Article By History Professor Ranked Among Best of 2019

History Today has named an article by history professor Arunima Datta one of its best articles from the year 2019.

“Keeping India Cool,” about fan bearers in British India, was published in September 2019 and included in History Today’s “The Best Articles of 2019” roundup. The article described how punkahwallahs, or fan bearers, manually operated large fans to keep homes and offices cool.

“Sweltering British imperialists relied on an army of fan bearers, whose stories are as invisible as the air they circulated,” Datta said. “This article attempted to un-silence their history.”

To research the article that would eventually receive recognition from History Today, Datta spent months in archives in South Asia and the U.K., digging through archival documents, newspapers, pictures and letters. 

Punkahwallahs, the investigation revealed, became necessary fixtures in the homes of British colonizers unused to the sweltering weather, but were often exploited by their employers. “Keeping India Cool” explores not only this exploitation, but how punkahwallahs expressed their agencies even though such acts were fleeting and momentary. 

"This article attempted to un-silence their history."

The article lies at an intersection of Datta’s research interests, which include Asian and world history; British (Empire) history; and a thematic focus on labor, migration and gender history. Her forthcoming book, Fleeting Agencies: Indian Coolie Women in British Malaya, explores how Indian coolie women who migrated to work on British rubber plantations in Malaya negotiated social, political and economic hierarchies.

Datta thanked her department colleagues for being encouraging and supportive towards her punkahwallah research and beyond.

“I am particularly humbled by joining a list of winners whose work I deeply admire,” Datta said of the Best Articles honor. “It is also a very encouraging experience — as historians of the subaltern subjects, it is tough for us to write their stories, and to learn that various audiences appreciate their stories reminds us that everyone's history is important.”