Topass (Topass, Topass Seaman or Topas) was a term used by the British Empire for sailors and soldiers of Indo-Portuguese descent who served as foot soldiers in the army[1][2][3] and as the equivalent of Boy First Class in the imperial British Navy.[4][5][6] They were often assigned the worst duties aboard the ship, such as cleaning latrines.[7] The Topasses possibly originated from soldiers raised in the 18th century in Madras as a private force to protect local factories.[8] They were employed as mercenaries and used to bolster the ranks of the East India Company in India, especially during times when Britain was at war and the company struggled to recruit soldiers. [9]
- ^ Grose, John Henry; Charmichael (1772). A voyage to the East Indies; containing authentic accounts of the Mogul government in general, the viceroyalties of the Decan and Bengal, with their several subordinate dependances ... With general reflections on the trade of India. University of California Libraries. London : S. Hooper. pp. xiv.
- ^ Nolan, Edward Henry (1861). The Illustrated History of the British Empire in India and the East, from the Earliest Times to the Suppression of the Sepoy Mutiny in 1859. p. 179.
- ^ Bryant, G. J. (2013). The Emergence of British Power in India, 1600-1784: A Grand Strategic Interpretation. Boydell & Brewer Ltd. p. 42. ISBN 978-1-84383-854-8.
Topasses were half-cast Portuguese-Indian troops
- ^ Cowie, Archibald Greig (1905). The Sea Services of the Empire as Fields for Employment. A. Treherne & Company. p. 253.
- ^ The Nautical Magazine and Journal of the Royal Naval Reserve. Spottiswoode. 1893. p. 560.
- ^ Ferraby, H. C. (1918). The Imperial British Navy: How the Colonies Began to Think Imperially Upon the Future of the Navy. H. Jenkins limited. p. 199.
- ^ Fidler, Ceri-Anne (2010). Lascars, C.1850-1950: The Lives and Identities of Indian Seafarers in Imperial Britain and India. Cardiff University. pp. iv.
- ^ Navy & Army Illustrated. Hudson & Kearns. 1897. p. 118.
- ^ Charters, Erica (2014-11-03). Disease, War, and the Imperial State: The Welfare of the British Armed Forces during the Seven Years' War. University of Chicago Press. p. 151. ISBN 978-0-226-18014-4.