indianos

Indianos is a term used in Portuguese and Spanish with several related meanings. In contemporary usage, indiano (plural indianos) generally denotes a person from India or someone of Indian descent, and the word is used as a straightforward demonym in many Portuguese- and Spanish-speaking contexts.

Historically, the term also carried a distinct social meaning in the Iberian Atlantic world. During the early modern period, an indiano referred to a person who travelled to the Indies—areas under Portuguese or Spanish influence in Asia, Africa, or the Americas—and later returned home with wealth or notable experience. These individuals often played prominent roles as merchants, landholders, or patrons, and their fortunes were linked to their overseas ventures. The figure of the indiano became part of regional memory and sometimes literature and local history, reflecting patterns of migration, commerce, and social mobility within the Atlantic world.

In current usage, the sense of “indiano” as a historical social category is primarily of interest to historians and cultural scholars, while its everyday use typically returns to the straightforward nationality or ethnicity sense: Indians or people of Indian origin. The term may also appear in discussions of diaspora, migration, and intercultural exchange within Iberian-language contexts.