ABSTRACT
The initiation of English education in India in the early 18th century was not in fulfilment of any administrative need, because it was too early for that, but on genetic considerations. These considerations pertained to the children of Protestant European fathers from Indian women who were either Roman Catholics of Portuguese extraction or low-class/low-caste Hindus and Muslims. When institutions were opened for the education and care of mixed-race children, the latter were euphemistically called poor Protestant children or illegitimate children of Protestant fathers. The designation of the community as ‘half-cast’/ ‘half-caste Protestants’ appears in the early years of the 19th century in publications of various types and in official correspondence. This chapter provides a history of the early charity schools and asylums for the mixed-race community in India.
