British Era Anglo-Indian Community In India, Old Photo 1957
An old 1957 photo of a group of British Era Anglo Indian community in India. The Anglo-Indians were an irresolute community the colonial rulers did not give them their due, nor did India after independence. The community is essentially made up of British Indian origins, or mixed British and Indian ancestry.
They were also referred to as Eurasians. The origin of the Anglo-Indians began after the British East India Company opened a settlement in Madras (Chennai) in 1639. Since the English women sailing to India was a complete no-no at the time. The Company encouraged their men to marry local women. The offspring were known as Anglo-Indians or mixed Indians, mainly through the paternal European lineage.
The primary deterrent for the English women was that it took six months to sail to India rounding the Cape of Good Hope. However, this travel time was cut short to a mere 4 weeks once the Suez Canal opened in 1869. Travel became less of a hardship, it is when the women from England arrived on a larger scale in search of potential husbands. Accordingly, the European interest in marrying locally waned.
This was because of the Indian Rebellion of 1857 and the opening of the Suez Canal. After 1857 the Britishers were instructed not to interact with the local populace much socially. Many of the Anglo-Indians migrated abroad after India’s independence. Especially to the UK, Australia, New Zealand, and USA. Many of them are still migrating abroad even to this day. They constitute a size as widely as 30,000 to 1,50,000 in India now.
Did you know – that similar communities can also be seen in other parts of the world, although in smaller numbers, such as Anglo-Burmese in Myanmar and Burghers in Sri Lanka.
Past posts – ‘Farmhouse’ British-India Watercolour Painting 1940., Kaisarbagh Palace Lucknow – Old Postcard 1897., The Terror of Madras, German ship Emden WWI 1914., The City Of Old Delhi Map 1877.
The images are of the actual items from my collection. And Not a photocopy, pirated, reproduced, stock photos, or taken from other sources.
