Waiting on Empire

The story of the South Asian women who travelled as ayahs (servants and nannies) in the British empire, but often found themselves abandoned in Britain. A unique tale that gives a voice to a largely forgotten group in the historical record.

Arunima Datta is an Assistant Professor at the Department of History, University of North Texas. She is the author of the multiple award-winning book Fleeting Agencies: A Social History of Indian Coolie Women in British Malaya (2021), which received the Sara A. Whaley Award from the National Women's Studies Association, the Gita Chaudhuri Award from the Western Association of Women Historians and the Stansky Award from the North American Conference of British Studies. Her earlier work on the history of travelling ayahs in Britain has also won the Carol Gold Award. She serves as an associate editor of Gender & History, Britain and the World, and as an Associate Review Editor of the American Historical Review. Her works have appeared in scholarly journals, public history journals and magazines, and on BBC4.