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Regions with significant populations | |
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Kolkata and Chennai. | |
Languages | |
Indian-born: Irish · English ·Irish-born: Indian languages | |
Religion | |
Pentecostalism, Catholicism, Hinduism, Islam · Non-religious | |
Related ethnic groups | |
An Irish Indian is an Indian-born person who is fully or partially of Irish descent, and an Irish-born person who is fully or partially of Indian descent. As per article 366(2) of the Indian Constitution, an Irish Indian can be categorized as an Anglo-Indian.[ citation needed ]
Irish people were known to have traveled to India from at least the days of the East India Company.[ citation needed ] While most of the early Irish came as traders, some also came as soldiers. Prominent among them were the generals Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington who later became Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and his brother, Lord Charles Wellesley, both of whom were from the Protestant Anglo-Irish landowning class. During the 19th century, a number of missionaries and educationists were involved in setting-up educational, healthcare and other institutions in India. [1] Later in the 19th century, a number of philosophers and Catholic Irish nationalists travelled to India, including the theosophist Annie Besant. It is widely believed that there existed a secret alliance between the Irish and Indian independence movements. Some Indian intellectuals like Jawaharlal Nehru and V. V. Giri were likely inspired by Irish nationalists when they studied in the United Kingdom. Indian Immigrants who have emigrated to Ireland in the recent years might have had their children born and raised here.
One of the cultural activities that Indians of Irish descent (who are aware of their Irish ancestry) participate in is Saint Patrick's Day.[ citation needed ]
Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, was an Anglo-Irish military officer and statesman who was one of the leading military and political figures in Britain during the late 18th and early 19th centuries, serving twice as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. He is among the commanders who ended the Anglo-Mysore Wars when Tipu Sultan was killed in the fourth war in 1799 and among those who ended the Napoleonic Wars in a victory when the Seventh Coalition defeated Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815.
Annie Besant was a British socialist, theosophist, freemason, women's rights and Home Rule activist, educationist and campaigner for Indian nationalism. She was an ardent supporter of both Irish and Indian self-rule. She became the first female president of the Indian National Congress in 1917.
Duke of Wellington is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. The name derived from Wellington in Somerset. The title was created in 1814 for Arthur Wellesley, 1st Marquess of Wellington, the Anglo-Irish military commander who is best known for leading the decisive victory with Field Marshal von Blücher over Napoleon's forces at Waterloo in Brabant. Wellesley later served twice as British prime minister. In historical texts, unqualified use of the title typically refers to the 1st Duke.
Richard Colley Wellesley, 1st Marquess Wellesley, was an Anglo-Irish politician and colonial administrator. He was styled as Viscount Wellesley until 1781, when he succeeded his father as 2nd Earl of Mornington. In 1799, he was granted the Irish peerage title of Marquess Wellesley of Norragh. He was also Lord Wellesley in the Peerage of Great Britain.
The Battle of Assaye was a major battle of the Second Anglo-Maratha War fought between the Maratha Confederacy and the British East India Company. It occurred on 23 September 1803 near Assaye in western India. An outnumbered Indian and British force, under the command of Major General Arthur Wellesley, defeated the combined Maratha army of Daulatrao Scindia and the Bhonsle Raja of Berar. The battle was Wellesley's first major victory and the one he later described as his finest accomplishment on the battlefield, even more so than his more famous victories in the Peninsular War, and his defeat of Napoleon Bonaparte at the Battle of Waterloo.
William Wellesley-Pole, 3rd Earl of Mornington,, known as Lord Maryborough between 1821 and 1842, was an Anglo-Irish politician and an elder brother of the Duke of Wellington. His surname changed twice: he was born with the name Wesley, which he changed to Wesley-Pole following an inheritance in 1781. In 1789 the spelling was updated to Wellesley-Pole, just as other members of the family had changed Wesley to Wellesley.
Gerard Lake, 1st Viscount Lake was a British general. He commanded British forces during the Irish Rebellion of 1798 and later served as Commander-in-Chief of the military in British India.
