She-Merchants, Buccaneers & Gentlewomen – British Women In India 1600-1900 By Katie Hickman

The first British women set foot in India in the early seventeenth century, over 200 years before the Raj came into being. In stark contrast to the languid ladies of popular imagination, these women were tough adventurers, making extraordinary leaps into the unknown. Those who dared the nineteen-month sea voyage, often at risk of hurricanes, shipwreck and piracy. For some it was a painful exile – it could take more than three years to receive and reply to letters from home (and it could end in death) – but for others it was an exhilarating opportunity to re-invent themselves. What In those days was considered eccentric – to wish or be willing to venture forth – in this century it is far more the norm. Fascinating for all women, whatever their nationality