Oral Archive: Plain Tales from the Raj

Identity Statement

Reference code(s)	: GB 0102 OA1
Held at	: School of Oriental and African Studies   Click here to find out how to view this collection at http://www.soas.ac.uk/Archives/home.html ›
Full title	: Oral Archive: Plain Tales from the Raj
Date(s)	: (1876-1949) 1972-1974
Level of description	: Collection (fonds)
Extent	: 16 boxes (4 boxes of sound recordings, 12 boxes of transcripts)
Name of creator(s)	: British Broadcasting Corporation | Radio 4

Context

Administrative/Biographical history:

The series 'Plain Tales from the Raj' was produced by Michael Mason for BBC Radio 4 and first broadcast in 1974. The British interviews were largely conducted by Charles Allen, with further interviews conducted in India by Prakash Mirchandani and Mark Tully.

Content

Scope and content/abstract:

Cassette copies and transcripts of recordings of unedited interviews assembled, 1972-1974, for the radio series 'Plain Tales from the Raj', including material not included in the broadcast programmes, and comprising c200 hours of material. The 82 subjects interviewed, including men, women, adults and children, lived and worked in India from the late 19th century to Independence (1947) and the interviews cover a wide range of civilian and military experience between 1876 and 1949. Military personnel range from the Commander in Chief of the Army in India to Army privates. Civil servants of various ranks and members of the business and commercial world, for example tea planters, are also included. Women mainly comprise wives and daughters, but also include a few nurses and governesses. The project covered the lives of the British in India and, although the material touches upon the effect of the Raj on India and its indigenous inhabitants, only a small number of Indians and Eurasians were interviewed. Subjects covered include accommodation and living conditions; daily routine; social life and recreation; health and sanitation; the effects of India postings on family life; relations between the British, other Europeans, Indians and Eurasians in social and work environments; events such as riots and earthquakes; the fauna and landscape of India; and political events. Full typescript transcripts (including inaccuracies in some cases) exist for most, but not all, of the recordings.

Access & Use

Language/scripts of material:
English

System of arrangement:

Alphabetical by name of interviewee.

Conditions governing access:

Access to most interviews unrestricted.

Conditions governing reproduction:

No publication without written permission. Apply to archivist in the first instance.

Finding aids:

Published guide: Plain Tales from the Raj: a Catalogue of the BBC Recordings (India Office Library and Records, London, 1981), arranged alphabetically by interviewee, summarising the main content of each interview and including reference codes for copies of material at the India Office Library and Records, Imperial War Museum, and School of Oriental and African Studies. More detailed and comprehensive card index available at the Imperial War Museum.

Archival Information

Archival history:

Immediate source of acquisition:

Deposited by the British Broadcasting Corporation.

Allied Materials

Related material:

The interviewer Charles Allen published Plain Tales from the Raj: images of British India in the twentieth century (1975), including further information from the interviews. The work of recording the memories of those who served in India contiuned under the British in India Oral Archive Committee at the School of Oriental and African Studies and the series continues as the British in India Oral Archive Project (Ref: OA2). The School of Oriental and African Studies also holds sound recordings from the radio series 'India: A People Partitioned' (Ref: OA3). The Imperial War Museum, Department of Sound Records, carried out an oral history interviewing project on the role of the British Army in India in the inter-war period and the years before Independence.

Publication note:

Description Notes

Archivist's note:
Compiled by Rachel Kemsley as part of the RSLP AIM25 project. Source: Plain Tales from the Raj: a Catalogue of the BBC Recordings (India Office Library and Records, London, 1981).

Rules or conventions:
Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.

Date(s) of descriptions:
May 2002