A Reflection on the Role of Memsahib in the Tea Garden Bungalows During the Colonial Period in Assam

Abstract

The present study examines the roles of Memsahibs in the colonial-era tea garden bungalows of Assam. The term Memsahib encompasses more than just the wife of a British Sahib; it also denotes a position of authority and influence within these small British communities. The study aims to analyse the conceptual significance. Memsahib. It explores their everyday lives in the bungalows, their relationships with Indian and British people, and their direct and indirect involvement in tea garden administration. The research explores the participation of Memsahibs in the welfare efforts in the tea gardens to determine whether their acts were driven by genuine empathy or by the dominant colonial paternalism. Historical-analytical research methodology has been adopted for the research work. Literary, historical sources and secondary sources, archival documents, colonial records, personal letters, and memoirs are adopted as sources of analysis. The findings reveal that the Memsahib played a vital role between coloniser and colonised.  Tea garden bungalows are not only interpreted as residential structures but also as socio-spatial environments where gender, race, and class relations were negotiated through daily domestic practices. Memsahibs played a significant role in reinforcing colonial hierarchy through domestic management, labour welfare monitoring, social organisation, and cultural mediation, sustaining plantation society beyond formal administration. The study argues that the tea garden bungalow functioned as a significant colonial socio-cultural space where gendered authority and social hierarchy were performed and maintained.