We also maintain this list of historical terms for your reference. Most of these will not be used in a title, description, or subject, but will instead be terms that you should look out for in the historical sources themselves. Please note that these are historical terms, many of which would be considered harmful or offensive today.
This list was compiled in the summer of 2021 by Lois Hao, a PhD student at Northwestern University who worked with the Chicago History Museum’s Research Center through NU’s Nicholas D. Chabraja Center for Historical Studies (CCHS).
ARCHIE has fuzzy searching. If you ask for Asians it will bring up an entry with the word Asian and vice versa. If you do want to search only for an exact spelling of a word, put that word in quotations. For instance if you search for "Asian" you will only get results for Asian but not Asians. If the spelling variation might be more than one or two letters different, try multiples searches for in the keyword search.
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Aryan:
The word was originally an ethnocultural self-designation by Indo-Iranians in ancient times. In the 18th century, the French and British linguistic scholars endeavored to comprehend and explain the divergence of global civilizations with biblical, Mosaic chronology. They sought similarities among Sanskrit, Latin, Greek, etc., and eventually coined the "Aryan languages" for their connectedness in grammar and vocabularies.
The ethnolinguistic explanation then postulated the common source and disperse of ancient Aryans--originated somewhere in the Caucuses, north of Iran, close to Europe, conquering India and other places, and splitting into at least three branches, Sanskrit, Greek, and Slavic (even Celtic).
Asiatic:
Asian is now solidly preferred to Asiatic; the latter persists mainly in the names of some kinds of flora and fauna. Asiatic still has some use as a geographical designator but has increasingly been considered offensive, especially as associated with the policies of colonialism.
Brownie/Brunette:
These are descriptions of brown people. Both were used, though not often, in the twentieth century. Using "brownie" is derogatory, and "brunette" is no longer an appropriate word for skin color.
Buddhism/Buddism:
Buddhism is an Indian religion based on a series of original teachings attributed to Prince Siddhartha Gautama Buddha. It originated in ancient South Asia as a Sramana tradition sometime between the 6th and 4th centuries BCE, spreading through much of Asia. It is the world's fourth-largest religion with over 520 million followers, or over 7 percent of the global population, known as Buddhists (sometimes spelled Buddists). In South Asia currently, the only two majority-Buddhist nations are Sri Lanka and Bhutan. Buddhists are also found in Nepal, India (especially in Maharashtra, Ladakh and Sikkim) and Bangladesh in small minorities. Lord Buddha (Prince Siddhartha Gautam) was born in Lumbini, Nepal.
As expressed in the Buddha's Four Noble Truths, the goal of Buddhism is to overcome suffering (duḥkha) caused by desire and ignorance of reality's true nature, including impermanence (anicca) and the non-existence of the self (anattā). Most Buddhist traditions emphasize transcending the individual self through the attainment of Nirvana or by following the path of Buddhahood, ending the cycle of death and rebirth. Buddhist schools vary in their interpretation of the path to liberation, the relative importance and canonicity assigned to the various Buddhist texts, and their specific teachings and practices.
Castes:
The caste system in India is the paradigmatic ethnographic example of caste. It has origins in ancient India, and was transformed by various ruling elites in medieval, early-modern, and modern India, especially the Mughal Empire and the British Raj. (Bayly, Susan (2001), Caste, Society and Politics in India from the Eighteenth Century to the Modern Age, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 978-0-521-26434-1)
Caucasian native/white:
The term was introduced with the ethnolinguistic explanation of Aryan disperse. As it pinpointed the Caucuses as the origin of Indo-Europeans, Caucasian has been referred to white people, euphemism for "Aryan."
Chinaman:
A native of China. But because of its rather racist use in colonial and imperialist contexts on not only Chinese but also East Asians and even all Asians, the word is considered highly offensive.
Hindu/Hindustan:
Persons who regard themselves as culturally, ethnically, or religiously adhering to aspects of Hinduism. Historically, the Europeans and Americans used the term inaccurately as a sweeping identifier for people from or living in the Indian subcontinent, regardless of their real faiths and ethnicities.
Hindustan, along with its shortened form Hind, is the Persian name for North India, broadly the Indian subcontinent, which later became used by its inhabitants in Hindi–Urdu. (Pennington, Brian K. (2005), Was Hinduism Invented?: Britons, Indians, and the Colonial Construction of Religion, Oxford University Press, pp. 111–118, ISBN 978-0-19-803729-3)
Hinduism
The correct name of this ancient religion is Sanatana Dharma, which means “eternal law” in Sanskrit. Also known as, the Hindu Dharma, Hinduism is one of the oldest organized religions in the world, tracing its roots back to 5000 BCE. It originated in the Indian subcontinent on the banks of the Sindhu river (now Indus river) and was practiced by the Sindus (people who lived on the banks of the Sindhu), who were later known to the Greeks as Sindhus and finally as Hindus (a Persian word).
Hinduism’s philosophical core is rooted for the most part in the three fundamental Hindu scriptures: the Vedas, the Upanishads, and the Bhagavad Gita. The pursuit and practice of the Hindu dharma is governed by a belief in karma (from the Sanskrit root kri meaning “action”)—the concept that every action leaves an imprint on one’s atman (soul or spirit). Karma is determined by a universal law (or order) in which good actions produce good results and bad actions produce bad results.
Hinduism is the world's third-largest religion, with over 1.2 billion followers, or 15–16% of the global population (https://geriatrics.stanford.edu/ethnomed/asian_indian/introduction/religion.html)
Jainism:
Traditionally known as Jain Dharma, Jainism is an ancient Indian religion. The three main pillars of Jainism are ahiṃsā (non-violence), anekāntavāda (non-absolutism), and aparigraha (non-attachment). Asceticism (abstinence from sensual pleasures) is an important principle.
