Abstract
Through a poem entitled ‘The Eurasian Anthem,’ published in a colonial journal in 1826, this chapter explores the historic identity formation of the mixed-race Anglo-Indian community and its fault lines. By examining the anonymous authorship of the poem, its form, historic context and resonances, what emerges is an account of the hidden power dynamics between elite and subaltern Anglo-Indians embedded in the carefully crafted collective Anglo-Indian identity put forward by the ‘Anthem’ and directed toward colonial authorities. The ‘Anthem’ is unmistakably political, foreshadowing the ways in which the Anglo-Indian identity project would always be a state-ward facing political project but with intra-communal tension over power and voice. While the ‘Anthem’ is an early articulation of Anglo-Indian identity, this chapter traces some of the dynamics it reveals up to Indian Independence in 1947.
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Notes
- 1.
For an account of the impact of the trial on the British imperial project in India, see Nicholas Dirks, (2006) The Scandal of Empire: India and the Creation of Imperial Britain, Harvard University Press/Belknap.
- 2.
The case was Reed vs. Baginath Singh.
- 3.
See the Calcutta Journal, throughout 1822, especially an intense set of letters to the editor and articles from May 1822 through March of 1823.
- 4.
European women came in larger numbers only later in the nineteenth century. See Anne De Coursy, The Fishing Fleet: Husband Hunting in the Raj, London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 2012.
- 5.
‘16 Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17 When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. 18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age”’ (NIV translation).
- 6.
I borrow the concept from Christopher Hawes, who argues in chapter 2 of Poor Relations that Eurasians came to ethnic cohesion mainly through the proscriptive rulings of the EIC, whereas class differences had previously overshadowed their racial solidarity.
- 7.
Letter from Hon. Sec. Mr. Cardus, Britasian League, 9 Marquis Street, Calcutta to Secretary of State for India, London, 5 June 1947, L/PJ/7/10647 OIOC.
- 8.
Telegram, “Progressive Loyalist Association,” Ronstadt House Mussoorie, U.P., to DLT Secretary of State for India, India House, London, 26 June 1947, L/PJ/7/10595 OIOC.
- 9.
Col. Georges L. Fleury, “Thousands of Desperate Anglo-Indians and Anglo-Burmans Look to Brazil For Their Future and to Britain for Immediate Assistance”, L/PJ/7/10647 OIOC.
- 10.
Letter from Hon. Sec. Mr. Cardus, Britasian League, 9 Marquis Street, Calcutta to Secretary of State for India, London, 5 June 1947, L/PJ/7/10647 OIOC.
- 11.
Telegram, from President, Progressive Loyalist Association, Mussoorie, to Prime Minister, Downing Street, 14 July 1947, L/PJ/7/10595 OIOC.
- 12.
Letter 12 July 1947, Mr. A. Henderson, India Office, to Mr. David Gammans, M.P., L/PJ/7/10595 OIOC.
- 13.
See, for example, Letter from Mrs. C. A. Jones, Lucknow (Cantt), to British High Commissioner, Delhi, 13 January 1947, L/PJ/7/10647 OIOC.
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Letter from Mrs. C. A. Jones, Lucknow (Cantt), to British High Commissioner, Delhi, 13 January 1947, L/PJ/7/10647 OIOC
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Otto, B.H. (2021). Which Eurasians May Speak? Elite Politics, the Lower Classes and Contested Eurasian Identity. In: Andrews, R., Raj, M.S. (eds) Anglo-Indian Identity. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-64458-1_3
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