Reinforcing Marginality through an Invisible Culture: The Anglo-Indian Community of India

Abstract

The history of the Anglo-Indian Community began sometime shortly after the Portuguese settlement of India in 1498. Numbers were added to the community through both Dutch and French contacts. Yet, with the firm establishment of the British as the dominant colonial power in India, the minority solidified and became a functioning entity. The Anglo-Indian Community developed as a unique group having as its major distinguishing feature the cultural emulation of the British. Overt patterns of behavior, i.e., dietary, dress, language, religion, family system, etc., were uniquely European, especially British. Both rejected by and rejecting their Indian heritage, Anglo-Indians emulated those aspects of Indian life indicative of overseas British citizens. Through those centuries, until Indian Independence, the British served as their live and viable reference group.