The Portuguese used the term mestico from about 1546. The British introduced the derisive term half-caste from about 1789. According to Edgar Thurston 'The influence of the various European nations-Portuguese, Dutch, British, Danish, and French-which have at different times acquired territory in peninsular India, is clearly visible in the polyglot medley of Eurasian surnames.' Later in the nineteenth century Eurasian took its place until the official acceptance of Anglo-Indian as the community name in 1911. The descendants of these Eurasians who came to be known as Anglo-Indians constituted the Nilgiri Malabar Battalion.
