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Written by the Remaking Britain team. First published December 2025.

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Throughout the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries, Britain’s relationship with South Asia has led to cross-cultural exchanges in gastronomy, the arts and sciences, with contributions to key intellectual debates in the fields of maths and law. Amongst their achievements, South Asians have made landmark scientific discoveries, in healthcare and beyond. Alongside the impact of South Asian arts and culture during the period of British colonialism in India, individuals and organisations in Britain have in turn shaped expressions of South Asian British and British culture. South Asian people and communities have influenced Britain’s dance, theatre, music and counterculture scenes, while also playing a pivotal role in the nation’s sporting life.

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Economics, maths, law and science

South Asian intellectuals and academics working in Britain contributed to major discoveries across the centuries. Calcutta-born Romesh Chunder Dutt (1848–1909) arrived in Britain in 1868, studied at University College London (UCL), and was later appointed Professor of Indian History (1897). His research explored the drain of wealth from India, by Britain, which became a ground-breaking critique of colonialism (published in The Economic History of British India, 1901). He advanced his argument alongside MP Dadabhai Naoroji (1825–1917) and Major B D Basu (1867–1930), later influencing economist John Maynard Keynes (1883–1946).

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Held by British Library. Shelfmark: T 10636. Public Domain

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Later, in 1914 mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan (1887–1920) came to Britain. He collaborated with British mathematician Godfrey Harold in Cambridge. In 1918 he became the second Indian Fellow of the Royal Society  and the first Indian Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge. He is now recognised as one of the leading number theorists of the 20th century. Others have contributed to economics, maths and law. Notably Cornelia Sorabji (1866–1954) was the first woman of any nationality or ethnicity to study law at Oxford University in 1889.

Physician Frederick Akbar Mahomed (1849–1884) made major advances in science, with his research into high blood pressure. In 1879, Mahomed published his research on the cause and progression of high blood pressure in the medical journal The Lancet, forever changing our understanding of hypertension. He showed that high blood pressure led to kidney damage and other illnesses and not the other way round. Even apparently healthy people could suffer from raised blood pressure, which undetected could prove fatal. Brighton born, Mahomed was grandson of Sake Dean Mahomed (c. 1759–1851), who was famous as George the IV’s shampooing surgeon in the early 1800s.

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Held by British Library. Shelfmark: T 10636. Public Domain

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Obituary for Frederick Akbar Mahomed, 29 November 1884

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Obituary for Frederick Akbar Mahomed, 29 November 1884

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South Asians continue to make important contributions to science, exemplified by the late Professor Haroon Ahmed (1936–2024), a pioneering physicist and nanotechnologist who became the first British Pakistani to serve as both Professor and Master at the University of Cambridge, publishing hundreds of papers and holding key roles at Corpus Christi College.

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Held by British Library. Shelfmark: C2047. © Remaking Britain. Image credit © Louise Riley-Smith. With kind permission of Louise Riley-Smith and of the Master and Fellows of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge.

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Haroon Ahmed talking about being promoted to Professor and appointed Master (recorded 2024)

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Haroon Ahmed talking about being promoted to Professor and appointed Master (recorded 2024)

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Sporting achievements

Cricket could be described as a quintessential empire sport, because of the way in which it was used through the British Empire as part of the civilising mission, to promote imperial values and hierarchies. It became very popular, attracting many of India’s royal elite and students in Britain, including Prince K S Ranjitsinhji (1872–1933), Maharaja Jam Sahib of Navanagar. While studying at Trinity College, Cambridge, he played for Sussex, captained the team, and in 1896 became the first Indian to play for England. In 1899, he was the first cricketer to score 3,000 runs in one season, a feat he repeated in 1900. Renowned for his record-breaking batting and partnership with C B Fry, Ranji became one of the sport’s early legends. Cigarette cards and other souvenirs featured his image, and songs were written in his praise.

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Held by British Library. Shelfmark: Music Collections H.1798.oo.(18.) Public Domain

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Song praising K S Ranjitsinhji's cricketing skills, 1896

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Song praising K S Ranjitsinhji's cricketing skills, 1896

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Today, South Asians continue to play an active role in transforming the world of sport. Rosheen Khan (born 2003), alongside her sister Eleeza, is the first Muslim female referee in Wales, accredited by the Football Association of Wales. Based in Grangetown, Cardiff, Khan leads a female-only football team and runs inclusive sports programmes – including Ramadan midnight sessions – through Foundation 4 Sports and in partnership with Street Games.

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Held by British Library. Shelfmark: C2047. © Remaking Britain. Image credit: With permission from Rosheen Khan.

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Rosheen Khan talking about her role with Football Association of Wales (recorded 2024)

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Rosheen Khan talking about her role with Football Association of Wales (recorded 2024)

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Through her pioneering work with minoritised communities in Wales, Khan is helping to shift perceptions around sport and is inspiring a new generation of young women – particularly those from minoritised backgrounds – to participate in and lead within the sporting world.

Contributions to art

Indian arts, craft and textiles had a major impact on British design in the late 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries. Indian decorative art was highly prized, inspiring Victorian designers like William Morris.

Art historian and critic Ananda Coomaraswamy (1877–1947) contributed significantly to debates on Indian art in Britain. A founding member of London’s India Society in 1910, he promoted Indian art to educate Europeans about Indian sculpture and painting. Jacob Epstein and Eric Gill, two of Britain’s most important Modernist sculptors, enthusiastically began to imitate Indian techniques and styles, inspired by photos shown to them by Coomaraswamy. Eric Gill took inspiration from Hindu representations of the divine, demonstrated in a woodcut he made for Coomaraswamy.

