Indian Connections

Kirsten McKee is a Phd student researching the history of Calton Hill, and her studies have recently taken her to India after she uncovered many Scottish connections.

A few months ago, I was lucky enough to be offered a research grant through the INTACH UK Trust to visit India and look into the archives held over there on Scotland, Edinburgh and, in particular Calton Hill.

Quite early into my PhD research into the history of Calton Hill, I had uncovered evidence in Edinburgh City Archives that linked at least two of Calton Hill’s monuments to British people living in India during the early 19th Century.  So, when this once in a lifetime opportunity arose I - needless to say - jumped at the chance!

My trip covered a number of cities, including Kolkata, Mumbai (formerly Bombay), Hyderabad and Chennai (formerly Madras), where I not only looked into national and local archives and libraries, but also visited a number of smaller institutional libraries that had been set up there during the British occupation – some of which have a history that can be traced back to the late 18th Century.

In addition to visiting the archives, I took the opportunity to go and view a number of conservation projects currently being carried out over there – in particular an ongoing project of the Kolkata Scottish Heritage Trust, which is working to protect a Scottish cemetery located in Kolkata that dates to the early 19th century.

The visit not only turned out to be a successful one in terms of my own research, which proved fruitful both inside and outside of the archives (watch this space!), but it also gave me the opportunity to visit a vast array of buildings and monuments that derived from many influences.

These included structures of Indian, Persian, Portuguese and British origin, with many being adapted to suit the climate and the Indian lifestyle that resulted in a vernacular of their own that was as beautiful as it was unique.