Anglo Indian

See also

• Native Woman
• Australia, for Anglo Indians in Australia
• East India Company Army - Wives and children
• Hobson Jobson for glossary of Anglo Indian words.

Definition of Anglo-Indian

Section 366 of the Constitution of India (1950) states

“"An Anglo-Indian means a person whose father or any of whose other male progenitors in the male line is or was of European descent, but who is domiciled within the territory of India and is or was born within such territory of parents habitually resident therein and not established there for temporary purposes only."

This definition is a constitutional one and makes no reference to female ancestry. It has been argued as being somewhat limited and it is not unusual for those with such European descent lying in the female line to regard their ancestress as Anglo Indian for genealogical purposes.

The term Anglo Indian meaning a person of mixed race heritage was used in the Schedules of the 1911 Census, and from that time became the accepted term. Prior to that terms such as Eurasian, East-Indian, Indo-Briton, Country-Born, and 'Blue-skin' were used.

Marriage

The only way a British man could marry legally in India was for both bride and groom to be Christian, and to marry in a Christian church ceremony. In some cases a European groom became a Moslem, and married in a Moslem ceremony. However, in terms of British law, he was not considered to be married.

Prior to about 1815, there were many mixed race marriages between British soldiers and Indian, or Indo-Portuguese women. However the opinion in Britain was strongly against such mixed marriage, and a soldier with an Indian wife could not return to Britain with her.

By the period 1816-1820 there were more European women in India. By 1820 it had become socially unacceptable for any officer or official to marry an Indian.

Almost as bigger barrier to intermarriage was the Indian attitude. Any Hindu women who went with a British man lost caste immediately. She was cast out of her family and village. Consequently only those at the bottom of Indian society could ever see a British soldier as a advantageous marriage candidate. However, for those with financial resources, it appears that it may have been possible to regain caste, as one will specifies an amount "for the purpose of restoring to her her cast".. On the Malabar and Coromandel Coasts prior to c 1820, it is suspected that the intermarriages may have included some high caste Hindus.

FIBIS Fact Files No 1

Researching Anglo-Indian Ancestry 2009 21pp.
Essential for any family historian with blended ethnicity. The booklet contains two expanded and updated articles previously published in the FIBIS Journal: "The children of John Company : the Anglo-Indians" by Geraldine Charles, and "A Luso-Indian voyage" by Cliff Pereira. These two authorities provide invaluable information: definitions of the various terms used for those of mixed race in the Indian sub-continent, a brief background history of these communities, reading lists, and, by using their own families as a basis, a demonstration of how to effectively research Anglo-Indian ancestors.
Available from the FIBIS Shop.

Recommended reading

• Bear, Laura Lines of the Nation (New York: Columbia, 2007) [essential but uncomfortable reading for Anglo-Indians with railway roots].
• See also list of titles under the “Anglo-Indians” section of FIBIS Society Reading List

External Links

• "The Anglo -Indians of Madras" from Madras Musings dated October 1-15, 2010
• "Of a community and culture" by Esther Elias August 28, 2014 The Hindu. Notes from S. Muthiah’s lecture on the 500-year history of Anglo-Indians in India
• Anglo Indian Home Page includes:

• "Some Comments on stereotypes of the Anglo-Indians" by Megan Stuart Mills from the International Journal of Anglo-Indian Studies 1996. Part 1 includes a list of books and Part 2 includes a section on the army in World War I, mentioning conscription, and, in section 9, railway people.
• A listing of Books on Anglo-Indian Culture and History January 1997 by Withbert Payne
• "Christopher Hawes in Conversation with Glenn D'cruz" The International Journal of Anglo-Indian Studies Volume 3, Number 1, 1998
• "Beyond "Cotton Mary": Anglo-Indian Categories and Reclaiming the Diverse Past" by Adrian Carton The International Journal of Anglo-Indian Studies Volume 5, Number 1, 2000. Includes mention of the Portuguese, Dutch and Danish in India.
• "EIR at Jamalpur - Anglo-Indian Railway Officers" by Blair Williams The International Journal of Anglo-Indian Studies Volume 6, Number 2, 2001
• "The Curious Exclusion Of Anglo-Indians From Mass Slaughter During The Partition Of India". Experiences in India During 1947 of some who went to New Zealand by Dorothy McMenamin. The International Journal of Anglo-Indian Studies Volume 9, Number 1, 2006
• "Loyalty, Parity, and Social Control-The Competing Visions on the Creation of an ‘Eurasian’ Military Regiment in late British India" by Satoshi Mizutani The International Journal of Anglo-Indian Studies Volume 10, No. 1, 2010
• "The Origins of The Anglo-Indians" by Sheila Pais James The International Journal of Anglo-Indian Studies Volume 10, Number 2, 2010

• The Eurasian Problem In Nineteenth Century India by Valerie E.R. Anderson 2011. A thesis in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in History , School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. Contains a link to a pdf download.
  • Anglo-Indians and Eurasians in Nineteenth Century India Website of Val Anderson. Includes a paper "Religion and Race: Eurasians in colonial India"
• "Decolonising Anglo-Indians" by Swati Chawla. April 25, 2016. dissertationreviews.org. An article about a University of Oxford dissertation by Uther E. Charlton-Stevens which is is a thorough investigation of the position and politics of Anglo-Indians in late colonial India.
• Russell and Enid Fonceca’s Anglo-Indian family trees and their links
• "The Many Rail Journeys Leading To Allahabad" by Esther Mary Lyons from her website.

