{noun} a modern self-coined term used to describe the identity of an Indian Catholic Christian whose ancestry is from the Malabar coast of the Indian subcontinent. The two factors - geographic and religious are the identifying traits of this community as opposed to a common language, skin color, etc. Therefore “East Indian” is not an ethnic group (like African-American,
Mongols, Mayans,
Nepali, Nordic,
Dravidian, etc) which can be separated from the rest of the Indian population on the basis of a specific DNA halogroup. However recent trends of
migration to countries like Portugal & rest of Europe, Canada and adoption of foreign citizenship of those countries has shed the Indian identity (
passport) for these people but retaining the Catholic Christian identity. Hence it is suitable to describe the “East Indian” as Catholic Christians from the Indian Malabar (west) Coast.
{adjective} relating to the East
Indies of Caribbean.