India’s forgotten children

NOEL G DE SOUZA traces the origins of a little-known community and its significant international impact in varied fields

The Anglo-Indian community was born on Indian soil, of Indian mothers and European fathers. Though a small and dispersed ethnic group estimated at just 300,000 at the time of independence, Anglo-Indians made their mark in India. Indira Gandhi acknowledged that the Anglo-Indian community “played a part, out of all proportion to its size, for the development and progress of India.”

Frank Anthony, the first Anglo-Indian nominated to the Indian Parliament told his community that it has “an inalienable Indian birthright. The more we love and are loyal to India, the more India will love and be loyal to us.” Henry Louis Derozio, a 19th century Anglo-Indian poet wrote several patriotic poems lamenting India’s colonial condition, as in the Harp of India: “Neglected, mute, and desolate art thou”; and in To My Native Country: “My fallen country! One kind wish for thee!”

Frank Anthony persuaded Pandit Nehru to constitutionally define “Anglo-Indian” as an Indian of mixed descent with a European male ancestor. Thus their surnames are invariably European, being British, Irish, Portuguese or French. But because of their European surnames, Anglo-Indians are not immediately recognisable as being Indians.

The British who spent many years in India also styled themselves as “Anglo-Indians” like the English-born parents of renowned Indian-born writer Rudyard Kipling. For Kipling, “there is neither East nor West, Border, nor Breed, nor Birth, /When two strong men stand face to face, though they come from the ends of the earth!”

Anglo-Indians of Portuguese paternity first appeared in the 16th century. Portugal never erected racial boundaries in India, the populations freely mixed in schools and clubs. Small Portuguese-Indian mixed populations are found in Mumbai (amongst the East Indians), in Goa (though the majority of Goan Catholics are wholly Indian, but carry Portuguese surnames obtained on conversion to Catholicism) and in Kochi.

Most fathers of Anglo-Indians in the 18th and early 19th centuries were British soldiers who had Indian wives, as few British women then lived in India. At that time marriages across races, colours, castes and religions were frowned upon. However, Anglo-Indians are Caucasians and many of them blend amongst either Europeans or Indians, or both.

During the British Raj, the armed forces were made up of Indian personnel and British officers. A suggestion to form Anglo-Indian regiments did not materialise, but Anglo-Indians were eventually allowed into the Indian armed forces and participated strongly after independence, some rising to high ranks. Examples include two air force officers, the Keelor brothers (Denzil and Trevor) who both shot down Sabre jets during the Indo-Pakistan war of 1965. They were both awarded Veer Chakras in 1965. Denzil, who later became an AirVice Marshall, was also awarded the Kirti Chakra in 1978. Trevor became a Wing Commander. The Indian navy counted Rear Admiral Douglas Cameron and Admiral Oscar S. Dawson in its ranks, the latter becoming the Chief of the Naval Staff. in India and wrote Life in India and Thiry Years of Shikar

The All India Radio newsreader Melville de Mellow (awarded the Padma Shri), an Anglo-Indian, headed its English news section and is remembered for his marathon commentary during the funeral of Mahatma Gandhi. De Mellow was a founding father of the Cricket Club of India. His brother Arthur migrated to Australia, and his descendants live in Sydney.

Indira Gandhi acknowledged that the Anglo-Indian community “played a part, out of all proportion to its size, for the development and progress of India

Another immigrant from India was Henry Cornish, a judge of the Madras High Court, who had an Indian mother. The Madras East India Society organised two shiploads of Anglo-Indians migrants to Sydney (Gloria J. Moore in A Brief History of the AngloIndians). Some British families spent several generations in the subcontinent, many being born there; such was the Hawke family who pioneered tea planting in the Nilgiris and many of whom ultimately settled in Australia. Anglo-Indian migration to Australia accelerated after Indian independence in 1947 and more so after the end of the White Australia Policy. Being English-speaking and Christian must have helped their assimilation into the country. However, they carried with them their own variant of English with an Indian accent. They also brought in Anglo-Indian cuisine and built their homes with verandas.

Some Anglo-Indians migrants to Britain and Australia distinguished themselves in entertainment such as the renowned singer Cliff Richard (Lucknow-born), British actress Vivien Leigh (Darjeeling-born), Australian actress Merle Oberon (Mumbaiborn) and Boris Karloff (originally William Henry Pratt).

Since the 1950s, numerous Indian migrants to Britain and Portugal married Europeans and have descendants in those countries. Some are married to famous people like British actors Rowan Atkinson (married to Sunetra Sastry) and Michael Caine (married to Shakira Baksh). Rear Admiral and Commander of the Italian Frontline Maritime Forces, Mumbai-born Rinaldo Veri has an Italian father and a Goan mother. Other notable individuals of mixed IndianEuropean descent include industrialist J. R. D. Tata, actress Leela Naidu and actor Ben Kingsley (originally Krishna Bhanji), who played the lead role in Gandhi Australia’s links to India go back to 1809 when Lachlan Macquarie, who had spent many years in India, was appointed the Governor of New South Wales. Another well-known individual was Caroline Chisholm who started charitable works in Chennai for the destitute wives and daughters of British soldiers, before coming to Australia in 1838. It is likely that some of those soldiers had Indian wives.

Anglo-Indians have participated in Australian politics; important examples include Robert Ray, Senator from 1981 to 2008, who held three important cabinet portfolios; Lucknow-born Anne Marie Warner, MLA in Queensland from 1983 to 1996, who became the Minister for Family and Aboriginal Affairs in the Wayne Goss Government; and June D’Rozario who was a prominent Labor member of the Northern Territory Assembly from 1977 to 1983. Incidentally, the wife of former Western Australian Premier Alan Carpenter, Anne Marie de Costa, is an Anglo Indian.

Anglo-Indians were eventually allowed into the Indian armed forces and participated strongly after independence, some rising to high ranks

Anglo-Indians have represented India and Australia in international sports including the Olympics. They were once the backbone of India’s hockey teams. In the 1960 Olympics, Leslie Claudius (winner of the highest number of hockey medals; he was awarded the Padma Shri) captained the Indian team. During the same games, Keven Carlton captained the Australian team. Both were Anglo-Indians. Today we have the cricketer Stuart Clarke, who performed well in the 2009 Fourth Ashes Test, whose parents came from India. The entrepreneur Basil Sellers, a sportsman in his own right, is a patron of sports and the arts in Australia.

Anglo-Indian immigration to Australia began in the mid-19th century, Tasmania being a popular destination particularly for those British who had served in India, some of whom had Indian wives. Sir Edward Braddon, a prominent settler and short-term Premier of Tasmania, was elected to the first Federal Parliament; he spent thirty years

The Anglo-Indian story shows us that Indian immigration is not a recent phenomenon in Australia. Anglo-Indians have successfully immersed themselves in all walks of Australian life, but never forgotten their old homeland. They gave Indian names to farming properties which they set up. Anglo-Indian Associations exist in all Australian capital cities. Melbourne hosts The Centre for Anglo-Indian Studies whilst Perth is the location of The International Federation of Anglo-Indian Associations.