Unexpected voices in imperial parliaments List of Illustrations List of Tables Notes on Contributors Introduction Josep M. Fradera José Marâia Portillo and Teresa Segura Garcia 1. The value of Political Representation in Modern Empires Josep M. Fradera 2. Jean Baptiste Belley: Frances First Black Legislator David Geggus 3. Dionisio Inca Yupanqui: A lord in Spains Cortes de Cádiz José Marâia Portillo 4. Pedro José de Ibarra: A Mulatto Senator in Colombias Antioquia Daniel Gutiérrez Ardila 5. Cyrille Bissette: A Singular Voice in France Abel Alexis Louis 6. Robert Smalls: In Majority and in Minority in Washington Stephanie McCurry 7. Dadabhai Naoroji: Indian Member of Parliament in Westminster 1892 95 Teresa Segura Garcia 8. Mpilo Walter Benson Rubusana: South Africas First Black Parliamentarian Timothy Stapleton 9. Gratien Candace: In the name of the French Empire Dominique Chathuant 10. Blaise Diagne: French Parliamentarian from Senegal Eric Garcia Moral Conclusion Adrian Shubert Selected Bibliography Index. This collection follows the extraordinary careers of nine colonial subjects who won seats in high level parliamentary institutions of the imperial powers that ruled over them. Revealing an unexplored dimension of the complex political organisation of modern empires the essays show how early imperial constitutions allowed for the emergence of these unexpected members of parliament asks how their presence was possible and unveils the reactions across metropolitan circles local communities and the voters who brought them to office. Unearthing the entanglements between political life in metropolitan and non European societies it illuminates the ambiguous zones the margins for negotiation and the emerging forms of leadership in colonial societies. From a Hispanicised Inca nobleman to recently emancipated slaves and African colonial subjects in linking these individuals and their political careers together Unexpected Voices in Imperial Parliaments argues that the political organisation of modern empires incorporated the voices of the colonised and the non European in an ambiguous relationship that led to a widening of political participation and action throughout the imperial world. In doing so this book offers a comprehensive but nuanced reassessment of the making and unmaking of modern empires.