A Day at the Archives: India under the British Empire

By Sera Deepak, Year 11 Work Experience Student, 22nd October 2025

Year 11 student Sera shares her experience of visiting the archives as part of a work experience placement at the University of Warwick Library, as well as some of the knowledge she gained about India and the British Empire.

Working at the archives was honestly a dream come true. The amount of history situated within it honestly overwhelms you at first. Everywhere you look there is something to capture your interest. For me, the topic I latched onto was the experience of Indians under the British Empire.

My research started with a piece titled ‘Empire Day’, (Document Reference Number: MSS.292/778.22/6/1) in which the author expresses their concerns of how the British Empire treats the countries under its rule. And rightfully so, as it not only states that “the majority of 350 million people live on the verge of death by starvation in India” but that the hours of labour were the longest in the world with a subsequent wage which was also amongst the lowest. Being of Indian ethnicity myself, I was already partially aware of what the Empire had done to my country such as the taking of resources (e.g. gold), however I had failed to consider how far the abuse went.

The document which inspired Sera's research for the day
MSS.292/778.22/6/1

The starvation of Indian citizens is referred to as The Famine of India, of which there were multiple, and was caused by factors such as heavy taxation, forced commercialisation of agriculture to grow crops, the export of food grains during times of scarcity and wartime policies that disrupted local economy. Even when India was forced to starve, however, the British government did little to nothing. From a letter in response to a call for aid, the General Secretary refused to send help due to the fact that the ‘food problem in India is being very carefully watched by the Labour Party.’ Showing the Government’s laissez-faire attitude in response to suffering.

Overall, my experience with the archives was eye-opening and taught me more about what my ancestors went through, which I am eternally grateful for as without it, I would remain oblivious to a key aspect of my culture.