Luso Indians are of Indo-Portuguese origin. Before the arrival of the Dutch, the Portuguese were in power in Kochi. The Luso-Indian race was born when Portuguese men, who took the long and hazardous journey to Kochi married local women. To this day, the Luso Indian community maintains the traces of their European origin in their culinary habits, dressing and festivals. According the community members there were people in Kochi that could fluently speak Portuguese until 1980s. However, English has now replaced Portuguese as their mother tongue. After the Portuguese were defeated by the Dutch most Luso Indian families migrated to the outskirts of Kochi. But, according to the official data, 250 families still continue to live in the area
