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Mixed marriages By the 1760s, the black population in England had grown to between 20,000 and 40,000. Most of them were very poor, and the large majority were men. They integrated and intermarried so that, at least at this level of society, mixed-race marriages were not uncommon. Overseas, the British Empire not only tolerated mixed-race relationships at this time: it welcomed them. The East India Company In the 18th century, and the first half of the 19th century, India was governed, with Indian support, by the East India Company. This was a time of racial tolerance and friendship. Warren Hastings, governor general of the East India Company, was a Sanskrit scholar who loved India. Mixed marriages were actively encouraged by the Company, which gave such couples a gift of gold coins for every child they had.
During the 18th century, there were parties, balls and banquets in the grand mansions of Calcutta. The British ruling classes mingled as equals with their Indian colleagues. Many of the British administrators had Indian wives or long-term consorts.
A typical example was General William Palmer, a high-ranking official in the East India Company and Ambassador to the Moghul court. Palmer's consort was Begum Bibi Faiz, a Moghul princess. They were together for 35 years and had six children.
Militant evangelism had not yet reached India in the 18th century. The church did not insist on conversion and did not object if a family had both Christian and Muslim members. It was only after the Mutiny of 1857 that India was handed over to the Crown and attitudes began to change.
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