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East Indians are a Marathi-speaking, Roman Catholic ethnic or sub-ethnic group, based in and around the city of Mumbai in western Indian state of Maharashtra [1]. These people are of the original Marathi ethnic group and had been evangelized by the Portuguese, while retaining much of their pre-Christian traditions.
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Origin Of Name
The history behind the name is such: Bombay was formerly under the Portuguese in the 1500s; and East-Indians were then known as Bombay Portuguese. Bombay then became increasingly anglicized after the handover to the British in the 1600s. Under the British, they were known as Bombay Portuguese too, but, when immigrants from Portuguese-ruled Goa began to enter Bombay, in order to distinguish themselves from the Goans (whom the British also called Portuguese), they renamed themselves "East Indians", purportedly after their affiliation to the British as locals of Bombay and as such to be distinguished from the Goans and the Mangloreans. Bombay mentioned here is the metropolitan Bombay. To the East Indians, "Bombay" refers to the seven islands of Bombay, which is from Mahim to Colaba. Not many are aware that it is the Island of Salsette, which ranges from Bandra up to Vasai Creek. This is important, as many think that the Metropolitan area of Bombay was given as a dowry by the Portuguese to the British, where as, in reality the dowry was only the seven islands of Bombay. There were very many innocent East Indians who died as a result of skirmishes (Cannon fire) between the Portuguese garrisons (located at Bandra) and the British garrisons (located at Mahim). The cannons at both these areas were unearthed very recently.
Culture
The East Indian culture is unique. Although, they have preserved their pre-Christian Marathi culture and traditions, many Portuguese and Anglican influences have been absorbed. Their language is almost exclusively Marathi. However, the urban section is fluent in English as well. It should be noted here that there exists a village of East-Indians who to this day speak Portuguese. The language of the Shamedi Christians is a dialect of Marathi known as "Shamedi". The East Indian cuisine is a unique blend of Koli, Marathi, Anglican and Portuguese cuisine. They still retain many of the practises of pre-Christian tradition. Most of the East Indian women wear typical Maharashtrian saree and Koli dresses [2] . They also wear "tikali" (bindi) and "mangalsutra". The East Indians of Vasai also practise the pre-Christian tradition of visiting the Vajrayogini temple every year. There are five broad cultural groups of East Indians - Samvedi Christians, Koli Christians, Vadvals, Salsette Christians and the urbanized section.
Prominent East Indians
- Gonsalo Garcia: Roman Catholic saint from India
- Nicole Narain: American Model and actress (partial East Indian descent)
