The ‘Civilisational Mission’: From Discovery to the Civilizational Mission: English Writings on India, The Imperial Archive, Volume 5

India and the subcontinent stimulated the curiosity of the British who came to India as traders. Each aspect of life in India - its people, customs, geography, climate, fauna and flora - was documented by British travelers, traders, administrators, soldiers to make sense to the European mind. As they ‘discovered’ India and occupied it, they also attempted to ‘civilise’ the natives.

The present volumes focus on select aspects of the imperial archives: the accounts of discovery and exploration - fauna and flora, geography, climate - the people of the subcontinent, English domesticity and social life in the subcontinent, the wars and skirmishes - including the Mutiny of 1857-58 - and the civilisational mission . Volume 5 The ‘Civilisational Mission’ documents England’s social reform and other efforts at ‘improving’ the colonised. The British, like other Europeans in Africa and Asian colonies, explained, defended and promoted their presence and action by presenting themselves in the role of the civilisers.