Figure 1.--This is a photo taken in India during the 1890s. Much of India has a tropical climate and children often did not wear clothes, especially the biys. We don't know where exactly it was taken. It is a timeless image. The cloths put in the waist-laces seem a concession to the British colonial senabilities.

The East India Trading Company at the end of the 18th century found itself in possession of a subcontinent with a population far exceeding Britain itself. The company gradualy ceased operating as a mere trading company and gradually began acting as the defacto government of India. Yong men came out from Britain and acted with virtually no limits on their authority. We know from accounts of the Industrial Revolution that men with money often acted without concern for the welfare of others. In India this situation was even more unfettered because there was no Parliament to supervise, the distance and exotic culture of India precluded effective public scrutiny, and racial diiferences clouded humanitarian sympathies. As a result, there were great abuses of power. [Wells, p. 710.] The last Mogul was Bahadur Shah II, began his reign during 1837. He participated in the Sepoy Mutiny (1857) against the British and was subsequently expelled. The British built modern infrastructure. They also founded he country's first real educational system, in part to train an educated elite to help run the administrative strycture of the Raj. The British did not impose their culture including fashion. Indians were left to chose what they wanted to adopt from the British, included clothing. The British-educated upper and middle class commonly chose Western fashions, mostly the boys and men. This included a young Mahatma Ghandi. After he returned to India he and the Congress Party as part of their rejection of colonial rule, rejected Western fashion and British produced cloth. The fashion was not a major issue as the great bulk of the Indian population ws never affected by Western styles. Western produced cloth was a different matter. This rejection was Britain had profound consequences. Many independence leaders rejected free market capitalism. Gandi in fact rejected modern economic development. The result after independendence was several decades of attempting Soviet-style socialist command economics. As in the Soviet Union, this meant dismal economic failure. Happily for the Indian people, Congress did not reject British parlimentary democracy and law.

Constant Factors

HBC has only begun to develop detailed information on chronolgical trends in Indian fashions. Information on historical periods is very difficult to obtain. There is one constant factor--the climate. India is located just north of the Equator. The great bulk of the population lives in tropical or semi-tropical regions. This of course affects clothing and fashion because heavy clothing for the most part is not needed and this does not change over time. Another factor is poverty. While therec was great wealth in India for the ruling classs. There was widespread poverty for the bulk of the popuklation. This allso was a factor leadung not only to limited clothing, but also for simplicity, meaning less fitted clothing. And imprtantly both of these factors especially impacted children. We see both factors at play with the children here (figure 1). This was of ciurse true for earkly period, but it is only with British era, mostly the Raj, that photography becomes available.

East Indian Trading Company (1760s-1857)

The East Indian Trading Company at the end of the 18th century found itself in possession of a subcontinent with a population far exceeding Britain itself. The company gradualy ceased operating as a mere trading company and gradually began acting as the defacto government of India. Yong men came out from Britain and acted with virtually no limits on their authority. We know from accounts of the Industrial Revolution that men with money often acted without concern for the welfare of others. In India this situation was even more unfettered because there was no Parliament to supervise, the distance and exotic culture of India precluded effective public scrutiny, and racial diiferences clouded humanitarian sympathies. As a result, there were great abuses of power. [Wells, p. 710.] The last Mogul was Bahadur Shah II, began his reign during 1837. He participated in the Sepoy Mutiny (1857) against the British and was subsequently expelled. At first the British cme wihout their familes. And this was largely before the advent of photography.

The Raj (1857-1948)

The British presence in India changed with the Raj. Families has already to bugun to arrive with in gthe later stage of the East India company's rule, but with the Raj they cane in far greater numbers. And with photogrphy we can follow clothing developments in some detail. The British built modern infrastructure. They also founded he country's first real educational system, in part to train an educated elite to help run the administrative strycture of the Raj. The British did not impose their culture including fashion. Indians were left to chose what they wanted to adopt from the British, included clothing. The British-educated upper and middle class commonly chose Western fashions, mostly the boys and men. This included a young Mahatma Ghandi. After he returned to India he and the Congress Party as part of their rejection of colonial rule, rejected Western fashion and British produced cloth. The fashion was not a major issue as the great bulk of the Indian population ws never affected by Western styles. Western produced cloth was a different matter. This rejection was Britain had profound consequences. Many independence leaders rejected free market capitalism. Gandi in fact rejected modern economic development. The result after independendence was several decades of attempting Soviet-style socialist command economics. As in the Soviet Union, this meant dismal economic failure. And the econmy was a primry determinant of fashion. Happily for the Indian people, Congress did not reject British parlimentary democracy and law.

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Created: 12:28 AM 3/29/2011
Last updated: 5:49 PM 11/27/2023