Jains take five main vows: ahiṃsā (non-violence), satya (truth), asteya (not stealing), brahmacharya (sexual continence), and aparigraha (non-possessiveness). These principles have affected Jain culture in many ways, such as leading to a predominantly vegetarian lifestyle. Parasparopagraho jīvānām (the function of souls is to help one another) is the faith's motto and the Ṇamōkāra mantra is its most common and basic prayer.
The religion has between four and five million followers, known as Jains, who reside mostly in India. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jainism)
Kalu/kaliya:
"Dark-skinned." They are used in a normalized yet deeply prejudicial way in interpersonal interactions in India. They often become an identifier of a person, and eventually replace their given name with a descriptor that focuses on an aspect of their appearance. (https://theswaddle.com/kalu-moti-gawar-why-we-should-stop-using-derogatory-terms-couched-as-affection/)
Mohammedan (also spelled Muhammadan, Mahommedan, Mahomedan or Mahometan):
This is a term for a follower of Muhammad, the Islamic prophet. It is used as both a noun and an adjective, meaning belonging or relating to either Muhammad or the religion, doctrines, institutions and practices that he established.
The word was formerly common in usage, but the terms Muslim and Islamic are more common today. Though sometimes used stylistically by some Muslims, a vast majority consider the term a misnomer.
India is the country with the largest Muslim population outside Muslim-majority countries. About 31% of all Muslims live in South Asia, the largest population of Muslims in the world. (John Bowker. "Muhammadans". The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions. 1997. p. 389. Pechilis, Karen; Raj, Selva J. (2013). South Asian Religions: Tradition and Today. Routledge. p. 193.)
Oriental:
Along with "Orient" and "Orientalism," the word is a Eurocentric term that geographically references the Asia (the "East") relative to Europe. The stereotypes it created were part of the European, and later American, colonial and imperialist enterprises in Asia. Either with fetish or fear, the "East" was exoticized, fantasized, and often eroticized as the perpetually alien "Other" in a process of the West's own identity formation (https://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/after-50-years-asian-american-advocates-say-term-more-essential-n875601)
Partition:
The Partition of India was the division of British India into the independent states of the Republic of India and the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. It particularly involved the chaotic and later violent division of two provinces, Bengal and Punjab, based on district-wide non-Muslim or Muslim majorities. The two self-governing dominions legally came into existence at midnight on 15 August 1947, upon the dissolution of the Crown rule.
The term partition of India does not cover the secession of Bangladesh from Pakistan in 1971, nor the earlier separations of Burma (now Myanmar) and Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) from the administration of British India. (Partition (n), 7. b (3rd ed.). Oxford English Dictionary. 2005. The division of British India into India and Pakistan, achieved in 1947.)
Sikhism:
A Dharmic religion that originated in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent around the end of the 15th century CE. Sikhism is classified as an Indian religion along with Buddhism, Hinduism, and Jainism.
The Sikh scripture opens with the Mul Mantar (ਮੂਲ ਮੰਤਰ), fundamental prayer about ik onkar (ੴ, 'One God'). The core beliefs of Sikhism, articulated in the Guru Granth Sahib, include faith and meditation on the name of the one creator; divine unity and equality of all humankind; engaging in seva ('selfless service'); striving for justice for the benefit and prosperity of all; and honest conduct and livelihood while living a householder's life. Following this standard, Sikhism rejects claims that any particular religious tradition has a monopoly on Absolute Truth.
Sikhism is one of the youngest of the major religions and the world's sixth-largest organized religion, with about 25–30 million Sikhs as of the early 21st century. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sikhism)
Thug/Thuggee:
Historically, the word first described a member of a group or organization of robbers and assassins in India who waylaid and strangled their victims, usually travelers, and stole their belongings. When suppressing them in the 1830s, the British authority produced a new racial, religious, and cultural classification out of "thug/thuggee" to mark not just the stereotypical criminal gangs but also the omnipresence of criminal threats to property and order. The classification effectively led to the creation of law enforcement institutions and professions, including the police force and detectives. (https://languages.oup.com/google-dictionary-en/)
Untouchable:
Untouchability is the practice of ostracizing a group of people regarded as 'untouchables', resulting in the segregation and persecutions from the people regarded as "higher" caste. The term is most commonly associated with treatment of the Dalit communities in the Indian subcontinent. A Dalit is a member of the lowest-caste Hindu group or a person outside the caste system. Contact with them is traditionally held to defile members of higher castes.
The term has also been used to refer to other groups, including the Burakumin of Japan, the Baekjeong of Korea, the Ragyabpa of Tibet, as well as the Romani people and Cagot in Europe,the Al-Akhdam in Yemen, the Rodi / Rodiya in Sri Lanka. ("Untouchable – Encyclopaedia Britannica".)
Zoroastrianism:
Zoroastrianism, or Mazdayasna, is one of the world's oldest continuously practiced religions, based on the teachings of the Iranian-speaking prophet Zoroaster.
Zoroastrianism has a dualistic cosmology of good and evil and an eschatology which predicts the ultimate conquest of evil by good. Zoroastrianism exalts an uncreated and benevolent deity of wisdom, Ahura Mazda (Wise Lord), as its supreme being.
With possible roots dating back to the Second Millennium BCE, Zoroastrianism enters written history in the 5th century BCE. It served as the state religion of the ancient Iranian empires for more than a millennium, from around 600 BCE to 650 CE, but declined from the 7th century CE onwards following the Muslim conquest of Persia of 633–654 and subsequent of Muslim Arab invasion. Recent estimates place the current number of Zoroastrians at around 110,000–120,000 at most, with the majority living in India, Iran, and North America; their number has been thought to be declining (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoroastrianism)
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