Gentoo (term)

This article is about a European term referring to people in India. For other uses, see Gentoo.
"The Ordeal Trial practis'd by the Gentoos", 1770 copper engraving
"Gentoo Mendicant", Robert Mabon, 1790s

Gentoo, also spelled Gentue, Gentow or Jentue, was a term used by Europeans for the native inhabitants of India before the word Hindu, with its religious connotation, was used to distinguish a group from Muslims and members of other religious groups in India.[1][2][3][4][5]

Gentio and Gentoo terms were applied historically to indigenous peoples of India; later, to Telugu-speaking persons and their language in then Madras Province (now the Andhra region),[6] as opposed to the Malbars, or Tamil speakers and their language (in what is now Tamil Nadu).[1][2][4][7][8] An example from the Monsignor Sebastiao Rodolfo Dalgado is "moros, gentivos e maos christãos".[2] It was also an Anglo-Indian slang term used in the 17th and 18th centuries; however, in the 20th century, the word became derogatory.[5][9][10]

  1. ^ a b Dalgado, Sebastião Rodolfo; Anthony Xavier Soares (1988). Portuguese vocables in Asiatic languages: from the Portuguese original of Monsignor Sebastião Rodolfo Dalgado, Volume 1. Asian Educational Services. pp. 167–168. ISBN 978-8120604131.
  2. ^ a b c "Who Invented Hinduism?" (PDF). sahoo.files.wordpress.com. pp. 1–15. Retrieved March 17, 2012.
  3. ^ Ernst, Carl W. (1992). Eternal garden: mysticism, history, and politics at a South Asian Sufi center. SUNY Press. p. 287. ISBN 978-0791408841.
  4. ^ a b "The English Invention of Hinduism". raceandhistory.com. Retrieved March 15, 2012.
  5. ^ a b Yule, Henry; A. C. Burnell; William Crooke (1996). A glossary of colloquial Anglo-Indian words and phrases. Routledge. pp. 367–368. ISBN 978-0700703210.
  6. ^ A vocabulary of Gentoo and English. Commercial Press, Madras. 1818.
  7. ^ Srivastava, Sushil (2001). "Situating the Gentoo in History". Economic and Political Weekly. 36 (7): 576–594. JSTOR 4410294.
  8. ^ Anand (2002-03-03). "Origins of 'India'". The Hindu. Archived from the original on November 10, 2003. Retrieved March 15, 2012.
  9. ^ "Nature Wildlife - Gentoo Penguin". bbc.co.uk. bbc. Archived from the original on July 12, 2011. Retrieved March 16, 2012.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  10. ^ "Gliding Gentoos". thehindu.com. Archived from the original on February 4, 2013. Retrieved March 16, 2012. As to why they are called Gentoo is not clear. According to the Oxford English Dictionary Gentoo was an Anglo-Indian term{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)