Lascars were sailors or seamen from many different ethnic backgrounds. The term was sometimes used to specifically refer to a sailor of any Asian ancestry, however there were also African lascars recorded in Britain. Of the Asian lascars, Austronesian Malay people, from Southeast Asia, formed a significant part of the lascar population settling in, and sailing to and from Britain. From East Asia, Japanese and Chinese seamen were often operating as lascars for British ships and trading companies. From South Asia, Indians made up a huge proportion of these sea crews, particularly in the East India Company's earliest decades of operation. Parsees (who originate from Persia, West Asia) and Luso-Asians of mixed Portuguese and Indian heritage, also came from South Asia to work as lascars. From West Asia, Armenians formed part of diverse lascar crews, and Yemenis increasingly served as lascar sailors and militiamen after the completion of the Suez Canal in 1869, going on to open businesses, like boarding houses, in port cities such as Cardiff and South Shields.