Doncella India, Philippines girl with Indian blood ca 1870/80

Colorized a vintage photo of a young Filipina taken ca 1870-80 from the Biblioteca Nacional de España where its Hispanic Digital Library contains the Philippine Album Publication,with 17 portraits and 43 views of Manila and surroundings. Not much story behind the photo but it has excellent photo resolution that makes it a joy to colorize.

The photo is entitled Doncella India, which transliterates to Indian Maid but depicts a Filipina. This young girl could have Indian blood. It is a well known fact that in 1762 the British invaded Manila and had control of the city for several years. They brought with them many Indian soldiers or Sepoys (Indian infantryman employed by the armies of the British East India Company from 1700 to 1857) who didn’t want to fight so they ran off to the hills east of Manila and hid out until the British left Manila. That is one reason why there is a lot of Indian blood in Filipinos even until today.

There have been comments on this picture that the young girl is dressed indecent for the period, considering that the women of the time wore the Philippine traditional baro't saya when photographed in a studio. There is no known history behind the photo and it is possible for young ladies (teenagers) at the time to dress less formally given the tropic clime.