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Castes and Tribes of Southern India. Vol. 2 of 7

Note 7 — E

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Eurasian.—Eurasian (Eur-asian) may, after the definition in ‘Hobson-Jobson,’7 be summed up as a modern name for persons of mixed European and Indian blood, devised as being more euphemistic than half-caste, and more precise than East-Indian. When the European and Anglo-Indian Defence Association was established 17 years ago, the term Anglo-Indian, after much consideration, was adopted as best designating the community. According to Stocqueler,8 the name Eurasian was invented by the Marquis of Hastings. East Indian is defined by Balfour9 as “a term which has been adopted by all classes of India to distinguish the descendants of Europeans and Native mothers. Other names, such as half-caste, chatikar, and chi-chi, are derogatory designations. Chattikar is from chitta (trousers) and kar (a person who uses them). The Muhammadans equally wear trousers, but concealed by their outer long gowns. The East Indians are also known as Farangi (Frank), a person of Europe. The humbler East Indians, if asked their race, reply that they are Wallandez or Oollanday, which is a modification of Hollandais, the name having been brought down through the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries from the Dutch. East Indians have, in India, all the rights and privileges of Europeans. Races with a mixture of European with Asiatic blood possess a proud and susceptible tone of mind.” For the purposes of the Lawrence Asylum, Ootacamund, the word East Indian is restricted to the children of European fathers by East Indian or Native mothers, or of East Indian fathers and mothers, both of whom are the children of European fathers.

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