Brown - Anglo-Indian Food and Customs

The following is an excerpt taken from W.T. Roys book, Hostages to Fortune. Mr Roys definition best describes the Anglo-Indian in India, as the term came to mean after Indian Independence: a member of a group possessing a distinctive subculture whose characteristics are that all its members are Christians of one denomination or another, speak English, wear European clothes on almost all occasions, have substantially European dietary habits though addicted to the fairly lavish use of Indian spices, are occupationally engaged in a restricted number of trades and professions, and are by and large endogamous.

The first Europeans arrived in India nearly five hundred years ago. Vasco da Gama, a Portuguese explorer, landed at Calicut on the Malabar coast in 1498. He was sent by King Emmanuel of Portugal who was curious to find out more about the legendary treasures in silks and spices that India was rumoured to have in vast quantities. Upon his arrival he encountered hostility from Muslim merchants, and was unable to institute a trading station in Calicut. However, another Portuguese explorer, Pedro Alvares Cabral, who arrived soon after was successful in establishing a post.

As the Portuguese awareness of the country grew, they were amazed at the opulent lifestyle enjoyed by the wealthy princes and merchants. The natives proved to be warm and hospitable, and the Europeans were invited to stay by the local rajas and enjoy Indias traditional hospitality. Looking around they saw a country immensely rich and fertile, where it was possible to reap a harvest of boundless treasure in gold and spices. The idea of colonization that was but a seed at first took root, and soon became the main objective. The Portuguese were the first in a succession of European visitors. Soon Dutch, French and, later, English merchant ships weighed anchor along the shores of the great subcontinent; they came principally as traders. The Portuguese, however, stayed, acquiring land and establishing colonies along the coast at first. Growing bolder with time they slowly crept inland, but always favoured land hugging the shore. The Europeans traded with the Indians, carrying away to their homeland cargo ships laden with spices, silks and gems.

Seeking to root themselves even deeper in Indian soil, Alfonso dAlbuquerque, one of the more famous Portuguese governors of the territories, whose principal aim was colonization and missionary work, used the prevailing policy of assimilation to encourage marriages between his men and Indian women of noble birth, after the latter converted to Catholicism of course. The children of these unions came to be known as Luso Indians, and were in fact the first Eurasians. They, together with the offspring born from the union of numerous other European men and Indian women were the first Anglo-Indians.

In 1510, Goa, a district on the Malabar coast of India, was conquered by the Portuguese. The town of Daman was sacked in 1531, becoming a permanent colony by 1558. Daman subsequently became an important port, as trade with the eastern coast of Africa was established. The island of Diu, which is about thirteen km long and about three km wide, lies off the southern tip of the Kathiawar Peninsula in the Arabian Sea. In 1535 the Portuguese made a treaty with the native princes and erected a fort on the island.

The Dutch did not have any colonial aspirations. They came principally as traders and established trading posts on the Malabar and Coromandel coasts, and also in the state of Bengal. However, there must have been a certain amount of intermarriage between them and the local Indians, evident from the number of people bearing Dutch surnames that can be found in the towns of Negapatam, Chinsurah and Pulicat. Other European sailors and explorers took Indian wives, which served to increase the Eurasian population of the subcontinent.

Shortly after 1664, the French colonies were founded. The French in India were engaged in a constant struggle with the British to gain dominance in trade and in the acquisition of land. Pondicherry, a seaport on the Coromandel coast, changed hands many times. The town was acquired by the French in 1674, captured by the Dutch in 1693, but was restored to France in 1697. The British captured the town on three occasions during the eighteenth century. The French freely intermarried with the local Indians, and there was a sizeable Eurasian population in the French settlement towns of Pondicherry and Chandernagore.

The term Anglo-Indian originally referred to British colonials residing in India. Their prolonged stay in the country resulted in the emergence of a race of people born to British fathers and Indian mothers, who also called themselves Anglo-Indians. In the course of time Eurasians of every description came to be known as Anglo-Indians, and since they intermarried freely with one another, they were soon indistinguishable, with entire families bearing British, French, Portuguese and Dutch surnames. The common denominator was the fact that they all had one Indian parent; it was the European half that contributed a different facet to the cultural melting-pot. Despite the variance in customs and cuisine, and the fact that they came from different parts of the subcontinent, the new Anglo-Indians shared many of the characteristics that set them apart from their Indian and European parents. They did not fit comfortably into either Indian or European society, and from the very onset experienced some difficulty in developing a self-image. What helped them overcome this hurdle was perhaps the fact that they never took themselves very seriously. This, coupled with a puckish sense of humour and a penchant for good living, helped them to emerge culturally as a distinct people.