South Indian (Sri Lanka) Ancestry of Aguascalientes

I remembered this thread as soon as I saw the Guadalajara marriage record for Antonio Rodríguez Chino de las indias orientales natural de la Ciudad de Vengala.

Makes one wonder what the scribe was thinking here. Could it be Antonio was Chinese or Burmese from Bengal, which is technically not a city but a region? Or have I read it wrong and his surnames are Rodríguez Chino and he is from Bengal or one of its chief cities, like Kolkata (Calcutta)?

Hello,
My dna shows 4% Indonesian, maylasian + Japan. My paternal oral history has always been that our 3x great grandparents were south East Asian. I was told that they worked the mines in chihuahua early 1800s but have not been able to verify through docs...but the dna is there and some in my family do have features. While I continue to search, I assume they came with the Manila Galleons through Acapulco since Indonesian slaves were included.
Maven

I used to wonder about possible immigrants from East Asia to Colonial Mexico via Acapulco, but I never saw any records for them until I started to peruse the indexed dispensas at Valladolid Dispensas. If you search Valladolid Dispensas you will find records for a Chinese man, a Malaccan, and various Filipinos.

Hi FSG_85

You asked for ideas so I have two. :)

I found some info on Sri Lankas early colonial history, back when it was a colony of Portugal. The following is an escerpt from a paper here:
http://www.icm.gov.mo/rc/viewer/20015/967
which is at this website:
https://www.icm.gov.mo/en about Macao.

(start of quote)

THE CASADOS
Viceroy Afonso de Albuquerque (1508-1515), recognized the problem of a shortage of manpower at an early stage. He sought to overcome this by encouraging the Portuguese to intermarry with the local population. Many Portuguese outposts in Portuguese Asia were inadequately manned. It was expected that the offspring of these marriages would create a population in the colonies loyal to the Portuguese crown. 1

These married settlers were known as casados, and lived in various towns and cities in Sri Lanka. Having married local women, they maintained close contact with the local population. Their neighbours, through intercourse with them, were able to acquire a knowledge of the Portuguese language during the Portuguese period in Sri Lanka. As a result there emerged a group of people in towns who had acquired a smattering of the Portuguese language. This was, however, not a language they had learnt from books or with the help of a teacher. They had only gained familiarity with the spoken language. This colloquial variety was a corrupted form of Portuguese, as among these casados there were Eurasians and mestizos in addition to the settlers from Portugal living in Sri Lanka. The second and third generation of the Portuguese descendents became more and more Ceylonised not only due to mixed marriages but also in their mental attitudes. They continued to use the Portuguese tongue in order to maintain their position as a race separate from the indigenous population and to identify themselves as the ruling class whether they were Portuguese, Dutch or English.

Among these casados the most prominent were the Portuguese soldiers. There were practically no Portuguese women in Sri Lanka. The men who were registered as soldiers moved freely between Portuguese establishments. There were Portuguese traders and merchants. The latter were clearly separated from public officials in Portuguese Asia. They were associated with trade conducted by the state and were allowed to carry a certain weight of commodities free of charge in Portuguese vessels. 2

All these groups lived in the towns, mainly trading centers with very few connections with agriculture in the surrounding area. It is reported that they resorted to fishing in the neighboring sea. They also practiced other crafts such as cobbling, tailoring and other arts and crafts that they were familiar with in their mother country. The later generations continued these trades. They were unable to feed their population without foodstuffs from the interior. In this manner the frontier society also came to use Portuguese language for communication.

The Portuguese did not care to learn about local habits and organization of the society. They have been blamed for their lack of respect towards the 'high castes' in Sri Lanka. They offered duties to other castes which were assigned to high castes. In marriages they cared more about looks and talents than castes. However, it is recorded that even royal princesses, including a queen, had sought conjugal connection with Portuguese men. Therefore it is clear that Portuguese language was not confined just to upper classes but went deep into all classes of the Sri Lankan society.

(end of quote)

A number of Portuguese ended up in Mexico. Maybe one individual was a descendant of a Casado pair. I have 13% Portuguese DNA, I also have lines back to Aguascalientes - the Romo line among others (but no South INdian dna).So maybe you are really looking for someone who is identified as Portuguese in records.

Alternatively, African slaves were brought to Sri Lanka and intermarried or had children with local women. It may be a slave descendent of theirs was sold to a Portuguese trader who transported this individual to Mexico. THere were a number of slaves in Aguascalientes area. I do have African dna and have found at least one ancestor listed as esclavo mulatto in church records.

Regards
Denise