Miscegenation is marriage or admixture between people who are members of different races. The word was coined in English from Latin () and (). There is a long history of miscegenation in Asia. Greek and Macedonian soldiers intermarried with local populations of northwest India after Alexander's conquest in 4th century BCE. Inter-ethnic marriages in Southeast Asia have deep historical roots, beginning with Indian traders intermarrying with local populations from the 1st century onwards, resulting in the rise of Indianized kingdoms. From the 9th century, Arab traders also settled in the region, marrying local women and spreading Islam. This pattern of intermarriage continued with Chinese, Indian, and Arab traders during the 14th to 17th centuries, as well as Portuguese and Japanese traders.
In China, inter-ethnic relationships were initially discouraged, but Persian men were present in Guangzhou from the 10th to 12th centuries, becoming part of the local community. The Ming dynasty enforced intermarriage between Central Asian, Mongol, and Chinese populations to ensure integration. This trend of intermarriage included Tibetan, Uyghur, and later Russian-Chinese unions, which were encouraged for perceived genetic benefits.
During the Vietnam War, numerous Amerasians were born from relationships between American soldiers and Vietnamese women, with estimates of their numbers ranging from 15,000 to 30,000. World War II also saw Japanese soldiers engaging in sexual violence across East and Southeast Asia, resulting in mixed-race offspring. Post-war, sex tourism became prevalent, particularly in Bali, where local men formed relationships with female tourists from various countries.
In Central and South Asia, inter-ethnic marriages were common, with Central Asians descending from a mix of Mongols, Turks, and Iranians. The Hazara people of Afghanistan have Mongolian ancestry due to Turco-Mongol invasions. India saw significant intermarriage, especially in Goa, with Portuguese men marrying Indian women. The Anglo-Indian community emerged from British-Indian unions, which declined post-1857 rebellion due to anti-miscegenation laws.
History Inter-ethnic marriage in Southeast Asia dates back to the spread of Indian culture, Hinduism and Buddhism to the region. From the 1st century onwards, mostly male traders and merchants from the Indian subcontinent frequently intermarried with the local female populations in Cambodia, Burma, Champa, Central Siam, the Malay Peninsula, and Malay Archipelago. Many Indianized kingdoms arose in Southeast Asia during the Middle Ages.
From the 9th century onwards, a large number of mostly male Arab traders from the West Asia settled down in the Malay Peninsula and Malay Archipelago, and they intermarried with the local Malay, Indonesian and female populations in the islands later called the Philippines. This contributed to the spread of Islam in Southeast Asia. From the 14th to the 17th centuries, many Chinese, Indian and Arab traders settled down within the maritime kingdoms of Southeast Asia and intermarried with the local female populations. This tradition continued among Portuguese traders who also intermarried with the local populations. In the 16th and 17th centuries, thousands of Japanese people also travelled to Southeast Asia and intermarried with the local women there.
From the tenth to twelfth century, Persian women were to be found in Guangzhou (Canton), some of them in the tenth century like Mei Zhu in the harem of the Emperor Liu Chang, and in the twelfth century large numbers of Persian women lived there, noted for wearing multiple earrings and "quarrelsome dispositions". Multiple women originating from the Persian Gulf lived in Guangzhou's foreign quarter, they were all called "Persian women" (波斯婦 Po-ssu-fu or Bosifu). Some scholars did not differentiate between Persian and Arab, and some say that the Chinese called all women coming from the Persian Gulf "Persian Women".
The Ming Hongzu Emperor passed a law in the Ming code's article 122 which said that Central Asian Semu women and Mongol women must marry Chinese men and that Central Asian Semu men and Mongol men must marry Chinese women. If the Central Asian Semu and Mongol women and men refused to intermarry with Chinese, they were to be punished by being enslaved and beaten 80 times and they were banned from marrying men and women of their own ethnicities. The exception were the Qincha and Hui Muslims who looked different to Chinese so Chinese did not have to marry them and they were not required to intermarry with Chinese.
The exact number of Amerasians in Vietnam are not known. The U.S. soldiers stationed in Vietnam had relationships with locals females, many of the women had origins from clubs, brothels and pubs. The American Embassy once reported there were less than a 1,000 Amerasians. A report by the South Vietnamese Senate Subcommittee suggested there are 15,000 to 20,000 children of mixed American and Vietnamese blood, but this figure was considered low.Orphans of Vietnam: One Last Agonizing Issue Congress estimated 20,000 to 30,000 Amerasians by 1975 lived in Vietnam.Son of U.S. soldier left behind in Vietnam helps other 'Amerasians' reunite with families According to Amerasians Without Borders, they estimated about 25,000 to 30,000 Vietnamese Amerasians were born from American first participation in Vietnam in 1962, and lasted until 1975.United: Carlsbad Vietnam veteran discovers daughter he fathered during war Although during the Operation Babylift it was estimated at 23,000.Gowen Annie, 18 April 2015, 40 years after the fall of Saigon, Americans' children are still left behind
During World War II, Japanese soldiers engaged in war rape during their invasions across East Asia and Southeast Asia. Some Indo Dutch women, captured in Dutch colonies in Asia, were forced into sexual slavery. More than 20,000 Indonesian women and nearly 300 Dutch women were so treated. A estimated 1000 Timor women and girls who also used as sexual slaves. Melanesian women from New Guinea were also used as comfort women by the Japanese military and as well married Japanese, forming a small number of mixed Japanese-Papuan women born to Japanese fathers and Papuan mothers. The Indonesian invasion of East Timor and West Papua caused the murders of approximately 300,000 to 400,000 West Papuans and many thousands of women raped.