"Experience of Living in a Railway Colony in Allahabad" by Esther Mary Lyons, now archived.

• "Children of the Raj" (pdf) by Vyvyen Brendon (2006) has some references to Anglo Indian children
• "White Mischief" by William Dalrymple in The Guardian (9 Dec 2002). The author of White Mughals writes about the book and mixed marriages in India.
• How BritainsDNA discovered Prince William's unknown genetic inheritance www.britainsdna.com and image of the Seurat baptismal record at the British Library FIBIS on Facebook
  • BritainsDNA, The Times and Prince William – the perils of publication by press release by Debbie Kennett 19 June 2013 cruwys.blogspot.co.uk
• "Stephen H Smith – India’s forgotten rocketeer" [1891-1951] by Gurbir Singh. astrotalkuk.org. Smith was Anglo Indian. He conducted numerous practical experiments to understand and promulgate the potential of rocket power as a mechanism for transport. Smith launched almost 300 rockets between 1934 and 1945 working mostly unfunded and primarily alone. He also founded, during the 1920s, the Calcutta Philatelic Club and the Aero Philatelic Club of India.
• Alistair Mcgowan’s story from Who Do You Think You Are?
• Anglo Indians in the IAF [Indian Air Force] bharat-rakshak.com
• Article "My mother's mysterious past" by Alison McQueen The Guardian, Saturday 25 August 2012
• DNA unlocks family secrets of the Chinese juggler, the enigmatic sea-captain and more Carolyn Abraham’s family were Anglo Indians who had lived in railway colonies. www.theglobeandmail.com. Carolyn Abraham: Solving family mysteries with DNA, now an archived page, and a podcast of a radio interview, 2nd link same interview www.cbc.ca
• "A passage to colonial India" by Mini Anthikad-Chhibber June 2, 2011 The Hindu. Article about the author of cookbooks about Anglo Indian food, Bridget White-Kumar.
  • Bridget White-Kumar’s Anglo-Indian Food with recipes
• Back to Bangalore Part 1 Video Photographic documentary about two press photographers, Anglo Indian Bert Scott and grandson Jason Tilley. They travel to India in 1999 in search of their colonial past. Back to Bangalore Part 2. Filmed by Vicki Couchman. This further video Photographer in Residence: Jason Tilley also discusses the 1999 trip to India. Vimeo.com and from thebeautifulpeopleblog, category "My Family History" which contains a number of interesting blogs
• Articles about the actress Merle Oberon sapnamagazine.com, abc.net.au archive.org links. This archived link refers to an image of her birth certificate “obtained from the Bombay records office”, but the image is not accessible to the writer of this item.However, what appear to be the same images are available in this archived link, including an image of the birth registration. From Bombay to Beverly Hills by Randor Guy August 01, 2008 The Hindu advises she was born in Bombay (Khetwadi) and christened at Girgaon
• Articles about the singer Cliff Richard. Cliff's Calcutta: How Richard's singing career actually began in the British Raj by Steve Turner 13 January 2013 dailymail.co.uk. Letter to girl shows bachelor boy streak by Amit Roy April 11 , 2010 The Telegraph Calcutta (now an archived webpage) advises Cliff Richard’s parents were Anglo Indian
• "End of the Raaj" by Paul Harris. YouTube video (5 minute snippet from the documentary of the same name). Further extracts "Anglo-Indian-isms" YouTube video (retrieved 21 April 2014)
• "Closely observed trains: Indian Railways and the families' memories" by Paramita Ghosh, July 05, 2015 Hindustan Times, New Delhi

Historical books online

• "The East Indian Community" Calcutta Review, Volume 11 January-June 1849. (Google Books)
• The Queen's Daughters in India by Elizabeth W. Andrew and Katharine C. Bushnell 1899 Archive.org. Investigation and Report by two American missionaries into the government sanctioned brothels in British Army cantonments, set up under the Cantonment Act 1864. Page 52 states that many of the prostitutes were the offspring of British men
• "The Eurasian Problem in India" by A Nundy, Barrister-at Law page 56 The Imperial and Asiatic Quarterly Review and Oriental and Colonial Record New Series Volume IX January-April 1900 Archive.org
• The Domiciled European and Anglo-Indian Race of India by Millicent Boddington Wilson. However, the British Library catalogue states "the 3rd ed. (1929?) states that although earlier editions were published in the name of M.B. Wilson, the book was actually written by her brother J.B. Smart". The 1928 edition is available Archive.org version, mirror from Digital Library of India.
• Britain’s Betrayal In India: The Story of the Anglo-Indian Community by Frank Anthony 1960. Archive.org version, mirror from Digital Library of India.