The following was originally from the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica. As such, it may not yet be properly adapted to Wikipedia. It is included as a stub of sorts to inspire people to modify it:
BABU, a native Indian clerk. The word is really a term of respect attached to a proper name, like " master " or " Mr," and Babu-ji[?] is still used in many parts of India, meaning " sir "; but without the suffix the word itself is now generally used contemptuously as signifying a semi-literate native, with a mere veneer of modern education.
In recent years, the term BABU has been frequently used to refer to bureaucrats and other government officials, especially by the Indian media.
wikipedia.org dumped 2003-03-17 with terodump