Luso-Asians

Luso-Asians (Portuguese: Luso-Asiáticos) are those people by ethnicity based primarily in Asia who come under the cultural and multi-ethnic sway of the Portuguese Empire and retain aspects of the Portuguese language, Roman Catholic faith, and cultural practices, including internal and external architecture of Houses, art, and cuisine that reflect this contact. "Luso" is from the Roman province Lusitania which is roughly the ancestor of the modern state of Portugal in the Iberian Peninsula.

Luso-Asian Art is also known as Indo-Portuguese Art, Cingalo-Portuguese Art, Siamo-Luso Art, Malayo-Portuguese, Sino-Portuguese Art, or Nipo-Portuguese Art. Examples of this art, especially of furniture and religious art are found throughout Europe and in the islands of Macaronesia.[1]

Luso-Asians traded and influenced each other within Asia as well as with Portugal and other parts of Catholic Europe, especially Spain and Italy. This exchange produced distinctive elements in domestic, civic and religious Luso-Asian architecture, as well as Luso-Asian cuisine.

History

The European continent exploration of the Asian continent after the arrival of D. Vasco Da Gama during the Age of Discovery in the Indian Ocean around 1498, was followed by the establishments of coastal trading bases called feitorias (factories) and forts. Catholic missionaries, monks who were Jesuits, etc. such as Saint Francis Xavier and Portuguese traders and administrators poured into the vast region. These men often married local residents with the official encouragement of D. Alfonso de Albuquerque by the royal granted approval in the form called Politicos dos casamentos. A resultant mixed race Mestizo population that was Catholic and Lusophone (Portuguese-speaking) developed. The work of missionaries produced Catholic communities speaking specific Portuguese-based Creoles who produced religious artifacts, often in ivory, ebony, teak, silver, and gold. Asian women produced distinctive embroideries on velvet, silk, and cotton that were prized in Europe. The movement of Asian wives, Asian and European servants, and African slaves across the Portuguese Empire distributed Luso-Asian recipes throughout Asia and beyond. The people that descent from Luso ancestry and varied Asian ancestry are called Luso-Asian by ethnicity and were mainly nobles of varied types in the hierarchy of the Empire within the Kingdom of Portugal.

Dispersal

Since the first voyages of the Portuguese into the Indian Ocean at the end of the fifteenth century, the Portuguese suffered a labour shortage as their European crew suffered from scurvy, malaria, and tropical diseases. Additionally the Portuguese relied on local mariners of the Indian Ocean World to guide them through the winds, currents and localized reefs. These men came from the maritime peoples of the region and included Swahili from Eastern Africa, Arabs, Indians from the coastal communities of Gujarat, Goa, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Bengal in India, Malays, and Chinese. As Portuguese trade increased in the sixteenth century, more Portuguese vessels arrived in Asia but an increasing number of European crew were leaving the ships to engage in local or "country trade". Some Portuguese even joined forces with local pirates.[2] The Portuguese coined the term Lascarim from the Arab-Persian Lashkari to describe any crew from East of the Cape of Good Hope. Coming from areas of Portuguese influence, these men often spoke their own languages and broken Portuguese, which in time evolved into a creole Portuguese. The Lascarim became invaluable to further Portuguese exploration, defense and trade.[3] The English East India Company employed Luso-Asians who they called Lascars in their very first voyages from London at the beginning of the seventeenth century, and by the eighteenth century Lascars were common on British East India Company ships in the Atlantic. Luso-Asians arrived at ports in Europe, North America, Brazil[4] and the Atlantic coasts of Africa.

Ethnic legacy

Luso-Asian communities still exist in Asia and includes several diverse communities in parts of Republic of India (Goa, Daman, Diu, Dadra, Nagar Haveli, Korlai, Salsette, Kerala), Macau, Karachi, Malaysia, and Sri Lanka who are collectively known as Luso-Asians. However, it must be noted that many Anglo-Indians have Luso-Indian ancestors especially on their female side. There is also a distinct Konkani-speaking Catholic community who call themselves East Indians and reside in Mumbai.

