Welsh Missionaries and British Imperialism: The Empire of Clouds in North-east India

Missionaries are no strangers to students and researchers of the British Empire. The hackneyed image of the rough-hewn Anglican vicar preaching salvation, Christ, and colonialism to legions of natives is one of the enduring archetypes of British colonialism. This image, like so many similar ones, is not without basis in historical fact. Missionaries played a notable role in British imperial expansion and colonial rule. Furthermore, missionaries often provided some of the staunchest advocacy for empire in Britain. In his monograph Welsh Missionaries and British Imperialism: The Empire of the Clouds in North-east India Andrew J. May states that missionaries should no longer be viewed simply as ‘cultural terrorists’ or ‘colonialism’s Trojan horse’ (p. 3). May sheds light on the neglected history of Welsh missionaries working out of the Cherrapunji hill station in northeast India, the ‘Empire of the Clouds’, in the mid-19th century. In short, May engages in a contextual deconstruction of any monolithic perceptions of colonial missionaries. The Welsh missionaries, May argues, did not march in lock-step with the military or other colonial forces. In this case, Welsh missionaries eventually fell victim to other imperial pursuits.