Convict Labor for the British Raj

With the money I received from the GGR award, I plan to do a historical analysis of the convict labor used by the British East India Company in the early nineteenth century in their newly acquired territory in the North Western Provinces of British India. Convicts were employed to perform manual labor in public works for road construction, canal building, railway development, drainage system establishment, and even the construction of correctional facilities. Convicts worked alongside other workers who were either forced or hired on minimal wage. This study will also place significant emphasis on the gendered dimension of incarceration and the utilization of minors as laborers in imperial endeavors.