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{{short description|Historical European term for Hindus of India}} | {{short description|Historical European term for Hindus of India}} | ||
{{About|a European term referring to people in [[India]]||Gentoo (disambiguation){{!}}Gentoo}} | {{About|a European term referring to people in [[India]]||Gentoo (disambiguation){{!}}Gentoo}} | ||
[[File:The Ordeal Trial practised by the Gentoos.jpg|thumb|300px|"The [[Trial by ordeal|Ordeal Trial]] practis'd by the Gentoos", 1770 [[copper]] [[engraving]].]] | [[File:The Ordeal Trial practised by the Gentoos.jpg|thumb|300px|"The [[Trial by ordeal|Ordeal Trial]] practis'd by the Gentoos", 1770 [[copper]] [[engraving]]]] | ||
'''Gentoo''', also spelled '''Gentue''' or '''Jentue''', was a term used by [[Ethnic groups in Europe|Europeans]] for the [[Indigenous peoples|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.<ref name="R1">{{cite book |last= Dalgado |first= Sebastião Rodolfo |author2=Anthony Xavier Soares |title= Portuguese vocables in Asiatic languages: from the Portuguese original of Monsignor Sebastião Rodolfo Dalgado, Volume 1 |publisher= Asian Educational Services |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=3qk-p5hKuccC&dq=Gentoo%2C+anglo-indian%2C+hindu%2C+gentile&pg=PA167|year= 1988 |pages= 167–168 |isbn= 978-8120604131 }}</ref><ref name="R3">{{cite web |url= http://sahoo.files.wordpress.com/2008/08/who-invented-hinduism.pdf |title= Who Invented Hinduism?|pages=1–15 |publisher= sahoo.files.wordpress.com |access-date= March 17, 2012 }}</ref><ref name="R5">{{cite book |last= Ernst |first= Carl W. |title= Eternal garden: mysticism, history, and politics at a South Asian Sufi center|publisher= SUNY Press|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=VgIOryEPymcC&dq=Gentoo%2C+anglo-indian%2C+hindu%2C+gentile&pg=PA287|year= 1992 |page= 287 |isbn= 978-0791408841 }}</ref><ref name="R6"> | [[File:Robert Mabon - Gentoo Mendicant - B1977.14.22279 - Yale Center for British Art.jpg|thumb|"Gentoo [[Mendicant]]", Robert Mabon, 1790s]] | ||
'''Gentoo''', also spelled '''Gentue''', '''Gentow''' or '''Jentue''', was a term used by [[Ethnic groups in Europe|Europeans]] for the [[Indigenous peoples|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.<ref name="R1">{{cite book |last= Dalgado |first= Sebastião Rodolfo |author2=Anthony Xavier Soares |title= Portuguese vocables in Asiatic languages: from the Portuguese original of Monsignor Sebastião Rodolfo Dalgado, Volume 1 |publisher= Asian Educational Services |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=3qk-p5hKuccC&dq=Gentoo%2C+anglo-indian%2C+hindu%2C+gentile&pg=PA167|year= 1988 |pages= 167–168 |isbn= 978-8120604131 }}</ref><ref name="R3">{{cite web |url= http://sahoo.files.wordpress.com/2008/08/who-invented-hinduism.pdf |title= Who Invented Hinduism?|pages=1–15 |publisher= sahoo.files.wordpress.com |access-date= March 17, 2012 }}</ref><ref name="R5">{{cite book |last= Ernst |first= Carl W. |title= Eternal garden: mysticism, history, and politics at a South Asian Sufi center|publisher= SUNY Press|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=VgIOryEPymcC&dq=Gentoo%2C+anglo-indian%2C+hindu%2C+gentile&pg=PA287|year= 1992 |page= 287 |isbn= 978-0791408841 }}</ref><ref name="R6"> | |||
{{cite web |url= http://www.raceandhistory.com/historicalviews/NoDefinitionofHinduism.htm |title= The English Invention of Hinduism|publisher= raceandhistory.com |access-date= March 15, 2012 }}</ref><ref name="R8">{{cite book |last= Yule |first= Henry |author2=A. C. Burnell |author3=William Crooke |title= A glossary of colloquial Anglo-Indian words and phrases |publisher= Routledge |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=20pdFRekGvMC&dq=Gentoo,+anglo-indian,+hindu,+gentile&pg=PA367|year= 1996 |pages= 367–368 |isbn= 978-0700703210 }}</ref> | {{cite web |url= http://www.raceandhistory.com/historicalviews/NoDefinitionofHinduism.htm |title= The English Invention of Hinduism|publisher= raceandhistory.com |access-date= March 15, 2012 }}</ref><ref name="R8">{{cite book |last= Yule |first= Henry |author2=A. C. Burnell |author3=William Crooke |title= A glossary of colloquial Anglo-Indian words and phrases |publisher= Routledge |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=20pdFRekGvMC&dq=Gentoo,+anglo-indian,+hindu,+gentile&pg=PA367|year= 1996 |pages= 367–368 |isbn= 978-0700703210 }}</ref> | ||
