoroji: '"Overrun by twenty-six young Indians. How awful. Its's awful. It's like the Vikings all over again"'
• Dadabhai Naoroji: '"I believe in English fair play"'
• Dadabhai Naoroji: '"I also believe that we have to educate the British lectorate as to real conditions of Indian"'
• Dadabhai Naoroji: '"The Queen is acquiring more and more lands, like a greedy wale, she is swallowing entire countries"'
• Dadabhai Naoroji


  • Elected to represent Finsbury Central in 1892 until 1895 for the Liberal Party
  • Became disenchanted with British rule of India later in his life returning permanently to India
  • Advocated for Indian self-government or "swaraj" until his death in 1917
• Rani


  An Indian nanny who was brought over on ships from the colonies to look after British children
• Rani: '"Where are my babies?"'
• Rani: '"I will be standing in the same city as the Queen of England. Somewhere she will be close by, breathing the same air. Imagine that?!"'
• Ayahs


  • By 1881, Joseph Salter, a missionary, estimated that between 100 and 200 ayahs arrived in London every year
  • Many were not given formal contracts and were abandoned once the ships reached Britain
  • The Ayahs' Home was established in 1891 by concerned white women to offer shelter and protection, but efforts were also made to convert the ayahs to Christianity
• Lascars


  A term applied to sailors from India, who were hired on British ships, but it also applied to sailors from other parts of Asia, or Arabs or Africans
• Hari: '"Rani: What is England like Hari? Hari: Cold."'
• Hari: '"I have sailed the seas many times... like Sinbad"'
• Hari: '"treated like animals"'
• Hari: '"We demand to respected as member of the humans race"'
• Lascars


  • By the mid 19th Century, 3000 lascars were arriving in Britain every year
  • Joseph Salter reported that they often lived in lodgings "unfit for human habitation"
  • The "Strangers' Home" was founded in 1857 to provide lodging and employment, but it only received £200 annually in funding from the government
• Abdul Karim


  • A Muslim clerk from India who was promoted by the Queen to be her "munshi", or teacher, of Hindustani in 1889
  • In 1890, the Queen had a portrait commissioned of him, and in 1894, he became the Queen's Indian Secretary, and Companion of the Order of the Indian Empire
  • His favouring by the Queen was resented by members of the British establishment
• Abdul Karim: '"He is proud looking, and dressed well. As he walks the Lascars move out of his way"'
• Abdul Karim: '"The Viceroy's man. Very stuck up"'
• Abdul Karim: '"Abdul gives Hari a dirty look"'
• Naoroji, also known as the "Grand Old Man of India", was the first MP of Asian origin to sit in the House of Commons. He was elected to represent Finsbury Central in 1892 until 1895 for the Liberal Party. He became disenchanted with British rule of India later in his life returning permanently to India. On his return, he advocated for Indian self-government or "swaraj" until his death in 1917.
• Dadabhai Naoroji - "an English constituency is not ready to elect a 'Black man'"
• Ayahs were Indian nannies who were brought over on ships from the colonies to look after British children. By 1881, Joseph Salter, a missionary, estimated that between 100 and 200 ayahs arrived in London every year. Many were not given formal contracts and were abandoned once the ships reached Britain. They were then left to fend for themselves. The Ayahs' Home was established in 1891 by concerned white women to offer shelter and protection, but efforts were also made to convert the ayahs to Christianity.
• Lascars was a term applied to sailors from India, who were hired on British ships, but it also applied to sailors from other parts of Asia, or Arabs or Africans. By the mid 19th Century, 3000 lascars were arriving in Britain every year. Joseph Salter reported that they often lived in lodgings "unfit for human habitation". The "Strangers' Home" was founded in 1857 to provide lodging and employment, but it only received £200 annually in funding from the government.
• Abdul Karim was a Muslim clerk from India. In 1889, the Queen promoted him to be her "munshi", or teacher, of Hindustani. In 1890, she had a portrait commissioned of him, and in 1894, he became the Queen's Indian Secretary, and Companion of the Order of the Indian Empire. His favouring by the Queen was resented by members of the British establishment; the Secretary of State for India, Lord Elgin, had him investigated. After the death of Victoria, King Edward VII ordered all papers concerning the late Queen in Abdul's possession to be burned.