Status of Social-Cultural Anthropology in India

Abstract

Although we have been invited to write on the status of social-cultural anthro­ pology in South Asia, we prefer to confine our remarks to India for various reasons. To the best of our knowledge, anthropology has not been accorded independent academic recognition in Afganistan, Pakistan, Nepal, and Bangla­ desh, although there are some anthropologists working in basically non­ anthropological institutions. Sri Lanka has produced some well-known anthropologists, but their talent is being utilized by other countries. In India, on the other hand, anthropology has been recognized by academic and nonacademic bodies and institutions for many decades. Before detailing the background of contemporary anthropology in India, we should like to say a few words about the discipline in general. We have been invited to write on social­ cultural anthropology, the study of man. But it is appropriate to state at the outset that social-cultural anthropology in India is a subdivision of anthropology in the sense that the term is understood in the English-speaking countries. The other two major subdivisions of anthropology are physical (biological) anthro­ pology and prehistory or archaeological anthropology. In recent years, some institutions of higher learning and research have begun to teach linguistic anthro­ pology as well. As this account makes clear, we realize that there are areas of interest which the Indian social-cultural anthropologists share with Indian so-