''Gentio'' and ''Gentoo'' terms were applied historically to [[indigenous peoples]] of India; later, to [[Telugu people| | ''Gentio'' and ''Gentoo'' terms were applied historically to [[indigenous peoples]] of India; later, to [[Telugu people|Telugus]] and [[Telugu language|their language]] in then [[Madras Presidency|Madras Province]] (now the [[Andhra Pradesh|Andhra]] and [[Telangana]] regions),<ref>{{Cite book |url=http://archive.org/details/dli.ministry.27436 |title=A vocabulary of Gentoo and English |date=1818 |publisher=Commercial Press, Madras}}</ref> as opposed to the [[Malbars]], or [[Tamil people|Tamils]] and [[Tamil language|their language]] (in what is now [[Tamil Nadu]]).<ref name="R1"/><ref name="R3"/><ref name="R6"/><ref name="R2">{{cite journal |title= Situating the Gentoo in History |journal= Economic and Political Weekly|volume= 36|issue= 7|pages= 576–594|jstor = 4410294|last1 = Srivastava|first1 = Sushil|year= 2001}}</ref><ref name="R7">{{cite web |url= http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/lr/2002/03/03/stories/2002030300300300.htm |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20031110000759/http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/lr/2002/03/03/stories/2002030300300300.htm |url-status= dead |archive-date= November 10, 2003 |title= Origins of 'India' |author=Anand |work= [[The Hindu]] |date= 2002-03-03 |access-date= March 15, 2012 }}</ref> An example from the Monsignor Sebastiao Rodolfo Dalgado is "moros, gentivos e maos christãos".<ref name="R3"/> | ||
It was also an [[Anglo-Indian]] slang term used in the 17th and 18th centuries; however, in the 20th century, the word became derogatory.<ref name="R8"/><ref name="R4">{{cite web |url= http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/life/Gentoo_Penguin | | It was also an [[Anglo-Indian]] slang term used in the 17th and 18th centuries; however, in the 20th century, the word became derogatory.<ref name="R8"/><ref name="R4">{{cite web |title=Nature Wildlife - Gentoo Penguin |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/life/Gentoo_Penguin |access-date=March 16, 2012 |work=bbc.co.uk |publisher=bbc |archive-date=July 12, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110712233810/http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/life/Gentoo_Penguin |url-status=bot: unknown }}</ref><ref name="R10">{{cite web |title=Gliding Gentoos |url=http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-features/tp-youngworld/article2044401.ece |access-date=March 16, 2012 |publisher=thehindu.com |quote=As to why they are called Gentoo is not clear. According to the Oxford English Dictionary Gentoo was an Anglo-Indian term |archive-date=February 4, 2013 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130204015548/http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-features/tp-youngworld/article2044401.ece |url-status=bot: unknown }}</ref> | ||
==Etymology== | ==Etymology== | ||
It is unclear why Indians were called ''Gentoo''. As [[Portuguese people]] arrived in India for trade, [[religious conversion]]s, and [[Colonization|colonisation]] before other Europeans, it is possible that the word was derived from the Portuguese word ''Gentio'': a gentile, a heathen, or native. The Portuguese also appear to have used it to distinguish the inhabitants of India from [[Muslims]], the [[Moro people|Moros]] or [[Moors]].<ref name="R1"/><ref name="R5"/><ref name="R10"/> | It is unclear why Indians were called ''Gentoo''. As [[Portuguese people]] arrived in India for trade, [[religious conversion]]s, and [[Colonization|colonisation]] before other Europeans, it is possible that the word was derived from the Portuguese word ''Gentio'': a [[gentile]], a heathen, or native. The Portuguese also appear to have used it to distinguish the inhabitants of India from [[Muslims]], the [[Moro people|Moros]] or [[Moors]].<ref name="R1"/><ref name="R5"/><ref name="R10"/> | ||
