Margaret MacMillan

Women of the Raj

1. IDEA 1

   British women in imperial India

   MacMillan describes the lives of British women in India during the Raj. She shows how they lived, what they believed and how they fit into the imperial system. Their experiences ranged widely.

2. IDEA 2

   Many came looking for husbands

   MacMillan describes the fishing fleet: young British women who travelled to India hoping to marry officials or officers. India offered more marriage opportunities than Britain. Not all of them found what they sought.

3. IDEA 3

   Running a household was a job

   Memsahibs managed large households with many Indian servants. MacMillan describes how they supervised cooks, cleaners and nannies, often with limited understanding of Indian culture. Their homes were small worlds of empire.

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