Indies
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{{Merge-multiple|Indianized kingdom|Greater India|Undivided India|Indian subcontinent|discuss=Talk:Indies#Merge discussion|date=March 2008}}
[[Image:Indies.PNG|right|thumb|300px|{{legend|#F60|East Indies}}
{{legend|#F96|[[Indian subcontinent]]/[[Greater India]]}}
{{legend|#FF0|[[Western New Guinea]]}}
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{{dablink|You may be looking for [[West Indies]] or [[Indie]]''.}}
The '''Indies''' or '''East Indies''' (or '''East India''') is a term often used to refer to the islands of SE [[Asia]], especially the [[Malay Archipelago]].<ref name='Oxford'>Oxford Dictionary of English 2e, Oxford University Press, 2003, ''"East Indies/East India"''</ref><ref>[http://www.britannica.com/ebi/article-9274111 Britannica.com ''"East Indies"'']</ref> In a wider sense, the Indies is also used to describe lands of [[South Asia|South]] and [[Southeast Asia]]<ref name='Oxford'>Oxford Dictionary of English 2e, Oxford University Press, 2003, East Indies/East India</ref>, occupying all of the present [[India]]n Union, [[Pakistan]], [[Bangladesh]], [[Myanmar]], [[Sri Lanka]], the [[Maldives]], and also [[Thailand]], [[Cambodia]], [[Laos]], [[Brunei]], [[Singapore]], the [[Philippines]], [[East Timor]], [[Malaysia]] and [[Indonesia]]. (Dutch-held colonies in the area were known as the [[Dutch East Indies]] before [[Indonesian independence]]).
The East Indies may also include [[Indochina]], the [[Philippine Islands]], [[Brunei]], [[Singapore]] and [[East Timor]]. It does not, however, include [[western New Guinea]] (West Papua), which is part of [[Melanesia]].
The inhabitants of the East Indies are sometimes called East Indians, distinguishing them both from inhabitants the subcontinent of [[India]], the [[Caribbean]] which is also called the "West Indies," and from the [[indigenous peoples of the Americas]] who are often called "American Indians." (In [[North America]] however, the term East Indian may be used for people originating [[India]] living in North America.) However, the peoples of the East Indies comprise a wide variety of cultural diversity, and the inhabitants do not consider themselves as belonging to a single [[ethnic]] group. [[Hinduism]], [[Buddhism]] and [[Islam]] are the most popular [[major world religions|religions]] throughout the region, while [[Christianity]], [[Sikhism]], [[Jainism]] and various other traditional beliefs and practices are also prominent in some areas. The major languages in this area draw from a wide variety of [[language families]], and should not be confused with the term [[Indo-Aryan languages|Indic]], which refers only to a group of [[Indo-European languages]] from [[South Asia]].
The extensive East Indies are subdivided into two sections (from a European perspective), archaically called Hither India and Further India. The first is the former British India, the second is modern [[Southeast Asia]] or the [[Association of Southeast Asian Nations|ASEAN]] Bloc.
Regions of the East Indies are sometimes known by the colonial empire they once belonged to, hence, ''British East Indies'' refers to [[Malaysia]], the [[Dutch East Indies]] means [[Indonesia]], and [[Spanish East Indies]] means the [[Philippines]].
==History==
Exploration of these regions by [[Europe]]an powers first began in the late 15th century and early 16th century, led by the [[Portugal|Portuguese]] [[explorers]]. These regions became important sources of trading goods, particularly [[cotton]], [[Indigo dye|indigo]] and [[spice]]s after the establishment of European trading companies designed for the specific purpose: the [[British East India Company]] and [[Dutch East India Company]], among others, in the 17th century.
The [[New World]] was initially thought to be the easternmost part of the ''Indies'' by explorer [[Christopher Columbus]], who had grossly underestimated the westerly distance from Europe to Asia. Later, to avoid confusion, the New World came to be called the "[[West Indies]]", whilst the original Indies came to be called the "East Indies".
The racial designation '''East Indian''' was once primarily used to describe people of all of the East Indies, but more recently it has been used widely as a more precise version of an Indian from India, to avoid the potential confusion from the term [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|American Indian]] (alternately: Native Americans) who were once simply referred to as ''Indians'' (see the [[Native American name controversy]] for more information).
East Indian is also a designation for an ethnic or sub-ethnic group, based in and around the city of [[Bombay]] or Mumbai. These people, part of the original [[Konkani people|Konkani]] ethnic group, had been [[Evangelism|evangelized]] under [[Portugal|Portuguese]] auspices, and had partly [[lusitanic|Lusitanized]]. Later, the area was conquered by the [[Maratha Empire]], and the [[Marathi language]] was adopted by the people. Under British rule, they were known as Bombay Portuguese, but, when immigrants from Portuguese-ruled [[Goa]] began to enter Bombay, in order to distinguish themselves from the Goans (whom the British also called Portuguese), they renamed themselves "[[East Indians (ethnic group)|East Indians]]", purportedly after the British East India Company, in order to demonstrate their loyalty to the British, and as locals of Bombay as distinguished from the Goans.
==See also==
* [[Indosphere]]
* [[Greater India]]
* [[East Indians (ethnic group)]]
* [[Malay archipelago]]
* [[Discoverer of the Americas]]
* [[Spanish East Indies]]
* [[West Indies]]
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{Regions of the world}}
[[Category:Asia]]
[[bs:Indije]]
[[br:Indez]]
[[da:Ostindien]]
[[de:Ostindische Inseln]]
[[es:Indias]]
[[fr:Indes]]
[[hr:Indije]]
[[is:Austur-Indíur]]
[[it:Indie Orientali]]
[[ms:Hindia Timur]]
[[nl:Indië (regio)]]
[[ja:東インド諸島]]
[[no:Ostindia]]
[[sr:Индије]]
[[sh:Indije]]
[[sv:Ostindien]]
[[vi:Đông Ấn]]
[[tr:Doğu Hint Adaları]]