The Legal Question of Being an "Anglo-Indian": Race, Identity, and Law in Colonial India

From colonial times to modern-day independent India, mixed-race groups have struggled to find their existence in a legal context. The East India Company to the British Empire witnessed a change in attitude towards the mixed-race group also known as Eurasians and Anglo-Indians. Through the course of this article, the author reflects how the legal definition of Anglo-Indians was changed and interpreted according to the British when the group posed a threat to the security of the Empire. This changing attitude was reflected through a series of regulations and legislation passed by the British Empire which has classified the group as “European” and “non-European” according to their convenience. The legal recognition of the group, which continued in Independent India through 1947 has undergone an evolution. This article explores the notion of how the definition of an “Anglo-Indian” was more complex than just a mixed-race group. The construction of this definition includes identities beyond ethnicity.