{{quote|And before this kingdom of Guzerate fell into the hands of the Moors, a certain race of Gentios whom the moors called Resbutos dwelt therein.<ref name="R1"/>}} | {{quote|And before this kingdom of Guzerate fell into the hands of the Moors, a certain race of Gentios whom the moors called Resbutos dwelt therein.<ref name="R1"/>}} | ||
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The word [[Hindu]] is not originally Indian. Instead, the word ''Hindu'' started to acquire religious connotations only after the arrival of [[Muslim]]s. The very first attempt by the British to establish social laws on the [[Indian subcontinent]] for administrative purposes (in order to assert the distinctiveness of Indian jurisprudence) was named ''[[Gentoo Code|A Code of Gentoo Law]]''. The first digest of Indian legislation was published in 1776, was funded by the [[East India Company]], supported by [[Warren Hastings]], and was translated from [[Persian language|Persian]] into [[English language|English]] by [[Nathaniel Brassey Halhed|Halhed]].<ref name="R1"/><ref name="R3"/><ref name="R6"/><ref name="R8"/><ref name="R7"/> | The word [[Hindu]] is not originally Indian. Instead, the word ''Hindu'' started to acquire religious connotations only after the arrival of [[Muslim]]s. The very first attempt by the British to establish social laws on the [[Indian subcontinent]] for administrative purposes (in order to assert the distinctiveness of Indian jurisprudence) was named ''[[Gentoo Code|A Code of Gentoo Law]]''. The first digest of Indian legislation was published in 1776, was funded by the [[East India Company]], supported by [[Warren Hastings]], and was translated from [[Persian language|Persian]] into [[English language|English]] by [[Nathaniel Brassey Halhed|Halhed]].<ref name="R1"/><ref name="R3"/><ref name="R6"/><ref name="R8"/><ref name="R7"/> | ||
{{quote|The Gentues, the portugal idiom for Gentiles, are the | {{quote|The Gentues, the portugal idiom for Gentiles, are the Aborigines, who enjoyed their freedom, till the Moors or Scythian Tartars... undermining them, took advantage of the civil Commotions.<ref name="R1"/>}} | ||
After the term ''Hindu'' as a religion was established to represent non-Muslims and non-Christians, the word ''Gentoo'' became archaic and then obsolete, while its application on [[Telugu people]] and [[Telugu language]] (present Andhra region, part of [[Andhra Pradesh]]) in then [[Madras Province]] continued to distinguish them from [[Tamil people]] and [[Tamil language]] or [[Malbars]] (''present'': Tamil Nadu) in then Madras Province.<ref name="R1"/><ref name="R3"/><ref name="R6"/><ref name="R8"/><ref name="R2"/> | After the term ''Hindu'' as a religion was established to represent non-Muslims and non-Christians, the word ''Gentoo'' became archaic and then obsolete, while its application on [[Telugu people]] and [[Telugu language]] (present Andhra region, part of [[Andhra Pradesh]]) in then [[Madras Province]] continued to distinguish them from [[Tamil people]] and [[Tamil language]] or [[Malbars]] (''present'': Tamil Nadu) in then Madras Province.<ref name="R1"/><ref name="R3"/><ref name="R6"/><ref name="R8"/><ref name="R2"/> | ||
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==External links== | ==External links== | ||
*[ | *[https://etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/1236/1/Final_Thesis.pdf William Jones and Representations of Hinduism in British Poetry - Author: Kurt Andrew Johnson] | ||
*[ | *[https://www.gutenberg.org/files/13968/13968-h/13968-h.htm The Works Of The Right Honourable Edmund Burke, Vol. IX. (of 12) - Author: Edmund Burke] | ||
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gentoo, Gentue}} | {{DEFAULTSORT:Gentoo, Gentue}} | ||
