Prashant Kidambi

Historian Professor Prashant Kidambi tells the story of the first ‘all Indian’ cricket team to play on the fields of imperial Britain and of how the idea of India took shape on a cricket pitch long before the country gained political independence.

Kidambi explains that the tour took place in Edwardian Britain against the backdrop of anti-colonial protest and revolutionary terrorism. The Indian team was captained by the newly enthroned leader of the most powerful Sikh state in India. Kidami says the tour epitomises the way sport, particularly cricket, helped fashion the imaginary communities of nation and empire.

Kidambi is associate professor in colonial urban history at the University of Leicester. He specialises in the interface between British imperialism and the history of modern South Asia and the social history of sport in colonial and postcolonial India.

This event is part of the festival’s programme of Indian literature and culture.