Arunima Datta (PhD, FRHistS)'s Avatar

Arunima Datta (PhD, FRHistS)

@migrationhistorian.bsky.social

Historian. Author. Associate Professor. Studies: Britain, British Empire, South & Southeast Asia, women’s history, migration history Author of: Waiting on Empire: Ayahs in Britain (OUP, 2023) Fleeting Agencies: Coolie women in Malaysia (CUP, 2021)

1,142 Followers  |  359 Following  |  31 Posts  |  Joined: 18.11.2024  |  2.1485

Latest posts by migrationhistorian.bsky.social on Bluesky

Post image

Happy thanksgiving everyone!
My neighbor (I’m lucky to have another author living next to me) just alerted me that my book (WAITING ON EMPIRE: history of Indian travelling ayahs in Britain) is on sale now @amazon

27.11.2025 18:38 — 👍 7    🔁 2    💬 0    📌 0
Post image

Excited to see my book - WAITING ON EMPIRE (Indian ayahs in Britain) sharing space with @willdalrymple.bsky.social at Chester Beatty Museum 🥳🤗

07.11.2025 22:41 — 👍 33    🔁 7    💬 0    📌 1

Looking forward to sharing incredible stories of mobile caregivers (Indian ayahs who travelled) from 19th and 20th century.

05.11.2025 16:03 — 👍 5    🔁 1    💬 0    📌 0
Post image Post image

Out now! Tadaaa! My essay on Indian performers in Britain
Let me know if you would like a copy and don't have access to it via your library

31.10.2025 17:11 — 👍 7    🔁 2    💬 0    📌 0

Arunima Datta weaves together the larger histories of colonialism, migration, adaptation, acculturation, and globalization through an incredible history of Indian curry in Britain. Check out 'Curry Tales of the Empire' today! Read here: jvc.oup.com/2021/05/27/c...

29.03.2024 17:20 — 👍 3    🔁 1    💬 0    📌 0
Arunima Datta, “Race, Anxiety and Shopping in the Australian Outback: Indian Hawkers and Victoria�...

Join us for the new season of the Indian Ocean World Podcast 🎙️!

In this new episode, Dr Arunima Datta discusses her article, "Race, Anxiety and Shopping in the Australian Outback...” and her new monograph, "Waiting on Empire: A History of Indian Travelling Ayahs in Britain"

Listen here:

24.01.2024 20:30 — 👍 2    🔁 1    💬 0    📌 0

Another highlight: the Reading Resilience presentation by Arunima Datta and Jonathan Fardy. It is so interesting learning more about archives in nontraditional formats with my background as an archivist and as a current student of history. #AHA24

05.01.2024 03:20 — 👍 3    🔁 1    💬 0    📌 0
Preview
The incomplete histories of women migrant caregivers under the British Empire In ‘Waiting on Empire’, Arunima Datta resurrects the largely forgotten travelling ayahs – one of the many groups of Southasian migrant workers in the British Empire

From June 2024: In ‘Waiting on Empire’, Arunima Datta resurrects the largely forgotten travelling ayahs – one of the many groups of Southasian migrant workers in the British Empire.
A review essay by @SohelS28:
buff.ly/RIb4CWz

29.08.2025 23:30 — 👍 7    🔁 4    💬 0    📌 0

You have a fan base here - the students were inspired by ur talk and were esp in awe that u stayed up past midnight for them and answered their questions! Thank you 🙏🏽

27.08.2025 03:02 — 👍 1    🔁 0    💬 1    📌 0

Thank you 🙏🏽

08.08.2025 23:44 — 👍 1    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0

Oh my!!! Honored. Thank you 🙏🏽

08.08.2025 23:44 — 👍 0    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0
Post image

This is a talk you won't want to miss! Join us in Santa Clara, California 8/1 for Dr. Arunima Datta's luncheon presentation of “Waiting on Empire: Travelling Ayahs in Britain and a History of Migration, Labor, and Counterflows of Empire.”