[[Category:Scheduled Tribes of India]] | [[Category:Scheduled Tribes of India]] | ||
[[Category:Ethnic groups in India]] | [[Category:Ethnic groups in India]] | ||
[[Category: | [[Category:Ethnic and religious slurs]] | ||
[[Category:Political metaphors referring to people]] | [[Category:Political metaphors referring to people]] | ||
Latest revision as of 20:16, 12 January 2026
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 Telugus and their language in then Madras Province (now the Andhra and Telangana regions),[6] as opposed to the Malbars, or Tamils 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]
Etymology[edit | edit source]
It is unclear why Indians were called Gentoo. As Portuguese people arrived in India for trade, religious conversions, and colonisation before other Europeans, it is possible that the word was derived from the Portuguese word Gentio: a gentile, a heathen, or native. The Portuguese also appear to have used it to distinguish the inhabitants of India from Muslims, the Moros or Moors.[1][3][10]
And before this kingdom of Guzerate fell into the hands of the Moors, a certain race of Gentios whom the moors called Resbutos dwelt therein.[1]
According to 19th century philologist and Orientalist N.B. Halhed, there was a fanciful derivation of Gentoo from the Sanskrit word jantu, meaning "creature".[2]
The word Hindu is not originally Indian. Instead, the word Hindu started to acquire religious connotations only after the arrival of Muslims. The very first attempt by the British to establish social laws on the Indian subcontinent for administrative purposes (in order to assert the distinctiveness of Indian jurisprudence) was named A Code of Gentoo Law. The first digest of Indian legislation was published in 1776, was funded by the East India Company, supported by Warren Hastings, and was translated from Persian into English by Halhed.[1][2][4][5][8]
The Gentues, the portugal idiom for Gentiles, are the Aborigines, who enjoyed their freedom, till the Moors or Scythian Tartars... undermining them, took advantage of the civil Commotions.[1]
After the term Hindu as a religion was established to represent non-Muslims and non-Christians, the word Gentoo became archaic and then obsolete, while its application on Telugu people and Telugu language (present Andhra region, part of Andhra Pradesh) in then Madras Province continued to distinguish them from Tamil people and Tamil language or Malbars (present: Tamil Nadu) in then Madras Province.[1][2][4][5][7]
See also[edit | edit source]
References[edit | edit source]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 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.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 "Who Invented Hinduism?" (PDF). sahoo.files.wordpress.com. pp. 1–15. Retrieved March 17, 2012.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Ernst, Carl W. (1992). Eternal garden: mysticism, history, and politics at a South Asian Sufi center. SUNY Press. p. 287. ISBN 978-0791408841.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 "The English Invention of Hinduism". raceandhistory.com. Retrieved March 15, 2012.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 Yule, Henry; A. C. Burnell; William Crooke (1996). A glossary of colloquial Anglo-Indian words and phrases. Routledge. pp. 367–368. ISBN 978-0700703210.
- ↑ A vocabulary of Gentoo and English. Commercial Press, Madras. 1818.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Srivastava, Sushil (2001). "Situating the Gentoo in History". Economic and Political Weekly. 36 (7): 576–594. JSTOR 4410294.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Anand (2002-03-03). "Origins of 'India'". The Hindu. Archived from the original on November 10, 2003. Retrieved March 15, 2012.
- ↑ "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) - ↑ 10.0 10.1 "Gliding Gentoos". thehindu.com. 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: deprecated archival service (link)