Railways and its Impact on the Representation of Indian Space

Abstract

This paper looks into the role of railways in representing Indian space. Originally built to transport coal and industrial goods, the imperial powers saw the railways' potential for passenger service and extended its services to the public thereafter. Gradually, some of these countries laid the foundation of railways in the colonies under their control. Thus, the railways became a symbol of development and modernisation. Though railways acted as a tool of social and cultural change, it was also used by the imperial powers to exercise their supremacy over the colonised. Among the imperial powers, Britain was reasonably quick in introducing railways in their colonies. Among their colonies was the Indian Subcontinent, which was a comparatively large colony, making it increasingly difficult for the British to maintain uniform control throughout the nation. The foundation for railways was laid in the 19th century to expand trade and commerce in India. The advent of trains allowed the citizens to travel the expanse of the nation and experience the beauty of the diversified culture and landscape of the Indian Subcontinent while simultaneously helping the British lay the foundations of Raj. This paper will, thus, attempt to highlight how the railways influenced the Indian space and impacted the sociocultural changes in India by analysing the depiction of railways in literature and cultural texts.