They Are Fine Specimens of the Illustrious Indian Settler': Sporting Contact between India and South Africa, 1914?1955

Abstract

Sporting contacts between the India and diasporic Indian community in South Africa were part of a broader range of links between the two countries. In this article, we consider association football tours between both countries from 1914 to 1955 against the backdrop of increased racism and segregation in South Africa and the anti-colonial movement in India. We draw from a range of sources, including archives, unpublished reports and newspaper articles. The sports tours helped to solidify relations between Indians in South Africa and India underpinning political, cultural, spiritual and emotional ties; they show how Indianness was forged among diasporans and that this was highly contested and constantly transformed in relation to external conditions; and they expose the racism on the part of white sporting organisations in particular and white politicians in general in South Africa.