Kutcha butcha
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Kutcha butcha (कच्चा बच्चा) is a
Hindi Hindi ( Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been ...
phrase that means "half-baked child,” and is used to refer to biracial people of Indian and (white) British ancestry. The expression consists of two words: ''kutcha'', meaning “uncooked” or “underdone,” and ''butcha'', which literally means “child.” The two words together translate roughly as a child who resembles half-baked bread. It is primarily a derogatory term, meant to indicate the inadequacy of the individual, being neither Indian nor British, and it emphasizes the lack of belonging generally experienced by these individuals. ''Kutcha butcha'' is colloquially synonymous with
half-caste Half-caste (an offensive term for the offspring of parents of different racial groups or cultures) is a term used for individuals of multiracial descent. It is derived from the term '' caste'', which comes from the Latin ''castus'', meaning p ...
, terminology that is characteristic of
hypodescent In societies that regard some races or ethnic groups of people as dominant or superior and others as subordinate or inferior, hypodescent refers to the automatic assignment of children of a mixed union to the subordinate group. The opposite pract ...
, which occurs when offspring of
mixed-race Mixed race people are people of more than one race or ethnicity. A variety of terms have been used both historically and presently for mixed race people in a variety of contexts, including ''multiethnic'', ''polyethnic'', occasionally ''bi-eth ...
unions are assigned to the ethnic group that is perceived by the dominant group as being subordinate.


History

During the period of British
colonialism Colonialism is a practice or policy of control by one people or power over other people or areas, often by establishing colony, colonies and generally with the aim of economic dominance. In the process of colonisation, colonisers may impose the ...
on the
Indian subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a list of the physiographic regions of the world, physiographical region in United Nations geoscheme for Asia#Southern Asia, Southern Asia. It is situated on the Indian Plate, projecting southwards into the Indian O ...
, English colonists, many of whom were employed by the
East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and South ...
, were encouraged to marry with the locals. In fact, the East India Company offered a stipend to Indian mothers upon the baptism of any offspring from an English Company employee. Over time, a number of different factors led to a shift in attitude toward the progenies of these marriages. Firstly, the development of the Suez Canal allowed for a much shorter journey from England to India; and more British women travelled to India. Secondly, as generations of Anglo-Indians began to marry each other and create their own communities, Indian women were no longer considered necessary for the colonists to marry. The result was the creation of a distinct group of individuals who spoke English almost exclusively, and were, by and large, loyal to the Empire. This created an isolating effect, which led to their self-imposed exclusion from Indian culture. Finally, when India achieved independence from England through the
Indian Independence Act 1947 The Indian Independence Act 1947 947 CHAPTER 30 10 and 11 Geo 6is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that partitioned British India into the two new independent dominions of India and Pakistan. The Act received Royal Assent on 18 Ju ...
, most English
expatriates An expatriate (often shortened to expat) is a person who resides outside their native country. In common usage, the term often refers to educated professionals, skilled workers, or artists taking positions outside their home country, either ...
returned to England, and many Anglo-Indians left India also, creating a diaspora through the Commonwealth, in countries such as Canada, Australia, and England, itself. (It is estimated that there are one million Anglo-Indians worldwide today.) And as Anglo-Indians are not merely the result of mixed British and Indian heritage—they are the product of a particular time and place, the historical circumstance of British India—those Anglo-Indians who did not or could not leave were ostracized, and referred to as ''kutcha butcha''. Originally, the label given to members of these communities was Eurasians, or in the case of Portuguese-Indian unions,
Luso-Indian Luso-Indians or Portuguese-Indian, is a subgroup of the larger multiracial ethnic creole people of Luso-Asians. Luso-Indians are people who have mixed varied Indian subcontinent and European Portuguese ancestry or people of Portuguese descent ...
s. As the English became more predominant, and the Portuguese and other Europeans left the subcontinent, the term ''Eurasian'' eventually became inaccurate, and was replaced with the more-desirable ''Anglo-Indian''. The phrase ''kutcha butcha'' refers primarily to the descendants of English fathers and Indian mothers (and their descendants, too).


Racism and related terms

The term ''kutcha butcha'' was coined because of the stigma that began to be attached to members of this biracial community, and is indicative of the racism that can occur whenever people of different races marry. This is evident in terms such as mulatto,
quadroon In the colonial societies of the Americas and Australia, a quadroon or quarteron was a person with one quarter African/ Aboriginal and three quarters European ancestry. Similar classifications were octoroon for one-eighth black (Latin root ''o ...
, and
octaroon In the colonial societies of the Americas and Australia, a quadroon or quarteron was a person with one quarter African/ Aboriginal and three quarters European ancestry. Similar classifications were octoroon for one-eighth black (Latin root ''oc ...
, which seek to identify and quantify the exact amount of so-called inferior or tainted blood one has mixed in with the supposed genetically superior blood of the acceptable race. Because of this stigma, many Anglo-Indians (not wanting to be identified as ''kutcha butcha'') have tried in the past and up to present day to pass as either Indian or English; this is known as racial passing. Historically, it has been more desirable for Anglo-Indians to pass as British, as they “would perhaps have better job opportunities and class privileges.” Often, in the time of the East Indian Company rule, children of such mixed-race marriages were divvied up and raised differently, depending on their skin colour. Light-skinned, fair-haired, European-looking offspring were taken to England and educated there, and darker-skinned offspring were kept in India. Because of this history of racism, many Anglo-Indians and Indo-Britons have concealed their heritage. Famous actresses such as
Merle Oberon Merle Oberon (born Estelle Merle O'Brien Thompson; 19 February 191123 November 1979) was a British actress who began her film career in British films as Anne Boleyn in ''The Private Life of Henry VIII'' (1933). After her success in ''The Scarle ...
and Vivien Leigh hid their Anglo-Indian ancestry, as did ex-Beatle
Pete Best Randolph Peter Best (né Scanland; born 24 November 1941) is an English musician known as the drummer of the English rock band the Beatles who was dismissed immediately prior to the band achieving worldwide fame. Fired from the group in 1962 ...
. As well, some British celebrities, such as Alistair McGowan, have previously had their lineage hidden from them because of family shame.


References

{{reflist, 2


Further reading

1941-1945 Eastern Travels: Part 6, by cjcallis. BBC WW2 People's War. 11 July 2005. Web. . Anglo-Indian people Hindi words and phrases