In the 2010s, a rough survey of East Indians in Mumbai revealed that there were 2.5 lahks in the city, 80,000 in Vasai and 12,000 in Thane. Why, one might ask, would a Christian community living on India’s west coast call itself East Indian?
The reasons are not known, says Mumbai-based historian Dr. Fleur D’Souza. The Bombay East Indian Association (BEIA) was formed in 1887 and that’s when Dr. D’Souza adds, that the community gave itself the name East Indian. The Association sought to uplift Bombay’s indigenous Roman Catholics and distinguish them from those migrating to the city from places like Goa and Mangalore.
Dr. D’Souza also reminds us of a misconception related to the community’s adoption of its name. It is often assumed that East Indian was chosen to find favour with the British East India Company. However, by 1887 when the BEIA was formed, the Company was defunct; the British Crown and Parliament had taken over control of India in 1858. East Indians, who considered themselves Bombay’s ‘original inhabitants’, still hoped for preferential treatment from the British, Dr. D’Souza says.
22 авг 2024
