Anglo-Indian
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Who are Anglo-Indian people?
The term "Anglo-Indian" has evolved over time. Historically, it referred to British people working in India. Currently, in India, an Anglo-Indian is a citizen with mixed Indian and European ancestry, specifically through the paternal line.
The definition was formalized in the Government of India Act of 1935 and retained in India's constitution in 1950, identifying Anglo-Indians as an official minority group. The community is largely urban and Christian, with origins tracing back to early European contact with India, such as the Portuguese in 1498. Later, the offspring of British men and Indian women were often called Eurasian before being included under the Anglo-Indian category. Following India's independence, many Anglo-Indians migrated abroad, making current population estimates challenging.
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How did the Anglo-Indian community first begin?
The Anglo-Indian community's origins trace back to the earliest interactions between Europe and India, beginning with Vasco da Gama's arrival in 1498. The Portuguese, under figures like Afonso de Albuquerque, encouraged intermarriage between their countrymen and Indian women to solidify their authority, leading to the Luso-Indian population. As Portuguese influence waned, Luso-Indians integrated with local populations and, in larger cities, merged with communities of mixed British and Indian descent.
The British presence, growing from the 17th century, also contributed to this mixed heritage. Offspring of British men and Indian women were often termed Eurasian or half-caste before being broadly categorized as Anglo-Indian in the early 20th century. The term formally recognized individuals of mixed Indian and European paternal ancestry who were native to India, a definition maintained in India's constitution.
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How did British colonial rule influence the Anglo-Indian identity?
British colonial rule significantly shaped Anglo-Indian identity. Initially, the term "Anglo-Indian" referred to British individuals in India. However, it evolved to denote people of mixed European and Indian ancestry, particularly those with a British paternal line, as defined by the Government of India Act of 1935. This period saw the establishment of a distinct community, often urban and Christian, with roots tracing back to early European contact. The British administration, while maintaining a social distance, also introduced educational systems and legal frameworks that influenced this evolving identity. After India's independence, many Anglo-Indians migrated, further fragmenting the community.
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What languages are commonly spoken within the Anglo-Indian community?
The term "Anglo-Indian" historically referred to people of mixed European and Indian ancestry, particularly those with British paternal lineage. While English is a significant language for official purposes and higher education in India, and many Anglo-Indians are Christian, the community itself does not have a single, universally spoken language beyond English.
Historically, various Indo-Aryan languages were spoken across the Indian subcontinent, and English served as a lingua franca for administration and communication between different linguistic groups. The specific languages spoken within the Anglo-Indian community would have been influenced by their regional Indian heritage and their connection to English.
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Anglo-Indian, in India, a citizen of mixed Indian and, through the paternal line, European ancestry. From roughly the 18th to the early 20th century, the term referred specifically to British people working in India.
The meaning of the term Anglo-Indian has to some degree been in a state of flux throughout its history. It was not until the Indian census of 1911 that the term was used as a category denoting persons of mixed ethnicity. In the Government of India Act of 1935, an Anglo-Indian was formally identified as “a person whose father or any of whose other male progenitors in the male line is or was of European descent but who is a native of India.” The key points of that definition were retained when Anglo-Indians were listed as an official minority group in India’s constitution in 1950. With the diaspora of the community since that time, however, it has become ever more difficult to identify Anglo-Indians, much less to estimate the size of their population.
The Anglo-Indian community in India is mostly urban and Christian and traces its origin to the earliest contact between Europe and India, ultimately to 1498, when Portuguese navigator Vasco da Gama landed at Calicut (now Kozhikode) on the Malabar Coast of southwestern India. During the subsequent settlement and administration of the surrounding area by the Portuguese, Governor Alfonso de Albuquerque, who conquered the city of Goa in 1510, encouraged his countrymen to marry Indian women to help establish Portuguese authority. The offspring of those marriages were known as Luso-Indians. As the Portuguese gradually abandoned their Indian possessions or otherwise lost dominance in the region, Luso-Indians merged with the local Indian population. For the most part, the descendants of these Luso-Indians are known today as Goans, and they are concentrated in the state of Goa, in Mumbai, and along India’s western coast. Especially in the larger cities, such as Mumbai, Madras (now Chennai), and Calcutta (now Kolkata), the Goans and other Luso-Indians retained much of their European cultural heritage and amalgamated with the local community of mixed British and Indian descent—those for whom the Anglo-Indian ethnic category would ultimately be named.
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The British gained control of the greater portion of the Indian subcontinent starting in the 17th century and retained significant power well into the 20th. Many men were brought from England to assist in the administration of India. The offspring of these men and local Indian women were generally known as Eurasian, or half-caste, until they were subsumed under the broader Anglo-Indian rubric in the early 20th century.
When India achieved independence in 1947, the Anglo-Indian population was about 300,000. After independence, however, the social status of Anglo-Indians declined sharply, and, as a result, many families migrated abroad, especially to the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Canada, Australia, and the United States. Because the group is geographically, socially, and politically fragmented, estimates of the size of the Anglo-Indian community vary—as widely as from 30,000 to 150,000—in India in the 21st century.