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Held by British Library. Shelfmark: T 36740. Public Domain

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Portrait of Ananda Kentish Coomaraswamy, c. 1907

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Portrait of Ananda Kentish Coomaraswamy, c. 1907

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South Asians continue to make important and wide-ranging contributions to the visual arts in Britain. Hamad Butt’s (1962–1994) art combined science with ideas from Islamic traditions, including rituals and symbols. The Singh Twins' (born 1966) Indian miniature painting–inspired work features regularly in art exhibitions, while Chila Kumari Burman’s (born 1957) installations, films, drawings, collages and neons engage questions of feminism, identity formation and belonging. Anish Kapoor (born 1954) and Jasleen Kaur (born 1986) have both won the Turner Prize, in 1991 and 2024 respectively. Kapoor describes his work as drawing upon Eastern and Western cultures, while Kaur’s prize-winning art oscillates around her Scottish Sikh background, having grown up in Glasgow.

Theatre, dance, music and counterculture

Since the 1800s, South Asians have helped shape dance and theatre in Britain. Early examples include the Union of the East and West, which staged the play Sakuntala (1919), and Aubrey Menen’s Experimental Theatre Company (1934). Dancers like Uday Shankar helped bring South Asian dance to wider audiences, a tradition continued by famous choreographer Akram Khan (born 1974). From the 1970s, theatre companies like Tara Arts, Tamasha, Kali Theatre and Rifco began to tell South Asian British stories. They have worked with writers such as Tanika Gupta (born 1963), Ayub Khan Din (born 1961) and Jatinder Verma (born 1954), and continue to support new talent in writing, acting and directing today.

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2J66R9M © Donald Cooper / Alamy Stock Photo. Except as otherwise permitted by your national copyright laws this material may not be copied or distributed further.

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Photograph of Rani (played by Anneika Rose) and Hari (played by Ray Panthaki) in the 2013 RSC production of The Empress

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Photograph of Rani (played by Anneika Rose) and Hari (played by Ray Panthaki) in the 2013 RSC production of The Empress

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Photograph of actors playing Rani and Hari in The Empress, sat together on top of luggage trunks and looking upwards, smiling

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In music, the Asian Underground was a vibrant cultural movement that emerged in the UK during the 1990s to 2000s. It was led by a new generation of British Asian artists, like Asian Dub Foundation, Punjabi MC, Talvin Singh and Nitin Sawhney who creatively fused South Asian music– such as classical Indian instruments, Bollywood samples and bhangra rhythms – with genres like UK garage, drum and bass and hip-hop. Music from the Asian Underground scene gained mainstream success, with Cornershop’s 1998 No. 1 hit ‘Brimful of Asha’ (remixed by Norman Cook) celebrating Indian playback singer Asha Bhosle, and the movement helping launch Jay Sean’s R&B career.

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The Asian Underground was a platform for cultural expression that challenged racial stereotypes, explored identity, and redefined British Asian identity, reshaping the UK music scene and inspiring pride in South Asian heritage among young people.

The scene was mostly male-dominated, which led to the creation of alternative spaces such as Club Kali. Founded in 1995 by DJ Ritu and Rita Hirani, Club Kali was a club night, built on the work of the South Asian Lesbian and Gay network Shakti. While Club Kali was created in direct response to the homophobia faced by South Asians both within their own communities and homophobia and racism from wider British society, it also filled an important gap by providing a welcoming space for queer women, against the male-focused Asian Underground scene of the 1990s.

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Culinary interventions

South Asian food and culture have had a lasting influence on British society. One early example is Shafi’s Restaurant, opened in the 1920s by two brothers, Yassim and Rahim Mohammed, who had come to Britain to study. This, along with Veeraswamy's (opened in 1926), was one of the first Indian restaurants established in Britain.

Since this earlier period, South Asian food culture has become a prominent part of mainstream British life. Madhur Jaffrey, born in 1933, is a celebrated Indian-born actress and food writer who played a major role in introducing Indian cuisine to British audiences through her bestselling cookbooks and popular TV shows. In Scotland, Tony Singh, a Sikh chef born in 1971, has gained national recognition for blending traditional South Asian flavours with modern British cooking. Another influential figure is Cyrus Todiwala, a Mumbai-born chef who moved to the UK in the early 1990s. He became a well-known celebrity chef and, in 2005, opened Café Spice Namasté in East London – a restaurant known for showcasing Parsee cuisine and pioneering sustainable food practices.

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Held by British Library. Shelfmark: C821/204. © British Library

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Cyrus Todiwala talking about the authenticity of dishes at Indian restaurants in Britain (recorded 2008)

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Cyrus Todiwala talking about the authenticity of dishes at Indian restaurants in Britain (recorded 2008)

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Conclusion

South Asians have made wide-ranging and lasting contributions to British cultural and intellectual life across the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries. From pioneering work in science, economics, mathematics and law, to sporting excellence on national and international stages, their impact is remarkable. South Asian visual and performing artists, musicians and writers have shaped creative expression in Britain. In everyday life, South Asian cuisine has become deeply entwined with British food, becoming a key part of the national culture. Together, these contributions reflect a rich and ongoing legacy that continues to influence and enrich the United Kingdom today.

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The text in this article is available under a Creative Commons License.

Credit: Remaking Britain team (Rehana Ahmed, Aleena Din, Sumita Mukherjee, Susheila Nasta, Maya Parmar, Florian Stadtler, Rozina Visram).

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