Migrants, Settlers & Originals: East Indian Priest
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Summary: East Indian people by religion belong to Catholic church and linguistically Marathi. The origin of the term East Indian is not clear, though it is obvious that it has something to do with the British colonial rule and East India Company. Vasai with a port and fort was headquarter of Portuguese rule. Later as the islands of Bombay were merged and the natural port was renovated into a major port, the importance of Vasai city and port decreased. Along with Kolis (fisherfolk's community), Pathare Prabhus (white collar Hindu Marathi community), Bohras (Gujrati speaking Muslim traders' community), Parsees (Gujarati speaking Zorastrians) and a few others, East Indians are the early settlers in the 7 Islands of Bombay. The interviewee is a Catholic priest (father - Fr.) and a history scholar. He lives in Vasai. The interview was conducted as a part of a study of various communities who are early settlers in Bombay. The interview was taken in a vocational training institute ran by the church, in the background of a wide marshland. This region is known for its mangroves and marshlands which are increasingly under threat of destruction due to real estate greed. Interviewer Madhusree Dutta (M)
Religious conversion under colonial rule has many faces: extortion, allegiance to the power, wonder lust, exposure, escape from the existing social structure etc. Large number of people in all coastal areas in India converted during the Portuguese and the British rule. But their class, regional and language identity remained strong and an overarching religious identity could never emerge.
(M): Sir how this term East Indian has come. How it started?
(Fr.): The term east Indian was started by the local people themselves. During the British Raj, the local Christians here realized that other Christian communities were coming from Goa as well as from Mangalore to work under the Britishers. All of them were called Portuguese Christians. The Christians from Goa were called Portuguese Christians and the converts from Goa were called Portuguese Christians, as well as all along the people of Bombay were called Potruguese Christians. It was the Portuguese Christians who had made lot of sacrifice for the British company the East India company as well as for the British rulers. They felt if the Catholics from Goa got jobs under the British they would be neglected (phone rings).
Christian
group
Bombay
Goa
Mangalore
Vasai
acquisition
alliance
betrayal
bombay
british
british
catholic
church
colonized
colonizer
colony
compensation
conversion
convert
culture
east india company
east indian
goa
identity
job
land
language group
mangalore
original
portuguese
portuguese christian
regional
religion
rights
rule
sacrifice
saltpan
state
subjects
vasai
Christian
Europe
The genesis of the term East Indian, for a people who have nothing to do with the east of India. The erstwhile East India Company of England survives through this strange twist in history.
extortion
(Fr.): It was the Catholics of Bombay, known as Portuguese Christians, who had made lot of sacrifice for the Britishers, especially by giving their lands etc, and they felt that they were not getting any preference as far as job opportunities were concerned. If the Catholics of Goa and Catholics of Goa were treated on par with them, their children would not get jobs. On the one hand they had given their lands to the British Raj and they were not getting any preference, so in order to get preference they started saying that the converts of Bombay should be called East Indians. And they were all along connected with the East India company as well as the Raj that came after East India Company was started. Therefore on the occasion of the arrival of the queen on the occasion of the Golden jubilee, they decided to call themselves East Indians. Though they were residing in the west, as far as Europe was concerned that was towards the East and therefore they are termed as East Indian.
hegemony
map
property
queen
reservation
The beginning of the port, beginning of urbanization and beginning of destruction of minerals and natural resources.
(M): So who are these people, who are these Portuguese convert Christians?
(Fr.): These East Indians are mainly converts from the island of Solset. Now if you look beyond you will see saltpans. It was such saltpans that took care of the people of Solset. Now you know that salt is a great commodity as well as a great treasure. Why Salzurg came up and became a mighty town, because it is Salzburg in Austria that provided salt to whole of Europe and that city became rich. Similarly Solset in Goa and Solset in Bombay... Solset in Goa is a peninsula by itself whereas Solset, Shastibet is an island, a bet and therefore Solset, place which produces salt. Like Salsburg, Solset and these people gave their lands, particularly the salt pans to the British Raj so that they could have their railway stations, their hospitals, their roads, their parks. And the East Indians felt that since they gave their land, which was their main product they should be given preference and therefore they thought they should be called East Indians.
