Reconsidering the ‘Transition Narrative’: The Domiciled Britons of Company Rule, c.1760-1857

Abstract

This article engages with narratives of the domiciled British community during Company Rule in India. It traces the development of the ‘transition narrative’ which locates the differences in society, culture and beliefs of domiciled Britons in the early eighteenth century with those of their nineteenth-century counterparts and challenges the duality of this narrative highlighting its over-reliance upon the ‘colonial archive’ and limiting the scope for research. Through an exploration of developing approaches and methods which challenge both the ‘colonial archive’ and ‘transitional narrative’, it seeks to demonstrate potential new areas for research into this community