Luso-Goans or Portu-Goesas

Goa was the capital of a large Portuguese eastern empire. The Luso-Goan ethnicity has been considered European, or South Asian claiming to Mughal, Marathi and Goud Saraswat Brahmin origins. Some are of Luso-African-Goan ancestry due to Goa's contacts with the African territories of Portugal and the British African colonies. Luso-Goans speak Konkani and Portuguese with some currently speaking English as well, and writing Konkani in the Latin alphabet. Portuguese was the language of overseas province governance and was never spoken as a mother-tongue by the majority of the population. Today Portuguese spoken only by a small segment of the upper-class families and about 3 to 5 per cent of the people (estimated at 60,000 to 90,000 still speak the former official language of 450 years.

The last newspaper in Portuguese ended publication in 1980s. However, the "Fundação do Oriente" and the Indo–Portuguese Friendship Society (Sociedade de Amizade Indo-Portuguesa) are still active. At Panaji many signs in Portuguese are still visible over shops and administrative buildings. After the 20th century Indian annexation of Goa has changed the names of many places. There is a department of Portuguese language at the Goa University and majority of Luso-Goan students choose Portuguese as their third language in schools. Luso-Goans have a choice to either be fully Portuguese citizens or fully Indian citizens or fully Portuguese citizens with an OCI (Overseas citizenship of India) granted by the Indian nationality law. During the absolute monarchy, nobles of Goa enjoyed the most privileged status and held the most important offices after members of the Kingdom ruling dynasty and major hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church, with the introduction of the constitutional monarchy in 1834, the influence of Portuguese Kingdom and its nobles substantially decreased, although the erosion of their power had begun to accelerate from the time of the prime minister, the Marquis de Pombal, in the mid-18th century. After Portugal became a republic in 1910, some Luso-Goan descendants of the nobility at Goa continued to bear their families' titles according to standards sustained by the Portuguese Institute of Nobility (Instituto da Nobreza Portuguesa), traditionally under the authority of the head of the formerly ruling House of Braganza.

Luso-Indians or Indo-Portuguese

Luso-Indians and are people who have mixed varied Indian subcontinent and Portuguese ancestry and are either citizens of India, Pakistan or Bangladesh today. They may also be people of Portuguese descent born or living in the Republic of India and resident in other parts of the world. Most Luso-Indians live in former Portuguese overseas territories of the Estado da India that are currently part of Republic of India and Islamic Republic of Pakistan.

India.

Luso-Asians of the Republic of India are primarily from the Indian state of Goa, Daman and Diu, Korlai, parts of Tamil Nadu, parts of Kerala. In the Coromandel Coast, Luso-Indians were generally known as Topasses. They are Catholics and presently speak or spoke Portuguese Creole.

Mumbai. When the English East India Company began to rule in India, many former Portuguese settlements and trading posts (called Feitoria in Portuguese) passed to the Company. The mixed Indian-Portuguese and Indian converts began to speak English in place of the Portuguese and some of them also anglicised their names. They are, now, part of the East Indian community of Bombay.

Negapatam. In Negapatam, in 1883, there were 20 families that spoke Creole Portuguese.

Damão. There are currently about 2000 people who speak Creole Portuguese in Damao.

Diu. In the Creole Portuguese language is nearly extinct.

Korlai. About 900 monolingual people currently speak Creole Portuguese in Korlai called Korlai Indo-Portuguese.

Kochi. Portuguese Cochin was the first capital of the Portuguese Eastern Empire. Numerous churches attest to the Portuguese presence. The church of St. Francis which is the oldest European church in India, once contained the body of Vasco da Gama[5] In Kochi, Luso-Indians now number about 2,000.

Pakistan.

In the Nineteenth Century many Luso-Indians from Goa, Diu, Daman and Bombay migrated to the developing city of Karachi in the province of Sindh. After the partition of India, these Luso-Indians continued to live in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. However, in recent years thousands have left the country for Canada, the United Kingdom and Australia.

