Paper short abstract:

This paper focuses upon three attempts (from the 1890s and 1920s) to understand India, produced in Dundee in the face of competition from the Calcutta jute industry. These are used to analyse how 'Indianness' was understood, and how these understandings shaped attitudes and behaviour in Dundee.

Paper long abstract:

From the late nineteenth century Dundee entered into a complex economic relationship with India as a consequence, above all, of the growing competition between its staple product, jute, and the same industry based in Calcutta. Over the half century from the 1880s this relationship spawned a number of visits to the sub-continent and attempts by Dundonians to understand India and the underpinnings of the industry with which Dundee found itself in competition. This paper focuses upon three such appreciations, two produced by Dundee residents in the 1890s, one in the 1920s, in order to analyse how 'Indianness' was understood, and how these understandings shaped attitudes and behaviour towards India in Dundee.