Indo people (short for Indo-European) are a Eurasian people of mixed Asian and European descent. Through the 16th-18th centuries, they were known by the name Mestiço (Dutch: Mestiezen). To this day, they form one of the largest Eurasian communities in the world. The early beginning of this community started with the arrival of Portuguese traders in South East Asia in the 16th century. The second large wave started with the arrival of the Dutch East India Company (VOC) employees in the 17th century and throughout the 18th century. Even though the VOC is often considered a state within a state, formal colonisation by the Dutch only commenced in the 19th century.
The position of Indos in pre-colonial Dutch East Indies history (16th, 17th and 18th century) Before the formal colonization of the East Indies by the Dutch in the 19th century, the islands of South East Asia had already been in frequent contact with European traders. Portuguese maritime traders were present as early as the 16th century. Around its trading posts the original Portuguese Indo population, called Mestiço,Leirissa, R. Article 'Ambon and Ternate through the 19th century', in 'Authority and enterprise among the people of South Sulawesi' (Bijdragen in taal land en volkenkunde by University of Leiden, 156, 2000 no.3, 619-633, KITLV, Leiden.) p.242 had developed. In the 17th century, the Dutch started to expand its mercantile enterprise and military presence in the East Indies in an effort to establish trade monopolies to maximise profit. Even after the Portuguese competition was beaten by the Dutch maritime traders of the VOC, the Portuguese Indo (aka Mestiço) communities remained active in local and intra-island trade.Leirissa, R. Article 'Ambon and Ternate through the 19th century', in 'Authority and enterprise among the people of South Sulawesi' (Bijdragen in taal land en volkenkunde by University of Leiden, 156, 2000 no.3, 619-633, KITLV, Leiden.) p.247 The Dutch found merit in collaboration with these early Eurasian communities through their role as intermediaries with local traders, but also to help mitigate the threat of the encroaching British traders.The Dutch did exactly the same thing in Ceylon (Sri Lanka) when they expelled all the Portuguese 1653. They permitted the Portuguese-Jewish Marrano, and the Portuguese-Sinhalese Mestiço to stay. These people became founders of the Ceylon based Eurasian group called Burghers.Portuguese colonial history In the first century of Dutch (VOC) dominance, the cultural influence of the Portuguese Indo population continued as can be seen by the fact that Portuguese Malay mix languages remained in existence well into the second century of the VOC era and autonomous Portuguese Indo groups existed into the 19th century. To this day, several surviving families of Portuguese descent can still be found in the Indo community. Family names include: Dias, Pereira, Rozario, Simao.
Portuguese roots of Indo society
Originally the greatest source of profit in the East Indies, was the intra-islands trade within the archipelago (Dutch: inlandse handel) and the intra-Asiatic trade in general. Here one commodity was exchanged for another, with profit at each turn. This included the trade of silver from the Americas, more desirable in the East than in Europe.See Fernand Braudel The Perspective of the World. In: Civilization and Capitalism, vol. III (1984) and De Vries and Van der Woude, p. 386. In this trade the original Indo or Mestizo population remained to play an intermediary role. The VOC made good use of such (Indo) people, born and brought up locally. They could speak the language of their birth country and understood its conventions, and proved excellent middlemen for the Europeans. For the same reason these Eurasians were extremely useful for Asian rulers. Historian Ulbe Bosma.ProfileBosma U., Raben R. Being "Dutch" in the Indies: a history of creolisation and empire, 1500-1920 (University of Michigan, NUS Press, 2008) P.9
Even long after the Dutch had defeated and expelled their Portuguese competition from the islands,Except in Timor, where the Dutch were in fact repelled by a fierce group of Portuguese Mestiço called Topasses until the 19th century. the language of trade remained the Malay/Portuguese mix language, which is reflected in the relatively many Portuguese words that survive in the Indonesian language to this day.The language of trade was Malay with Portuguese influences. To this day the Indonesian language has a relatively large vocabulary of words with Portuguese roots e.g. Sunday, party, soap, table, flag, school. The census taken of the population of Ambon island in 1860, still showed 778 Dutch Europeans and 7793 mostly Mestiço and Ambonese 'Burghers'. Portuguese/Malay speaking Indo communities existed not only in the Moluccas,Creole Portuguese that was spoken by Moluccan mestizo in the islands of Ternate and West Halmahera, is now extinct. The Creole Portuguese of Ambon is also extinct, but considerable linguistic traces of Portuguese can still be found in the Malay/Ambon language still spoken on Ambon, which has about 350 words of Portuguese origin. FloresIn Flores Portuguese survives in the religious traditions. The Topasses Mestiço community (the descendants of Portuguese men and local women) uses it in the prayers. On Saturdays the women of Larantuka say the rosary in a creole form of Portuguese.Ricklefs, M. C. ‘A History of Modern Indonesia Since c. 1300’ (Stanford University Press, 2001). p.66 and Timor.The Creole Portuguese of Timor (Português de Bidau), spoken around Dili, Lifau and Bidau is extinct. But Portuguese remains an official national language and the Mestiço still play an important political role in the country. But also in Batavia (now Jakarta) where it remained the dominant language up to 1750.Many Portuguese family names can be found on the islands of Ambon, Flores and East Timor. Although most Portuguese family names were adopted after conversion to the Christian religion, many families can still trace back their roots to Portuguese ancestors. Some family names of old Indo families include Simao, De Fretes, Perera, Henriques, etc. Rumphius, G.E. ‘De Ambonse landbeschrijving’ (Landelijk steunpunt educatie Molukkers, Utrecht, 2002) Justus M. Van Der Kroef 'The Indonesian Eurasian and His Culture'
Family tree Indo Eurasian family with Portuguese roots Timeline Milestones 1
The longevity of Portuguese cultural influence exerted via their Eurasian population is explained by the inclusive approach they had towards their national identity. Portuguese Admiral Afonso de Albuquerque (1453-1515) stated:Neijndorff, Frank Een Indo in Holland (Publisher: Indonet, Rotterdam, 1997) P.6 "Colonies and natives are not mere possessions to be exploited. They must be considered continuations of Portugal, and all those living there, regardless their skin colour, must feel Portuguese, and as such must have the same liberties and must be inspired by the same ideals, honouring the same traditions and be ruled by the same institutions. In this conception skin colour is no more than a mere coincidence."