Luso-Sri Lankan or Cinghalo-Portuguese

In Sri Lanka, the Portuguese were followed by the Dutch and the British and the Luso-Sri Lankans are represented today by the Burgher or Eurasian community. However, there is a specific community people of African origin who speak Sri Lankan Portuguese Creole. Additionally Portuguese names, Catholicism and aspects of Luso-Asian Architecture are found among the fishing communities of the Northwest coast of Sri Lanka.

Luso-Malay or Malayo-Portuguese

Luso-Malays are represented by the speakers of Kristang or Malay Creole Portuguese based at Kampong Ferangi near Melaka in Malaysia. Many Luso-Malays emigrated to Penang and Singapore during the period of the Straits Settlement. Luso-Asians married into the European community of the region and many Eurasians in Malaysia and Singapore have Luso-Asian origins.

Luso-Thai, Thai-Portuguese, or Siamo-Luso

The Portuguese established a trading base in the city of Ayutthaya where they intermarried with the Thai and also brought men and women from other Luso-Asian areas in East Asia, South Asia, and Southeast Asia. The Portuguese also established missions in the area of Bangkok. Luso-Asians from Japan were important in the Japanese trading settlement at Ayutthaya.

Luso-Chinese or Sino-Portuguese

Through most of its history as a Portuguese colony, the people of Macau have been predominantly Cantonese-speaking, however, there was and still is a small community of Macanese who speak Creole-Portuguese and are Catholic.

Luso-Japanese or Nipo-Portuguese

Main article: Kakure Kirishitan, Kirishitan

Portuguese influence in sixteenth and seventeenth century led to communities of Japanese Christians. Following the expulsion of the Portuguese, Japanese Christians fled to Macau and Ayutthaya, others remained in Japan as secret or Crypto-Christians.

Legacy in other countries

Luso-Asians in the nineteenth century exploration of Africa

Luso-Asians have a long history of presence in Africa. Luso-Asians were brought to Ethiopia in the sixteenth century and were among the builders of the Castle of Gondar. Luso-Asians as soldiers, wives, servants, slaves and concubines and clergy were present at Portuguese bases such as Malindi, Mombasa and Mozambique Island in the seventeenth century. Luso-Asians were important in the story of European exploration in Africa in the nineteenth century. Important individuals of Luso-Asian origin include:

Luso-Asians in Southern Africa

Luso-Asians have been part of the history of the present states of Mozambique, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and Malawi since the sixteenth century. These Luso-Asians had their origin in India, but also Thailand and Macau. Luso-Asians were important in the role of the Afro-Portuguese prazo landlords.[8]

Luso-Asians in Portugal

A large part of Portugal's Asian community is composed of people of Luso-Asian origin from Goa, Daman and Diu, Macau and Timor Leste as well as Asian migrants of no Luso connection. The Luso-Asian community dates back to the sixteenth century age of discovery. The Indian annexation of Goa, Damman, and Diu and the independence of Mozambique and Angola resulted in an increase number of people of Luso-Asian origin in Portugal. There was also some emigration from Macau and Timor Leste.

Luso-Asians in United Kingdom

Luso-Asian and Lusitania people have existed in the United Kingdom since the sixteenth century, when seamen, servants, and slaves arrived through the Portuguese trade network. A few Luso-Asians were members of the first English East India Company ships sailing out of London to Asia.[9] Over the following two centuries the British East India Company took on many Luso-Asian Lascars and in the nineteenth century Luso-Asians from British India and Portuguese India were important crew on British steam ship lines including the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company and British India Steam Navigation Company.[10] Today the majority of the people of Luso-Asian origin in Britain are of Goan origin, who arrived in the period from 1964 to 1990 and part of a larger British Asian minority. Goans in the United Kingdom came from Aden, East Africa, the Persian Gulf, and from India.

Luso-Asians in Canada

Luso-Asian sailors as Lascars first probably arrived in Canada in the sixteenth century on Portuguese vessels and in the seventeenth century on British vessels in the Maritime Provinces. Research in British Columbia suggests that Luso-Asian and Hispano-Asian (i.e. Filipino) Lascars arrived on the Pacific coast of Canada in the late eighteenth century.[11] There are Luso-Asian communities in Canada today in the form of Catholic and Hindu Goans. The Goans are considered part of the Indo-Canadian population and the majority hail from East Africa. Though there are older communities from Pakistan.[12] There are some Goans from Pakistan and a few from Britain and oil-rich states of Western Asia. There is also a small Macanese community in the Vancouver area.

