My name is Sahil Bhagat, born in Hong Kong and raised in Hong Kong and Malaysia. I graduated with an MA in International Relations and Modern History from the University of St Andrews in 2022. During my undergraduate studies, I took a particular interest in researching transnational Indian Ocean networks during the British colonial period. This interest was born out of a realisation of the existence of South Asian diasporic communities around the world, each attempting to break past the homogenous cultural, linguistic and political labels assigned by their ethnic ‘homelands’ and ‘hostlands’ such as myself.
Taking a focus on indentured and convict labour migration, a notable work of mine includes, Convict only by Name: Status and the Governance of South Asian Convict Labourers in Strait Settlement Territories. This work looked into the experiences of South Asian convict labourers in Penang and Singapore, highlighting the elevated social position within the bounds of colonial racial and administrative hierarchies of the respective colonies.
At Columbia and LSE, I plan to delve into the transnational networks developed between South and Southeast Asia, with a particular focus on the perceived and assigned identities of South Asian diasporic communities in colonial and post-colonial Malaysia. Diasporic communities leave lasting imprints and are imprinted upon by the spaces that they occupy, creating avenues to research the heterogenous cultures, languages, religions and identities that are products of their immigration and settlement. I hope to shed light into minority communities in Southeast Asia that have otherwise been underrepresented and ignored within and outside of academic literature.
