To be honest, if we change the success of the Muslim conquerors in India, we can create Muslim Indian colonies (at least administratively). If the Muslims conquer far more of the Indian subcontinent, taking some of the Southern ports, and having local Indian elites converted to Islam, with Hindus remaining an underclass, then you can have the Muslims expand overseas, administering colonies, and you bring over poorer Hindus to harvest sugar cane etc. These will still be Indian colonies, and Indian MUSLIM colonies, in the same sense that Fiji was a British colony. If you have a uniting (or near uniting) of mainland India, there is population pressure, which encourages colonialism. Also, if they figure out (this will have to be earlier than 1800s, BTW) that the Europeans are trying to get spices from the 'Spice Islands', then the Indians will likely take control there to keep European coin. Whoever unites India will likely invade Sri Lanka too, if just for the alleviation of population density, or sending a particularly troublesome group to the island (so you can keep them contained). On the other hand, they may send demographics that have good seamanship, and it will become a forward base for colonialism. Same could be said for the Andaman Islands.