Anglo-Indian forever!
‘To know not what happened before you were born, is to remain forever a child.” — Cicero (Roman Politician).
How does a person define their own identity? Do the thoughts of belonging to a nation, a group of people make easy this definition. My personal dilemma with this question inspired me to search for my own identity.
I am an Anglo-Indian, forever! a proud blend of Portuguese, English and Irish blood flow through my veins. However, introducing myself as an Anglo-Indian man brings about confusion to the people I meet. Many people do not know the Anglo-Indian. Let me explain…
In the Government of India Act of 1935, an Anglo-Indian was identified as “a person whose father or any male ancestor in their family line was of European descent, but who is a native of India.”
My father’s ancestral line has it roots branching from Portugal. The Portuguese were the first European nation to establish a settlement, and subsequent administration along the Malabar Coast; southwestern India. The Portuguese Governor at the time, Alfonso de Albuquerque, encouraged his countrymen to marry Indian women, in order to establish Portuguese authority. The offspring of those marriages were know as Luso-Indians. It is from the Luso-Indians that my father’s lineage stems.
In my mother’s hometown of Madras (now Chennai), the Anglo-Indian community originated soon after 1639, when the British East India Company established a settlement. The community identified with the British and they were accepted by the British; but they were excluded from positions of authority in the civil, military, and marine services in the East India Company. The Indian rebellion of 1857 was a catalyst in the Anglo-Indian rights movement, when the Anglo-Indians sided with the British. In recognition of the support, the British government favoured the Anglo-Indians and gave preference to Anglo-Indians serving in large numbers in the British strategic services of the railways, the postal services, and customs. Many members from my mother’s family line worked in the railways and postal services.
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The Anglo-Indians chose to speak English at home, and many schools were set up with English as the medium of language. The primary school that I attended; St. Anthony’s Anglo-Indian High School, is still operational in my childhood hometown Egmore, Madras.
Anglo-Indians were defined in the Constitution Act of India. In 1919 the Anglo-Indian community were given one reserved seat in the Central Legislative Assembly in Delhi, and they are the only ethnic community that have their own representatives (two members) nominated to the Indian Parliament.
After India gained independence from British rule in 1947, Anglo-Indians faced difficulties integrating with ethnic Indians. Many Indians distrusted the pro-British attitudes and the Western oriented culture of Anglo-Indians. Anglo-Indians were faced with a difficult choice; to stay and assimilate, or to migrate. Anglo-Indians decided to migrate in large numbers, mainly to Britain and Australia.
I clearly remember the day when I arrived with my family, at Melbourne Airport. It was on a cold August morning in 1985. I was greeted by the gust of an icy wind that pierced my skin, the minute I stepped off the plane. I had just turned 12 years old that day. I could only imagine what may have been going through the minds of my parents; leaving a comfortable life in Madras, to begin a new life in Melbourne.
Today, the Anglo-Indian community is one of the smallest minority groups in India. The Anglo-Indian population, once estimated at about 1 million at the time of India’s Independence from the British, is now estimated to be around 135,000. The majority of young Anglo-Indians residing in India have chosen to emigrate, leaving a fragmented community that is still searching for a place to call home.
It has become very difficult to identify Anglo-Indians in our society today, much less to estimate the size of their population across the world. It is my goal to increase awareness of Anglo-Indians living within our global community. I would like to encourage all Anglo-Indians to celebrate our unique culture, and to write our name on the World map, however scattered across the world we might be.
We are Anglo-Indians forever!
