Hello. I apologize if this isn't an appropriate question or doesn't go here. I am working on research for a time-travel story. One of my main characters is Indian, and finds himself in England in 1848. I'm having trouble finding information on how he would be seen and treated and what sort of discrimination he would face. He's also going to be looking for a cover story, so I'm open to ideas about who he could claim to be to arouse the least suspicion possible.
Thanks in advance!
Hey there! This is great--it sounds like you are just getting started with the research on this part of your story, so you'll be open to the things you find in your reading.
(We get a lot of people here who already have their plots set up and storm off when they find out they had an element incorrect; you don't want to be them!)
Since you're working from the ground up to create your character's "world" in Victorian England, I recommend immersing yourself in background reading to get the details right. Catherine Hall is a fabulous scholar of 'daily life'-type things in 19th century England, in light of colonial/imperial concerns at home and overseas. I would definitely recommend starting with some of her books! In addition to the ones listed on her Wikipedia page, there is the volume she edited, At Home with the Empire: Metropolitan Culture and the Imperial World that you might find useful.
You might also find the reading recommendations supplied in this recent thread useful.
Of course, if you are more interested in directly consulting users here for our knowledge than in doing your own work, you should contact people individually so you can work out an appropriate compensation plan for the use of the experts' time.
Good luck!