E. Indies. Also 7–8 topaz. [a. Pg. topaz, Lucena, 1600; said in Madras Manual of Administration, 1893, to be ad. tōpāshé, Malayālam form of Hindī dōbāshī, man of two languages, interpreter (in which capacity these men of mixed descent were employed): see DUBASH. (A fancied derivation from Hindī tōpī hat, making the term = tōpī-wālā ‘hat-man,’ European (see TOPI) has been current since the middle of the 18th c.)] A dark-skinned half-breed of Portuguese descent; often applied to a soldier, or a ship’s scavenger or bath-attendant, who is of this class.
[1648. Van Spielbergen’s Voy. (Dutch), 34 (transl. in Yule). We saw to seaward another Champaigne (Sampan) wherein were 20 men, Mestiços and Toupas.]
1680. in J. T. Wheeler, Madras (1861), I. 121. It is resolved and ordered to entertain about 100 Topasses or Black Portuguese into pay.
1727. A. Hamilton, New Acc. E. Ind., II. xlviii. 199. There are about two hundred Topasses, or Indian Portugueze settled and married in Cambodia.
1758. Ann. Reg., 283/2. A Topaz. [Note] A black Christian soldier; usually termed subjects of Portugal.
1766. J. H. Grose, Voy. E. Ind. (ed. 2), I. xiv. Gloss., Topasses, a tawny race of foot-soldiers, descended from Portuguese marrying natives and called Topasses, because they wear hats.
1865. Daily Tel., 24 Oct., 5/1. Thirtytopasses ‘on board the deserted ship launched a boat and got to Port Canning as soon as the steamer.
