Hello, I'm Nick. I am from Exeter, and I am a historian of the British Empire fundraising for a project that I am currently working on. Materialising gradually as a paper titled "Steam, Spite, and Smuggling: South Asian Maritime Labour and Crime on the High Seas in the British Empire", this project is about how the transition in shipping technology from sail to steam throughout the course of the nineteenth century fundamentally changed criminal behaviour (in both its destructive and subversive forms) exhibited by colonial subjects on the High Seas (due, in my argument, to technological advancements indirectly enhancing opportunities for criminal behaviour, and increasing mental and physical pressures associated with the final stages of the Industrial Revolution), as well as the British Empire's corresponding responses to the changing nature of such crimes as the idea of punishing a criminal became crucially linked with the idea of expressing national (or, in this case, imperial) sovereignty: a feature of the state's authority that has continued into our present-day world.

The working paper was presented as a lecture at the Mobilising Imperial History Conference organised by the Royal Historical Society on 15 June 2025 at the Royal Asiatic Society in London, where it was very well-received.

Because I do not have any academic institutional affiliations right now (even though I got into Oxford University for a DPhil program this year, I was not given any funding by the university to proceed with it and so it all fell apart till I reapply for next year), and because I do not possess a doctorate (yet), there are really not a lot of avenues for me to fund my research no matter how significant a contribution it promises to make to existing scholarship. That is just how the system works, but hopefully this fundraiser can allow me to exist in my own right as a scholar and not be dependent on the system for my survival (until such a time when, ironically, I finally get my doctoral funding and become a part of the system again!).

Add to that my life circumstances at the moment: estranged from my family (so I haven't got anywhere to "go back to", or just anything much in the name of a basic support structure), basically unemployed and financially broke (I am employed as a bank administrator for the NHS for my subsistence but there has literally been no new work in the last six months, meaning I also haven't gotten paid in that long), and with very limited options in terms of what I can do about things (serious mental health difficulties complicate things further, but I have regardless been trying to get a job or a research grant. However, no matter how good my applications are, I never get any non-research roles because I just lack years and years of experience with anything other than research, and I can't get research roles because there are always people more remarkable/senior than me applying for the same roles. I am also not in receipt of any benefits from the state as I am not a citizen of the UK and my current visa situation does not allow me access to public funds). I need my one chance to prove my worth, and this project of mine is just what I need to finish and get published as soon as I can.

Essentially, then, this fundraiser is for my survival as much as it is about being able to carry on my research (and in terms of my very identity as an academic, there is also not much difference between the two). The total amount of this fundraiser is enough for me to pay my accommodation's rent for the next two months, with some left over for my subsistence as well. It ensures that for a given period time, I can give up constantly worrying about getting through another day and instead just focus on my finishing my valuable work and getting it published. I have all the materials I need: I have my own private archives consisting of relevant records that I digitised for my non-commercial use in my past visits to the relevant archives, and other primary sources like newspapers are available via subscription services like the British Newspaper Archive. So none of your money will actually go towards me travelling around the country to chase sources, but rather just to buy me enough time to get the work finished and then submitted for publication. That is all I am asking for: that my project (and through it, my identity, hope, and aspirations) don't die meaninglessly just because I currently happen to be slipping through the system's cracks.

I would suggest taking a look at my LinkedIn profile as well, for you to get a better idea about who I am and what I do.

I will try to make excerpts available from my working paper for those who do choose to give me any funding.

If you took the time out of your day to read my entire story, I thank you sincerely. I hope you do feel that my project is worth funding, as it is almost everything that I have left in my life right now.

Best Wishes,

Shagnick Bhattacharya

(Or simply "Nick"!)