Austria
Goa
Salsburg
Shastibet
Solset
accession
agriculture
airport
amenity
british
catholic
christian
city
compensation
construction
contract
conversion
convert
development
east india company
east indian
extortion
hospital
infrastructure
land
mandate
park
portuguese
preference
priority
privilege
railway
right
road
rule
salsburg
salt
saltpan
solset
state
urban
Bombay
Europe
Goa
The genesis of the term East Indian, for a people who have nothing to do with the east of India. The erstwhile East India Company of England survives through this strange twist in history.
betrayal
bombay
british
catholic
christian
colonizer
compensation
conversion
convert
east india company
east indian
extortion
(Fr.): It was the Catholics of Bombay, known as Portuguese Christians, who had made lot of sacrifice for the Britishers, especially by giving their lands etc, and they felt that they were not getting any preference as far as job opportunities were concerned. If the Catholics of Goa and Catholics of Goa were treated on par with them, their children would not get jobs. On the one hand they had given their lands to the British Raj and they were not getting any preference, so in order to get preference they started saying that the converts of Bombay should be called East Indians. And they were all along connected with the East India company as well as the Raj that came after East India Company was started. Therefore on the occasion of the arrival of the queen on the occasion of the Golden jubilee, they decided to call themselves East Indians. Though they were residing in the west, as far as Europe was concerned that was towards the East and therefore they are termed as East Indian.
hegemony
land
map
portuguese
property
queen
reservation
rights
rule
state
(M): Before the Portuguese conversions… which are the communities that got converted by Portuguese.
(Fr): The Portuguese converted any community that was along the coast. The Portuguese were people of the sea and it is said, as far as the bullet goes the Portuguese went into the lands. So their conversions were mostly all along the coast. They could be Bhandaris, they could be Kolis, they could be Pathare Prabhus, they could be Samvedis of Vasai, they could be Somavakshi Kshatriyas from Vasai, they could be anybody from different communities, Dhobis, Kumbhars, Kunbis, Agris, all of them were taken into their conversion, there was no distinction as to who should come into the Catholic church, anybody and everybody was welcome. And people from all these communities are among the Portuguese converts.
The act of conversion by Portuguese transcended the caste and class hierarchy of the Hindu social structure. But could it really erase the hierarchical segregation of the people?
bhandari
campaign
catholic
church
coast
colonization
colonizer
colony
community
conversion
dhobi
inhabitant
koli
kshatriya
kumbhar
kunbi
land
local
missionary
pathare prabhu
people
pirate
portuguese
sailor
samvedi
sea
East Indian is rather a generic term for Marathi speaking Christian people of Bombay presidency, who wanted to assert their loyalty to the agent of the Queen, East India Company. Their spoken language though similar to Marathi was distinct.
(M): So all these communities are today called East Indians.
(Fr.): Yes all these communities who stay along the coast near Bombay starting from Alibaug, Revdanda, a village called Korlai going up to Tarapur, Dahanu, Tarapur, all these people of the coast are called East Indians. But the people of Bombay of Solset were by themselves because they were speaking English, they considered themselves as East Indians, and that term was applied to them. They also had their bulletin called the East Indian. It was read by the English speaking crowd and for the time being those who working in Bombay were talking English, were somewhat westernized, they called themselves East Indians and the people of Vasai onwards they remained rooted to the ground with their local culture, they hardly spoke English, mostly they used Marathi dialect Bolibhasha, Marathi bolibhasha (spoken language) which they used. In different areas the language was different, the tone was different, the dialect was different though these were the off shoots of Marathi language.
Alibaug
Bombay
Dahanu
Korlai
Revdanda
Solset
Tarapur
Vasai
affinity
alibaug
bolibhasha
bulletin
christian
church
coast
colony
community
convert
culture
dahanu
dialect
east indian
english
foreign rule
identity
indigenous
language
marathi
missionary
revdanda
root
sea route
solset
tarapur
vasai
Christian missionaries and colonial rulers ran many schools and other academic institutions in this region, which resulted in a curious blend of cultures and spoken languages. Language, fashion and cuisine are generally the spheres where cultural alliances survive through many years.
(M): But some Portuguese language also got mixed in this area.
