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Indos (short for Indo-Europeans, from Dutch Indo-Europeanen) are a Eurasian people of mixed Indonesian and European descent. The earliest evidence of Eurasian communities in the East Indies coincides with the arrival of Portuguese traders in the 16th century. Eurasian communities, often with distinct, specific names, also appeared following the arrival of Dutch (VOC) traders in the 17th and 18th century.
At the start of the 19th century, official colonisation of the East Indies started and the territorial claims of the VOC expanded into a fully fledged colony named the Dutch East Indies. The existing pre-colonial Indo-European communities were considerably complemented with Indos descending from European males settling in the Dutch East Indies. These European settlers, who were government officials, businessmen, planters and particularly military men without wives, engaged in relations with native women. Their offspring was considered Indo-European and if acknowledged by the father belonged to the European legal class in the colony.
In 1860, there were fewer than 1,000 European females against over 22,000 European males.[1] It was only by the end of the 19th century that a sizeable number of Dutch women started to arrive in the colony.[2] This increasingly hastened the growing pressure to assimilate Indo culture into dominant Dutch culture.[3]
At the end of the colonial era, a community of about 300,000 Indo-Europeans was registered as Dutch citizens and Indos continued to form the majority of the European legal class. When, in the second half of the 20th century, the independent Republic of Indonesia was established, practically all Europeans, including the Indo-Europeans who by now had adopted a one-sided identification with their paternal lineage,[4] emigrated from the country.
There are distinctive historical patterns of evolving social and cultural perspectives on Indo-European society and its culture. Throughout the colonial history of the Dutch East Indies key cultural elements such as language, clothing and lifestyle have a different emphasis in each phase of its evolution. Over time, the Indo mix culture was forced to adopt an increasing number of Dutch trades and customs. To describe the colonial era, it is diligent to differentiate between each distinctive time period in the 19th and 20th centuries.
- ^ Van Nimwegen, Nico De demografische geschiedenis van Indische Nederlanders, Report no.64 (Publisher: NIDI, The Hague, 2002) P.18 ISSN 0922-7210 ISBN 978-90-70990-92-3 OCLC 55220176 "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 December 2009. Retrieved 24 November 2011.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ Note: The numbers of Dutch females had already increased from 4,000 in 1905 to about 26,000 in 1930. See: Wiseman, Roger. 'Assimilation Out.', (Conference paper, ASAA 2000, Melbourne University.)
- ^ Dutch single women and family matrons now traveled to the Indies in greater numbers as between the first and second world wars travel time to the Indies was shortened due to finalisation of the Suez canal, the Indies had been ‘pacified’ i.e. no more large scale wars were waged and the development of industrialisation and administration of the Indies attracted more Dutch expatriates which affected all areas of Indo culture. See: Gouda, Frances ‘Dutch Culture Overseas: Colonial Practice in the Netherlands Indies 1900–1942.’ (Publisher: Equinox, 2008) ISBN 978-979-3780-62-7 Chapter 5 P.157-193 [1]
- ^ Gouda, Frances ‘Dutch Culture Overseas: Colonial Practice in the Netherlands Indies 1900–1942.’ (Publisher: Equinox, 2008) ISBN 978-979-3780-62-7 Chapter 5, P.173 [2]