What is the history of the IndianEnglish usage of "doubt" to mean "question"?

Question

I've observed a significant number of questions on SO & SE, presumably written by folks use Indian English, in which the word "doubt" is used where "question" should have been used. The sentences usually look like "I have a doubt about [interesting topic].."

My question, then, is: how or why did Indian English shift the meaning of "doubt" from its usage in British English? I'm looking for any historical development of this usage.

Edit required by SE - the latest comments on literal vs. idiomatic translations are more what I'm after. How did the word "doubt' take on this non-BritEng usage in India?

Answer 1

The root of this usage can perhaps be traced to one Indian word: Shankaa. The word Shankaa does represent doubt with the sense as in British English. However, it does get used to convey one more sense: a state of 'confusion', i.e., partial understanding enough to make one capable of seeking a clarification. Often this state doesn't get referred to as a state of having a question in mind, since the question itself may not be very clear and precise, and it may also be an invalid one. Secondly, questioning also sounds like being a bit aggressive, conveying a feeling of posing as a challenger. Posing doubts sounds more polite and correct. So, the teachers ask questions and the students have doubts for clarification! Thus, Doubt when used to represent a question becomes more friendlier than Question.