Major-General Sir John Malcolm GCB, KLS was a Scottish soldier, diplomat, East India Company administrator, statesman, and historian.
Henry Wellesley, 1st Baron Cowley GCB was an Anglo-Irish diplomat and politician. He was the younger brother of the soldier and politician the first Duke of Wellington. He is known particularly for his service as British Ambassador to Spain during the Peninsular War where he acted in cooperation with his brother to gain the support of Cortes of Cádiz. His later postings included being Ambassador in Vienna where he dealt with Metternich and British Ambassador to France during the reign of Louis Philippe I.
The Battle of Grijó ended in victory for the Anglo-Portuguese Army commanded by Lieutenant-General Sir Arthur Wellesley over the French army commanded by Marshal Nicolas Soult during the Second French invasion of Portugal in the Peninsular War. The next day, Wellesley drove Soult from Porto in the Second Battle of Porto.
The Indian Home Rule movement was a movement in British India on the lines of the Irish Home Rule movement and other home rule movements. The movement lasted around two years between 1916–1918 and is believed to have set the stage for the Indian independence movement under the leadership of Annie Besant and Bal Gangadhar Tilak to the educated English speaking upper class Indians. In 1920, All India Home Rule League changed its name to Swarajya Sabha.
The Theosophist is the monthly journal of the international Theosophical Society based in Adyar, India. It was founded in India in 1879 by Helena Blavatsky, who was also its editor. The journal is still being published till date. For the year 1930, the journal was published in Hollywood, California by Annie Besant and Marie Russak Hotchener, but it returned to Adyar in 1931. The journal features articles about philosophy, art, literature and occultism.
Lieutenant-General Sir Colin Campbell was a British Army officer and colonial governor.
General Sir David Baird, 1st Baronet, of Newbyth, GCB was a British Army officer.
The Oriental Club in London is a Private Members’ Club established in 1824. Charles Graves described it in 1963 as fine in quality as White's but with the space of infinitely larger clubs. It is now located in Stratford Place, near Oxford Street and Bond Street. Based in an elegant building, the Oriental Club is one of the best members’ clubs for those in their 20s.
The Battle of Mallavelly was fought on 27 March 1799 between forces of the British East India Company and the Kingdom of Mysore during the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War. The British forces, led by General George Harris and Colonel Arthur Wellesley, drove the Mysorean force of Tipu Sultan from a defensive position designed to impede the British force's progress toward Mysore's capital, Seringapatam.
The Capture of Gawilghur fort in western India by British East India Company forces under the command of Sir Arthur Wellesley on 15 December 1803 during the Second Anglo-Maratha War was the culminating act in the defeat of the forces of Raghoji II Bhonsle, Rajah of Berar. Gawilghur's garrison of 3000 was commanded by Beni Singh Rajput, assisted by Manoo Bapu, who was the cousin of Raje Bhosale of Nagpur and Killedar Rana Shivsingh, a Rajput Commander of Narnala and also the Governor of Gawilgad and surrounding forts. Rana Shivsingh Rajput was brother-in-law of Jamadar Beni Singh Rajput.
Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington,, was one of the leading British military and political figures of the 19th century. Often referred to solely as "The Duke of Wellington", he led a successful military career in the Indian subcontinent during the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War (1798–99) and the Second Anglo-Maratha War (1803–1805), and in Europe during the Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815).
Margaret Elizabeth Cousins was an Irish-Indian educationist, suffragist and Theosophist, who established All India Women's Conference (AIWC) in 1927. She was the wife of poet and literary critic James Cousins, with whom she moved to India in 1915. She is credited with preserving the tune of the Indian National Anthem Jana Gana Mana based on the notes provided by Tagore himself in February 1919, during Rabindranath Tagore's visit to the Madanapalle College. She was a member of the Flag Presentation Committee which presented the National Flag to the Constituent Assembly on 14 August 1947.
The Nizam's Contingent, later Hyderabad Contingent, was a British-officered army of the Nizam of Hyderabad.