Follow the link to register:
www.pcb-aha.org/archives/2089

01.07.2025 00:36 — 👍 3    🔁 1    💬 0    📌 0
Post image Post image

Delighted to share I will be delivering the AHA-PCB’s WAWH sponsored luncheon lecture this year

wawh.org/wawh-in-the-...

08.07.2025 17:21 — 👍 3    🔁 1    💬 0    📌 0
Post image Post image Post image

So honored to have presented my recent work on south Asian performers in Britain at the British Library.
Thank you to all who came and thanks for the engaging questions and comments.

28.06.2025 18:05 — 👍 4    🔁 1    💬 0    📌 0
Travelling Ayahs in Britain with Dr Arunima Datta
YouTube video by Dig Where You Stand Travelling Ayahs in Britain with Dr Arunima Datta

Here is a local history and archives project I did with archives in UK. they have a whole series of shorts. But this is a snapshot …. Wanna know more about travelling ayahs … get in touch 🤗

youtu.be/w2Jx6RvNMhY?...

05.06.2025 21:42 — 👍 3    🔁 1    💬 0    📌 0
Post image

Looking forward to speaking at the BRITISH LIBRARY soon

29.05.2025 19:22 — 👍 2    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0

Aww thank you @kghist.bsky.social and @annikabaerwald.bsky.social 🙏🏽

21.05.2025 16:45 — 👍 2    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0
Preview
Entertaining the metropole: vagrancy, repatriation and Indian performers in Britain During the nineteenth century, several British colonial agents and touring companies working in the entertainment industry brought Indian travelling performers to Britain. However, these performers...

Delighted to share that my article on travelling entertainers/performers in Britain just got published in Journal of Immigrants and Minorities (a journal that has for long inspired me! 🥹)

www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

20.05.2025 20:23 — 👍 19    🔁 5    💬 1    📌 0
Post image Post image

Late in posting these but as the term ends … I do believe this event from March 25 was the most rewarding experience and a highlight of the year for me…🤗 thank you @museumofthehome.bsky.social for collaborating and bringing to life the stories of these incredible women.

03.05.2025 19:21 — 👍 5    🔁 1    💬 0    📌 0

Thann you @enghistrev.bsky.social for reviewing my recent book.

10.04.2025 23:28 — 👍 1    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0

Thank you EHR for reviewing my work.

10.04.2025 23:27 — 👍 0    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0
Preview
Housewarming: A Victorian Home from Kolkata to London | Museum of the Home Housewarming: A Victorian Home from Kolkata to London - Enjoy exclusive late-night access to our galleries with a special tour of A Townhouse in 1878, led by co-curator and historian of the British Em...

If you happen to be in London and are interested come visit 🤗 www.museumofthehome.org.uk/whats-on/eve...

12.03.2025 14:42 — 👍 4    🔁 1    💬 0    📌 0
Post image

Whenever I’m having a rough day …I just have to look at this painting that a former student made for her art series on women and resilience 🥹🥹🥹

24.02.2025 00:07 — 👍 7    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0
Preview
a teddy bear is sitting at a table with the words `` of course im ready for school tomorrow '' . ALT: a teddy bear is sitting at a table with the words `` of course im ready for school tomorrow '' .

How do we do this again??? 🫣

08.01.2025 15:28 — 👍 1    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0

Congratulations 🎉 Greg!!!

08.01.2025 15:26 — 👍 0    🔁 0    💬 1    📌 0
Post image

A moving review of my work in Bengali.

27.12.2024 18:38 — 👍 2    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0

RUDE!!!!
I heard someone say “I wasn’t even born when Backstreet Boys formed! And I still like them as antique music”

I get it we are getting old. But still RUDE! 😂🤣

13.12.2024 23:17 — 👍 4    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0

Congratulations 🍾 and aww thanks for the shoutout @djrgrey.bsky.social

06.12.2024 18:07 — 👍 1    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0

Aww thank you for the shout out @gregjenner.bsky.social

06.12.2024 18:07 — 👍 1    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0

Omg I saw this post right when I was about to post my experience with an Indian Karen today. They come in all forms!!!

27.11.2024 16:51 — 👍 2    🔁 0    💬 1    📌 0

@migrationhistorian is following 20 prominent accounts