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). 

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.  

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. 

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. 

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. 

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. 

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.  

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. 

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