(Fr.): You are right. Some of them adopted terminologies as well as there were some schools that were imparting Portuguese instruction. If you got to Bandra, the people normally started Portuguese schools. The Church also, now and again started Portuguese primary schools. So old people who were educated were educated in Portuguese medium schools. Later on those schools were converted into English schools and the people of Bandra, Santacruz started going to English medium schools. Otherwise initially Church influence was in Portuguese, people who were converted were given Portuguese terminologies. Sometimes they even adopted dishes which were Portuguese. So in their culture, Portuguese came by way of terms, by way of dishes, by way of religious practices and by way of religious terminologies. Even today now and again you will find people do use Portuguese terms. If you go to Korlai in Revdanda the language of the people is mixed up. They are talking today Portuguese of 300 years ago. When the Portuguese themselves come, they feel that some of these words of the people of Revdanda are more correct, as we call Shivkal in Marathi - theirs is pure Portuguese as far as some terms are concerned. Whereas in Europe Portuguese has been modernized, here it has remained archaic, and their terms are those that were used by Portuguese 300 years ago before the Marathas came here in 1739.
1739
Bandra
Europe
Koirali
Revdanda
Santacruz
adaptation
archaic
church
colonization
colonized
colonizer
colony
conversion
convert
cuisine
culture
education
english
food
hegemony
identity
influence
language
maratha
marathi
missionary
modernization
plurality
potuguese
prayers
recipe
religion
religious rites
rule
school
spoken language
terminology
transcendence
transition
usage
words
Till mid 20th century all-important cities were developed as port cities. The accessibility to sea routes and facilities for cargo ships determined the status of the city. Many cities such as Vasai, fell to relative insignificance as the importance of their ports decreased.
(M): It is a general belief that Vasai is the beginning of Bombay, this is how Bombay started, what do you think about that.
(Fr.): You are perfectly right when you say that in a way Vasai is the eldest sister of Bombay. It is not Bombay which is the eldest sister but Vasai which is the eldest sister and Vasai had its roots in Sopara which is Shurparak in Portuguese literature. Earlier, the earliest port was at Sopara and the trade going up to Israel and middle east was carried out from Sopara, Sopara bunder (port), port. Later on Vasai port became more important that Sopara and all the trade was from Vasai fort itself. Subsequently when the ships could not enter into Vasai creek because new type of ships had come, they had to think of Bombay, where they made somewhat artificial and with the natural resources they had they made a new port. And therefore Bombay has become important as far as trade is concerned, shipping is concerned, railways are concerned, transport is concerned and Vasai has been sidetracked and Vasai has become the eldest sister and Bombay has become the eldest sister. But now once again with the growth of the city, Vasai has been coming up into limelight.
Bombay
Middle East countries
Sopara
Sopara port
Surparak
Vasai
Vasai creek
Vasai port, Israel
bombay
creek
development
economic growth
infrastructure
literature
port
portuguese
railway
resources
satellite city
scripture
sea route
ship
shipping
sopara
trade
transport
twin city
urbanization
vasai
(M): But in those early days when Bombay was being made at the cost of Vasai, so many people must have shifted to Bombay.
(Fr.): In a way it is true. When the Maratha rule came, some people who were especially Christians felt that they would be better looked after the British rule in Bombay than under the Maratha rule in Vasai. So some of them did shift. As far as Solset island is concerned the entire is island is not blessed with sweet ground water. Places like Gorai, Manori, Uttan, Dongri, they do not have sweet ground water. Therefore these people had no alternative but to send their children who were trying to educate themselves in the city of Bombay for better education, better accommodation and better facilities that were available. Mainly because there was less ground water, it was salty area, there was salt, so water was brackish rather than sweet so number of people also went to Bombay from Vasai, but there were not very many. A few people went and they also considered themselves East Indians though originally they are from Vasai.
Intra national and intra region migration.
Bombay
Dongri
Gorai
Manori
Uttan
Vasai
aspiration
bombay
british
east indian
facility
infrastructure
maratha
migration
opportunity
rule
salt water
sweet water
urbanization
vasai
water source
Survival strategies of the colonized subjects.
(M): Father, this transition, this alliance from Portuguese to alliance to Britain, language changed and everything. How did it happened, what was the process, was it easy?