Luso-Asians in United States

Luso-Asians in the United States are part of a larger Indian-American community. A majority migrated from Goa in the 20th century due to the changes enforced by the Indian integration of Goa as an official state within the union.

Luso-Asians in Australia

Research suggests that Luso-Asians were leaders in the creation of the Indian and Indonesian Union of Seamen in Australia.[13] Today there are Luso-Asian communities in many Australian cities, including people of Goan, Sri Lankan, Macanese, and Kristang origin.

Luso-Asians in Mozambique

In the seventeenth century Portuguese sources describe the Goans in Mozambique as "Canarans". In early twentieth century Mozambique Luso-Indians or "Portuguese-Indians", both Catholic and Hindu, were considered quite distinct to British Indians. Both groups were part of the "Nao-Indigena" population. The 1928 Census counted 3478 Portuguese-Indians in Mozambique.[14]

References

  1. ↑ Luso-Asian influences in Macaronesia. By Cliff Pereira. In Proceedings on the Asia-Pacific Regional Conference on Underwater Cultural Heritage. Edited by Mark Staniforth, Jennifer Craig, Sheldon Clyde Jago-on, Bobby Orillaneda and Ligaya Lacsina. 2011. Manila, Philippines.
  2. ↑ Pg.82. The Portuguese in the East: A Cultural History of a Maritime Trading Empire. By Shihan De Silva Jayasuriya. 2008. ISBN 978-1-84511-585-2.
  3. ↑ Pp. 981-990. Luso-Asian influences in Macronesia. By Cliff Pereira. In Asia-Pacific regional Conference on Underwater Cultural Heritage Proceedings. Edited by Mark Staniforth, Jennifer Craig, Sheldon Clyde Jago-on, Bobby Orillaneda and Ligaya Lacsina. 2011. Manila, Philippines.
  4. ↑ East in the West: Investigating the Asian presence and legacy in Brazil from the sixteenth to the eighteenth century. By Clifford J Pereira in Proceedings of the 2nd Asia-Pacific Conference on Underwater Heritage. University of Hawai'i, Manoa, Ohau. 2014. Edited by Hans van Tilburg, Veronica Walker, Brian Fahy and Jun Kimura.
  5. ↑ Pp.3-18. Fort Cochin. The Spice Junction By Salim Pushpanath Jayanth. Kottayam, Kerala. India.
  6. ↑ Pg.10. Dark Companions. the African contribution to the European exploration of East Africa. By Donald Simpson. 1975. London. UK. ISBN 0-236-40006-1
  7. ↑ Research by Clifford Pereira. 2012.
  8. ↑ Pp. 217-228. A history of Mozambique. By Malyn Newitt. 1995. London, England, UK. ISBN 1-85065-172-8
  9. ↑ Pp.6-8. A South-Asia History of Britain: Four Centuries of Peoples from the Indian Sub-Continent. By Michael H. Fisher, Shompa Lahiri and Shinder Thandi. 2007. ISBN 978-1-84645-008-2.
  10. ↑ Pg.534. New Forms of identity among Goan Nationals in the 21st Century. By Clifford Pereira. In Sharing Cultures 2011. Edited by Sergio Lira, Rogerio Amoeda & Christina Pinheiro. 2011. Barcelos, Portugal. ISBN 978-989-95671-4-6
  11. ↑ Research by Clifford J Pereira. 2015.
  12. ↑ Goans of the North Atlantic: Pp.165-183. A Transnational study of Migration, Technology Adoption, and Neoculturation across Six Generations. By Clifford Pereira. In Migration, Technology, and Transculturation: A Global Perspective. Edited by Myna German and Padmini Banerjee. 2011. ISBN 978-0-9846307-4-5
  13. ↑ Research by Dr. Heather Goodhall. 2011.
  14. ↑ Pg.442. A History of Mozambique. By Malyn Newitt. London. 1995.
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