Portuguese Creole Language For the Mestizo-Indo of the pre-colonial era their first language was often the Portuguese creole language called Portugis, based on Malay and Portuguese. It remained the dominant lingua franca for trade throughout the archipelago from the 16th century through the early 19th century. Many Portugis words survive in the Malay language including: sabun (from sabão = soap), meja (from mesa = table), boneka (from boneca = doll), jendela (from janela = window), gereja (from igreja = church), bola (from bola = ball), bendera (from bandeira = flag), roda (from roda = wheel), gagu (from gago = stutterer), sepatu (from sapato = shoes), kereta (from carreta = wagon), bangku (from banco = chair), keju (from queijo = cheese), garpu (from garfo = fork), terigu (from trigo = flour), mentega (from manteiga = butter), Minggu (from domingo = Sunday) and Belanda (from Holanda = Dutch).
The word Sinyo (from Señor) was used for Indo boy and young man and the word Nona or the variation Nonni (from Dona) for Indo girls or young women. In yet another derivation of the original Portuguese word that means lady a mature Indo woman was called Nyonya, sometimes spelled Nonya. This honorific loan word came to be used to address all women of foreign descent.Note: The word Nyonya came to be used for all women who appeared foreign, including Straits-Chinese women. In Malaysia the term is now associated exclusively with peranakan Chinese women. In contemporary Javanese Nona still means lady. See: Soeseno Kartomihardjo, Ethnography of Communicative Codes in East Java Dept. of Linguistics, Research School of Pacific Studies, Australian National University: 1981, , page 96
Mardijker people Another notable Portuguese/Malay speaking group were the Mardijker people, which the VOC legally acknowledged as a separate ethnic group. Most of them were freed Portuguese slaves with ethnic roots in India and Africa, but of Christian faith. Eventually the term came into use for any freed slave and is the word from which the Malay word 'Merdeka' meaning freedom is derived.The Dutch word ‘Mardijker’ is a corruption of the Portuguese version of the original sanskrit word ‘Maharddhika’, usually translated into ‘free man’. This group and its descendants heavily inter-married with the Portuguese Mestiço community. Kampung Tugu was a famous Mardijker settlement in Batavia, but Mardijker quarters could be found in all major trading posts including Ambon and Ternate.Leirissa, R. Article ‘Ambon and Ternate through the 19th century’, in ‘Authority and enterprise among the people of South Sulawesi’ (Bijdragen in taal land en volkenkunde by University of Leiden, 156, 2000 no.3, 619-633, KITLV, Leiden.) p.249 The majority of this group eventually assimilated completely into the larger Indo Eurasian community and disappear from the records. Into the 18th century, Indo culture remained dominantly Portuguese/Malay in nature.To the dismay of the Dutch Indo Eurasian culture was strongly influenced by its Portuguese and Malay origins. See: Boxer C.R. ‘The Dutch Seaborne Empire 1600–1800’ (Penguin 1991) p.221-226
Topasses people An independent group of Mestiço of Portuguese descent were the Topasses people who were based in Solor, Flores and pre-dominantly Timor. The community in Larantuka on Flores called themselves Larantuqueiros. This powerful group of Mestiço controlled the sandalwood trade and strongly opposed the Dutch. They manifested themselves very independently and actually fought many wars with both the Dutch and Portuguese in the 17th and 18th century. Portuguese Mestiço that chose not to cooperate with the Dutch and VOC deserters often joined with the Topasses. This group eventually assimilated into the indigenous nobility and Eurasian elite of East Timor. Famous family clans are 'De Hornay' and 'Da Costa', that survive as Timorese Raja to this day.Fox, James, J. ‘’Out of the ashes‘’ (ANUE Press, Australian National University, 2003) Chapter 1: Tracing the past, recounting the past. P.6-11Molnar, A.K. ‘’East Timor: An introduction to history, politics and culture of Southeast Asia’s youngest nation.’’ (Northern Illinois University, Department of Anthropology and Center for Southeast Asian Studies. 2005) 2. b. Portuguese contact and historical experience.
VOC roots of Indo society