Development of typological classification and its relationship to microdifferentiation in ethnic India

Abstract

The history of the racial classification of the people of India can be looked at in three temporal phases: (1) at the national level, the initial studies of racial classification attempted along with the Census of India; (2) at the regional level, studies by anthropologists and statisticians following systematic sampling and statistical procedures were conducted after the initial national-level studies and (3) population-specific studies in different regions across the country including micro-evolutionary studies of individual populations followed the regional studies. Initially the racial classification was part of the Census survey conducted by British anthropologists in some parts of the country among castes and tribes and was based on a few physical traits. This was followed by a systematic anthropometric survey in particulars regions (e.g., UP, Bengal, etc.) by anthropologists and statisticians. This was followed by population specific micro-evolutionary studies across different regions by numerous anthropologists investigating the role of selection, drift, migration and admixture and other population structure variables among endogamous castes and tribes.