One of the Centre’s missions is to nurture a new generation of Hong Kong historians.
An Early Career Scholar Network was created under the Hong Kong History Centre in June 2023. It is intended to help create a community of Hong Kong historians and offer a platform for face-to-face interaction and academic exchange among young scholars. Research students and fresh doctoral graduates working on socioeconomic, political and cultural history of Hong Kong and its global relevance are welcomed. We usually meet thrice a year (February, June and October) with participants taking turn to present their works in each meeting. Financial support is provided for our network members attending these sessions.
Please write to Prof. Ray Yep, Research Director of Hong Kong History Centre, at rekmy@bristol.ac.uk, if you are interested in joining this Network.
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In this post, we would like to introduce Diki Sherpa, a member of the Network.
Diki Sherpa is a research associate at FLAME University, Pune, India. In the note written by her below, she shares with us her reflections on her academic journey and current project on Indian Uprising in 1850s and it’s connection with the then colonial Hong Kong.
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While working as a research assistant at the Institute of Chinese Studies in New Delhi, where scholars were exploring South Asia-East Asia historical ties, I came across a few studies focusing on colonial Hong Kong, particularly emphasizing mobility within the empire. I learned about the presence of Indian communities in Hong Kong and their historical roles beyond commerce. This showed a rich history that span over a century. The shared imperial connection enabled movement of people, capital, and resources across British territories, essentially extending the influence of British India into Hong Kong, in the initial years of British administration in Hong Kong. Fascinated by this history, I became interested in exploring whether there were shared administrative linkages. This curiosity led me to my PhD research on first three administrators including Sir Henry Pottinger, to understand what he brought to Hong Kong from his experiences in India and how those influences were reflected in his governance from the department of History at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.
My research time period was from early 1840s-mid 1850s. While reading about the mid-19th-century British imperial changes across Asia, particularly in South and East Asia, one couldn’t overlook two key events: the Indian Uprising of 1857 and the Second Opium War (1856-1860). In the South Asian context, the Indian Uprising marked a turning point, shaping the foundations of the British Raj and growing scholarly interest in the uprising’s global dimension has shed light on how it was perceived beyond India. This sparked my interest in understanding any direct or indirect influence of the Indian Uprising on Hong Kong’s colonial society, and any interconnected events or concerns that might reveal how the two colonies were linked through British imperial interests.
As I was already consulting mid-1850s primary sources for my PhD thesis in 2021, I decided to search for references to the Indian Uprising in Hong Kong archival materials and colonial newspapers. I not only found from Hong Kong showing an awareness of the events in India but also concerns about their potential impact on the Second Opium War. This was concerning for colonial Hong Kong as it signified extended political instability within the colony and ongoing economic uncertainty. Specifically, the colonial community in Hong Kong became anxious because British troops that were originally meant to support efforts in China were redirected to India to subdue the uprising. The individual responses prompted in Hong Kong revealed not only how the empire was seen differently by its various actors but also how local priorities in Hong Kong could sometimes clash with overarching imperial goals, revealing tensions in the construction of “imperial unity” during this historical moment. By placing Hong Kong firmly within the broader imperial context, I aim to highlight how deeply Hong Kong was linked with imperial developments across Asia.
Although my current research at FLAME University, Pune, India, has a slightly different focus as I am looking into the colonial knowledge production and its legacies on modern administrative and social structures in India, my interest in Hong Kong history draws me back to it. And, I am grateful to the Hong Kong History Centre, Bristol University for providing support for my research. During my recent three months at the Centre, the support I received helped me rethink the direction of my paper and further refine my understanding of the topic.
In today’s globalized world, events in one region can have far-reaching consequences across the globe. By examining transnational connections, I hope to explore how historical events and processes have linked distant regions, providing a more integrated and comprehensive understanding of their shared history.