The Anglo-Indians- A 500-Year History

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About the Book Till 1911, the British described any amongst them who had spent long years working in India as Anglo-Indians. The Census that year defined as Anglo-Indian, anyone born of or descended from a European male permanently settled in India and, by implication, having an Indian mother. For over 500 years, since the Portuguese put down roots in India c. 1500, this community of mixed heritage has been called by various names, some of them rather derogatory. Between 1911 and 1935, the Anglo-Indians evolved as a well-defined community recognized by the Government of India.

The first part of the book traces their history. It is a story of disappointments and of hopes, of sorrow and joy, of uncertainty being a part of their lives from the day they were born-unsure of their identity, futures and place in society. But it is also the story of a people who found happiness, enjoyment and satisfaction in the various niches they were fitted into.

Today, about two-thirds of the community has settled overseas. In India, the other third is progressing as never before. Together, as in the past, they are proving to be achievers and significant contributors wherever they are and against all odds, quite out of proportion with their numbers. Some of those significant contributions they have made are a substantial part of the book.

Indeed, these pages will reveal that small though it is, it is a community with a great heritage the wider world should become better aware of.

About the Authors S. Muthiah, educated in Sri Lanka, India and the United States, was a senior Journalist in Sri Lanka for 17 years and then was in India for 22 years.

His interest in the historical has led to him being described as the 'Chronicler of Madras, Chronicled in over 35 books are the stories of Madras (Chennai), those of several of its leading institutions as well as of some of its eminent personalities, beside those of two communities he has been part of The Indo Lankans and the Nattukottal Chettiars.

A full-time writer and editor since 1990, Muthiah edits Madras Musings, a fortnightly on the city, He is also a columnist for The Hindu, Madras. His best-known books are Madras Rediscovered, Madras-Its Past and its Present, A Madras Miscellany, Getting India on the Move, The Spencer Legend, and Looking Back from Moulmein, The Ace of Clubs, The Indo-Lankans and The Chettiar Heritage. He was awarded the MBE (1992) by the Queen of England for his work on heritage and environmental conservation.

Harry MacLure moved from the hotel industry into cartooning, writing and finally publishing 15 years ago when he started the Journal Anglos In The Wind, reaching out to Anglo-Indians round the world. His recent venture Anglo-Ink focuses on bringing out books on the community. MacLure has been mainly responsible for the pictorial content of this book.

Richard O'Connor, a senior Customs officer, spends time on the study of history, writing and music when he sheds his uniform. A meticulous researcher, he now spends time on tracking down the stories of Anglo-Indians who have made contributions to society. Much of that search is reflected in this book.

Foreword Some years ago, the early 1990s, African Studies London, in Madras in connection with book he was writing the Anglo-Indian community. interviewed of us, Wary outsiders with their preconceived rigid notions of the community, asked him whether he was researching as "a vanishing being unnecessarily facetious. his mild way the British scholar that he was attempting discover reasons for the Anglo-Indian community surviving for more than years, its origins the 16th century.

To survive to be a part of history. the years, the community attracted the attention historians research writer’s fiction and producers of films. The works authors writing 1900s, before and after Independence, reflect the shifting fortunes the community, revealing uncertainty, angst and sense betrayal.

The more important writers Herbert The Call of the Blood, Dover (Cimmerian or Eurasians and their 1929. Half 1937); K.E. (The Eurasian Problem, 1930); and Frank Anthony (Britain's Betrayal in 1969). These books valuable as records changing and classics of their genre.