| Summary: |
Audio recording of oral history interview with Dharam Vira, covering the period 1906-1947.
Cassette side OA1/66/1: Brief biographical review. Contacts with British as child. Attitudes to British rule. British university staff. Reasons for joining Indian Civil Service. Voyages to and from Britain. ICS exam viva. Posting to Aligarh. Division of society typical in such stations; Indian ICS officer's position.
Cassette side OA1/66/2: Officer's domestic household. Relationship of British officers with servants. Eating and drinking habits. Degree of acceptance of Indians by clubs. British officers' recreations; pig sticking. British attitudes to Indian culture. Stories of British eccentrics. Levels of curruption.
Cassette side OA1/66/3: Impact of British educational and health measures. British efforts to learn languages. Difficult position of Indian ICS officers conscious of nationalistic impulses: effects on promotion prospects; half hearted acceptance by British; suspicions of Indian nationalists. Indian public's false comparisons between British and Indian ICS officers. British misfits. Legacies of Raj.
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| Main author: |
Vira; Dharam (1906-2000); civil servant |
| Other authors: |
Allen; Charles (b 1940); historian and interviewer |
| Extent: |
1 hr. 30 min.
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| Admin history: |
Indian in Indian Civil Service 1930s-1947 and later Cabinet Secretary to Government of India. |
| Access status: |
Closed
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| Access conditions: |
Access to sound recording of this interview is currently unavailable at SOAS Library. The transcript can be consulted. Researchers can access a copy of this sound recording at the British Library Listening & Viewing Service. Reference: C1510/66/01-03. For more details see www.bl.uk/listening or contact listening@bl.uk / 020 7412 7418.
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| Copyright: |
Copyright held by British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) |
| User restrictions: |
Private study only. For publication or broadcast please refer to Archivist |
| Language: |
English
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| Copies: |
Copy available at British Library Listening & Viewing Service. Reference: C1510/66/01-03
Copy available at Imperial War Museum. Reference: 004965/03 |
| Related material: |
Transcript available at SOAS Library. Reference: OA1/66/T |
| Format: |
Archive
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