Luso-Asians
| Regions with significant populations | |
|---|---|
 India
|
Around 1,000,000 |
 Macau
|
Around 5000-8000 |
 Portugal
|
Around 100,000 |
 United Kingdom
|
Around 26,000 |
 Kenya
|
less than 1000 (2000 Estimate) |
 Uganda
|
less than 100 (2000 Estimate) |
 Tanzania
|
less than 500 (2000 Estimate) |
| Languages | |
| Konkani, Sri Lankan Portuguese Creole, Kristang, Macanese, English | |
| Religion | |
| Christianity (Roman Catholicism) | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Goan Catholics, Karwari Catholics, Mangalorean Catholics, Burghers, Macanese, Timorese, Eurasians, Anglo-Indians, Kakure Kirishitan | |
Luso-Asians (Portuguese: Luso-Asiáticos) are those people by ethnicity based primarily in Asia who come under the cultural and multi-ethnic sway of the Portuguese Empire and retain aspects of the Portuguese language, Roman Catholic faith, and cultural practices, including internal and external architecture of Houses, art, and cuisine that reflect this contact. "Luso" is from the Roman province Lusitania which is roughly the ancestor of the modern state of Portugal in the Iberian Peninsula.
Luso-Asian Art is also known as Indo-Portuguese Art, Cingalo-Portuguese Art, Siamo-Luso Art, Malayo-Portuguese, Sino-Portuguese Art, or Nipo-Portuguese Art. Examples of this art, especially of furniture and religious art are found throughout Europe and in the islands of Macaronesia.
Luso-Asians traded and influenced each other within Asia as well as with Portugal and other parts of Catholic Europe, especially Spain and Italy. This exchange produced distinctive elements in domestic, civic and religious Luso-Asian architecture, as well as Luso-Asian cuisine.
The European continent exploration of the Asian continent after the arrival of D. Vasco Da Gama during the Age of Discovery in the Indian Ocean around 1498, was followed by the establishments of coastal trading bases called feitorias (factories) and forts. Portuguese traders, Catholic missionaries, who were Franciscans, Dominicans, Augustinians and Jesuits, such as Saint Francis Xavier and administrators poured into the vast region. These men often married local residents with the official encouragement of D. Alfonso de Albuquerque by the royals granted approval in the form called Politicos dos casamentos. A resultant mixed race Mestizo population that was Catholic and Lusophone (Portuguese-speaking) developed. The work of missionaries produced Catholic communities speaking specific Portuguese-based Creoles who produced religious artifacts, often in ivory, ebony, teak, silver, and gold. Asian women produced distinctive embroideries on velvet, silk, and cotton that were prized in Europe. The movement of Asian wives, Asian and European servants, and African slaves across the Portuguese Empire distributed Luso-Asian recipes throughout Asia and beyond. The people that descent from Luso ancestry and varied Asian ancestry are called Luso-Asian by ethnicity and were mainly nobles of varied types in the hierarchy of the Empire within the Kingdom of Portugal.
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Wikipedia