MA(Oxon), MSc(LSE), DPhil(Oxon), FRAS. Author of Anglo-Indians & Minority Politics in South Asia (Routledge), Anglo-India & the End of Empire (Hurst UK/OUP USA)
Joined April 2021
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What was Anglo-India? And who are the Anglo-Indians? Among the many questions I tackled on the @brownhistory_ Podcast. Comedian @therealrussellp responded on Instagram that both his parents are Anglo-Indian - his father even edited the Canadian newspaper "Anglo Indians in Touch"!
My father and I recently did DNA tests, and the results are fascinating. These are our heritage maps.
My Results & Surprises
My map broadly fits what I know about both my parents on my Anglo-Indian side being from South India, and on my Northumbrian side with stories of the Border Reivers. However, there were a few surprises. The results indicate a block of ancestry from Northwestern Germany, Belgium, and the Netherlands, in place of any Portuguese ancestry to match my grandmother’s maiden name D’Vaz.
Fascinatingly, Parsi ancestry stands out in both of our results from an otherwise generally South Indian picture. Both sets of results also suggest the possibility of a remote ancestor from South China—perhaps via the Straits and Singapore connections to coastal India, or possibly through the Calcutta Chinese community (though neither of us has markers for Bengal). I know these results aren’t definitive, but that would be incredibly validating to a Hong Kong-raised boy like me!
My Father’s Results
My father’s more granular markers confirm our Goan ancestry, whether or not our family stories of a Portuguese ancestor are true. His map includes more Irish counties than mine, as well as Bavaria/Western Austria and Uttar Pradesh/Bihar, which fall off of my map. While I have a small imprint from the Pearl River & Lingnan Coast, he has a larger marker for the whole region of Guangdong, China. I know that for him, the confirmation of his Englishness specifically—even though he has ancestry from across Ireland as well as continental Europe—is deeply validating.
Connecting Anglo-Indians and Eurasian Communities
If you are Anglo-Indian, Anglo-Burmese, Sri Lankan Burgher, Macanese, or from another Eurasian community in East or Southeast Asia, or you are ‘mixed-race’ or Wasian and interested in discussing your heritage, I would love to hear about your experiences and feelings taking these tests and seeing your results. I have been contacted by British and Indian people who have discovered unexpected mixed ancestry of this kind that may be remote or have been concealed by earlier generations of your family l, so I am happy for you to get in touch if these themes resonate with you.
I plan to write about this topic in the future. I will never publish anything you reveal to me privately without getting your explicit permission first, so please feel free to share openly. Direct message (DM) me here, and I will give you my email address if you would prefer to share your full percentage results privately.
Note: Unfortunately, I cannot help you do research on your personal genealogy, but I highly recommend joining FIBIS (Families in British India Society) and seeking guidance from them if you want to explore the documentary records relating to your family.
#AngloIndian #Eurasian #Wasian #Genealogy #DNAAncestry #DNA #History #FamilyHistory #Southasia #India #TamilNadu #Madras #Chennai #Bombay #Mumbai #Goa #Goan #Parsi #Kerala #Keralam #Bangalore #Bengaluru #EastAsia #China #HongKong
Many thanks to our RCS Hong Kong patron Dr Aron Harilela BBS JP for hosting a sumptuous dinner last night at the Harilela Mansion, building on his late father’s legacy as a committed patron of the Royal Commonwealth Society in Hong Kong
It was my great pleasure to attend a wonderful dinner last night at the India Club held on behalf of the Indian community in Hong Kong to welcome H. E. Vikram Doraiswami, Ambassador of India to the People’s Republic of China, back to Hong Kong, which was his first diplomatic post
Happy World Anglo-Indian Day (2nd August 2026) to all Anglo-Indians, family and friends of the community!
‘“The tech actually does look like magic, but it’s not,” …[Scroll] PHerc. 1667… discusses the nature of human knowledge, the ability to distinguish good from evil, and the merits of acting on reason rather than on impulse—ideas central to… Stoicism.’
smithsonianmag.com/smart-new…
Greatly saddened to hear that Gordon Maher, President of the International Federation of Anglo-Indian Associations, has passed away. A great leader, charismatic public speaker and lasting source of inspiration and mentorship to young people. My condolences to his wife and family.
Celebrating the Golden Jubilee of the Calcutta Anglo-Indian Service Society @caissindia (January 2026), which works to uplift marginalised members of the Anglo-Indian community in Kolkata, particularly children in education, their families, and the elderly.
Presentations at the 13th International Anglo-Indian Reunion (January 2026) at Ashirbhavan in Kochi, Kerala, India
First meal in Kolkata was Bengali fish and thali, but second had to be Indian Chinese food!
Tung Fong Restaurant, Free School Street
