Sex and the Family in Colonial India The Making of Empire [Paperback]

Study of conjugal relationships between Indian women and British men in colonial India.An original contribution to scholarship on colonialism, gender and sexuality in India. By following the stories of a number of mixed-race families, at all levels of the social scale, Durba Ghosh offers a fascinating account of how gender, class and race affected the cultural and social mores of the period.An original contribution to scholarship on colonialism, gender and sexuality in India. By following the stories of a number of mixed-race families, at all levels of the social scale, Durba Ghosh offers a fascinating account of how gender, class and race affected the cultural and social mores of the period.In the early years of the British empire, cohabitation between Indian women and British men was commonplace and to some degree tolerated. However, as Durba Ghosh argues in a challenge to the existing historiography, anxieties about social status, appropriate sexuality, and the question of who could be counted as 'British' or 'Indian' were constant concerns of the colonial government even at this time. By following the stories of a number of mixed-race families, at all levels of the social scale, from high-ranking officials and noblewomen to rank-and-file soldiers and camp followers, and also the activities of indigenous female concubines, mistresses and wives, the author offers a fascinating account of how gender, class and race affected the cultural, social and even political mores of the period. The book makes an original and signal contribution to scholarship on colonialism, gender and sexuality.Acknowledgements; Introduction; 1. Colonial companions; 2. Residing with begums: William Palmer, James Achilles Kirkpatrick and their 'wives'; 3. Good patriarchs, uncommon families; 4. Native women, native lives; 5. Household order and colonial justice; 6. Servicing military families: family labour, pensions and orphans; Conclusion; Bibliography; Index. The book is a critical intervenlc