(Fr.): The Portuguese we here in Vasai as well as Bombay ever since 1536. The British have come much later. As far as Portuguese were concerned, their headquarters were in Vasai and as far as the British were concerned their main concentration was on Bombay. After the Portuguese left in 1739 or 1740 around that time, the British came up, they were already coming up in Bombay and therefore people naturally felt that they would be better looked after by the Britishers, therefore their alliance to the Portuguese became less. Portugal also is a small country though it had a greater influence and as soon as people realized that British were all over the world, the sun never set over the rule of the Britishers, they took this occasion and started having their alliance to the British rather than to the Portuguese.
1536
1740
Bombay
Portugal
Vasai
agent
allegiance
alliance
bombay
british
british empire
colonized
colonizer
language
mass
people
political
portuguese
ruler
subjects
survival
vasai
A community with pre-urban occupations. The first set of victims of urban development planning.
(M): there is a concentration of East Indian people in Bombay mainly in Mazgaon, Santacruz. How has this area come up as East Indian people's area?
(Fr.): These are the local village people of Vasai. If you go to Mandvi they are fishermen, if you go to Shewri they are fishermen, if you go to Girgaon, Khotachi wadi, they are..Khot means they are local people who owned the fields. People of Dadar, Parel, also had their fields. They had lots of land. If you go to see the records of Shivaji Park you will realize that they were the fields of people of the neighbourhood. So many hospitals (Madhu interrupts, asks to repeat the last sentence)
Dadar
Girgaon
Khotachi wadi
Mandvi
Mazgaon
Parel
Santacruz
Sewri
Shivaji park
Vasai
agriculture
dadar
displacement
document
east indian
field
inhabitant
land
land deed
mazgaon
neighbourhood
original
patel
population
property
real estate
records
santacruz
settlement
title holder
transaction
As the economy of the country getting privatized and public sectors closing down the crisis of this nature would become even more acute.
(Fr.): today if you go to see the records in the Mamlaedar (land registry) office, any Mamledar office you will notice that the ancient records show that these lands belong to either some Rodrigues, or some Fernandes, or some Periera, or some Creado or some Gonsalves. These lands never belonged to anybody else. These are purchased from the Christian local people, because they sold the lands to the outsiders when they came, only because they had to spend money towards the wedding and other ceremonies etc. if you go to Shivaji parks and go through the old records you will certainly see that those were the fields of the local people who were from Wadala etc. so the lands all over Bombay were mostly of East Indians. It is their land, which is taken by the government for utility. If you see the airport, Bombay airport, the land is mostly of the people of Marol and Sahar and they were all Christians. As well as these lands were acquired also for the world war, for the military purpose. Those lands were never reverted to the original landowners. And therefore they feel that they should have been given a better treatment. The mentality that we have of Shivsena today that priority should be given today to the local people, the East Indians felt that preference should be given to the local people, whose lands were used for the utility purpose o¬¬¬f the government. But that was not done.
Christian
Marol
Sahar
Shivaji park
Wadala
agricultural land
airport
collection
community
construction
extortion
hegemony
infrastructure
inhabitant
islands
land deed
landowner
mamledar
military
preference
privilege
real estate
registration
resentment
reservation
transaction
urbanization
welfare
world war
At the world war time, their lands were taken for the airports, hospitals, stations, platforms etc. their lands were taken. And they feel it was their resources. Just imagine, a milkman takes milk from a cow, what will the calf feel.. the calf feels that that is his own wealth which is being taken by that Gawli, milkman. Something similar is felt by the local people, that this land was their, it was their milking cow, and outsiders are taking their milk and the calf is left without any milk to support itself. And that is the real tragedy that the East Indian people are feeling today that they have been deprived of their land, they have been deprived of their natural resources and they have not been given any preference as far as education is concerned, job opportunities are concerned and benefits in the government line are concerned.
It is a case complex mixture of religious, regional and language identity. As convert Christians East Indians are minority in contemporary politics and vulnerable to majoritarianism. Yet they are proud of the affinity and access that they enjoyed with the foreign rulers. As Marathi speaking people they are majority and many of them have alliance with the xenophobic regional party Shivsena. As farmers, fisherfolks and saltpan workers they are displaced by the state and not adequately compensated. So they are very resentful to the migrants who have come later. The phenomena of East Indian is a complex identity formation.
Shivsena
access
benefit
chauvinism
construction
deprived
development
hegemony
infrastructure
local
outsiders
policy
privilege
property
prority
regionalism
resentful
resentment
resources
transaction
urbanization
utility
welfare
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