Sex tourism has emerged in the late 20th century as a controversial aspect of Western tourism and globalization. Sex tourism is typically undertaken internationally by tourists from wealthier countries. Author Nils Ringdal alleges that three out of four men between the ages of 20 and 50 who have visited Asia or Africa have paid for sex.Love for Sale: a global history of prostitution by Nils Ringdal, trans Richard Daly. By Sarah Burton. The Independent. November 2004. Female sex tourism also emerged in the late 20th century in Bali. Tens of thousands of single women throng the beaches of Bali in Indonesia every year. For decades, young Balinese men have taken advantage of the louche and laid-back atmosphere to find love and lucre from female tourists—Japanese, European and Australian.Bali Beach Gigolos Under Fire . Asia Sentinel, 4 May 2010
Central Asia In the pre-Islamic and early Islamic eras (c. 1000 and earlier) Central Asia was inhabited predominantly by Iranian peoples, populated by Eastern Iranian-speaking Bactrians, Sogdians, Chorasmians, and the semi-nomadic Scythians and Dahae. As the result of Turkic migration, Central Asia also became the homeland for the Kazakhs, Kyrgyzs, Tatars, Turkmens, Uyghurs, and Uzbeks; Turkic languages largely replaced the Iranian languages spoken in the area, with the exception of Tajikistan and areas where Tajik is spoken. Central Asians have descended from a mixture of various peoples, such as the Mongols, Turks, and Iranians. The Mongol conquest of Central Asia in the 13th century resulted in the mass killings of the Iranian-speaking people and Indo-Europeans population of the region, their culture and languages being superseded by that of the Mongolian-Turkic peoples. The remaining surviving population intermarried with invaders..Central Asian world cities (XI – XIII century)faculty.washington.edu Genetic shows a mixture of East Asian and West Eurasian ancestry in all Central Asian people.
Interracial marriage between Turkic, European, Central Asians in Kazakhstan are rare but increasing. The most common marriages are between Kazakh and Volga Tatars. Intermarriage usually involves Kazakh men, due to Muslim tradition favouring male over female. For example, 1% were between Russians, Tatars, and Kazakhs (792 between Russians and Tatars, 561 between Kazakhs and Tatars, and 212 between Kazakhs and Russians). 701 Kazakh men married Russians or Tatars, against only 72 Kazakh women. Among Kirgiz men living in Uzbekistan and married to non-Kirgiz women, 9.6% had married Russians, 25.6% Uzbeks, and 34.3% Tatars. Among Kazakh men in Uzbekistan, the structure of mixed marriages appeared as follows: 4.4% married Russians.
Afghanistan Genetic analysis of the Hazara people indicate partial Mongolian ancestry. Invading Mongols and Turco-Mongols mixed with the local Iranian population, forming a distinct group. Mongols settled in what is now Afghanistan and mixed with native populations who spoke Persian. A second wave of mostly Chagatai Mongols came from Central Asia and were followed by other Mongolic groups, associated with the Ilkhanate and the Timurids, all of whom settled in Hazarajat and mixed with the local, mostly Persian-speaking population, forming a distinct group.
The analysis also detected Sub-Saharan African lineages in both the paternal and maternal ancestry of Hazara. Among the Hazaras there are 7.5% of African mtDNA haplogroup L with 5.1% of African Y-DNA B. The origin and date of when these admixture occurred are unknown but was believed to have been during the slave trades in Afghanistan.
China Intermarriage was initially discouraged by the Tang dynasty. In 836 Lu Chun was appointed as governor of Canton, he was disgusted to find Chinese living with foreigners and intermarriage between Chinese and foreigners. Lu enforced separation, banning interracial marriages, and made it illegal for foreigners to own property. Lu Chun believed his principles were just and upright. The 836 law specifically banned Chinese from forming relationships with "dark peoples", which was used to describe foreigners, such as "Iranians, Sogdians, Arabs, Indians, Malays, Sumatrans", among others.
Iranian, Arab, and Turkic women also occasionally migrated to China and mixed with Chinese. From the tenth to twelfth century, Persian women were to be found in Guangzhou (Canton), some of them in the tenth century like Mei Zhu in the harem of the Emperor Liu Chang, and in the twelfth century large numbers of Persian women lived there, noted for wearing multiple earrings and "quarrelsome dispositions". Multiple women originating from the Persian Gulf lived in Guangzhou's foreign quarter; they were all called "Persian women" (波斯婦; Po-szu-fu or Bosifu). Iranian female dancers were in demand in China during this period. During the Sui dynasty, ten young dancing girls were sent from Persia to China. During the Tang dynasty bars were often attended by Iranian or Sogdian waitresses who performed dances for clients.
During the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period (Wudai) (907–960), there are examples of Persian women marrying Chinese emperors. Some Chinese officials from the Song Dynasty era also married women from Dashi (Arabia).
The Ming Hongwu emperor married off his own son Zhu Shuang to a Mongol woman, Consort Minlie, of the Wang clan (愍烈妃 王氏; d. 1395), the primary consort, younger sister of Köke Temür.