Anglo-Indian people are a distinct Indian minority community of mixed-race British and Indian ancestry. During the colonial period their ancestry was defined by British paternal and Indian maternal heritage; in the period subsequent to the British Raj, the term Anglo-Indian has also encompassed other European and Indian ancestries. Anglo-Indians' first language is English. In the nineteenth century, various designations such as Eurasian or Indo-Briton were used to describe this community, while Anglo-Indian was primarily used for white Britons in India. Since 1911, Anglo-Indian has been used primarily for mixed race individuals with paternal British and Indian maternal ancestry while white Britons living in India were classed separately as European.