“The People”

Races in India

Indian population is polygenetic and is said to be the ‘melting pot’ of various races. Only few people can claim that they belong to any particular race nevertheless many Indians pride themselves that they belong to the Aryan Dynasty. There is one species known as Ramapithecus which was found in foothills of Shivalik of the North Western Himalayas. It was thought to be the 1^st in the line of Homonides, lived some for fourteen million years ago. Many researchers have analyzed that a species which lived in India about 2 million years ago resembled Australopithecus.

Main Races in India:

As per the study done by Dr. B.S.Guha, the Indian population is derived from 6 main ethical groups-

1. Negrito / Brachycephalic
2. Prote Austroloids / Austrics
3. Mongoloids
4. Mediterranean/ Dravidians
5. Western Brachycephals
6. Nordic Aryans

1. Negrito (broad headed) -:

The African Negritos were the oldest people who came to India. These people are now found in small patches among the hill tribes of south India. Irulas, Daniyans, Kadars are the subgroups of Negrito people. They survive in Andaman Islands and have retained their language.

2. Proto Austroloids -:

These were the race of humans with the wavy hair, long heads with prominent eyes and low foreheads, noses having low, broad roots and brown bodies,. The Austrics of India represent a race of medium height, dark complexion with long heads and rather flat noses but otherwise of regular features. Mixing of both the races with Negritos may be the reason for the dark and black pigmentation of the skin. Austrics tribe can be found in the whole of India particularly when one passes on to Burma, Malaya. These people laid the foundation of Indian civilization.

3. Mangoloids (Nepali and Tibetan) -:

Mongoloids confined to the north eastern fringes of India i.e. in Assam, Nagaland, Mizoram, Jayanti hills. These people have oblique eyes, high cheek bones and yellow complexion, medium height and sparse hairs

4. Dravidians -:

It comprises of 3 sub types- Paleo Mediterranean, True Mediterranean and Oriental Mediterranean. The city civilization of the Indus valley was built by them, whose remains have been found in Mohenjodaro and Harappa. These people must have spread to all over India.

5. Western Brachycephals -:

These are broad headed people living mainly on the western side of the country such as part of the western side of the country such as part of Kashmir, Kathiawar, Gujarat and some parts of Maharashtra, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. These people are also known as Alpinoids and Dinarics. There representation is found among the parses.

6. Nordic Aryans -:

These were the people who migrated to India and left there homes in Central Asia. They were also known as Indo-Iranians. They settled in Mesopotamia for many centuries. These people have visited India in-between 2000-1500 B.C and got settled in Punjab. The Aryans coming to India encountered the highly civilized Indus valley people who had big towns and brick structures.

The major tribes who inhabited India are:

• Andors – Arunachal Pradesh
• Bhilis – Himachal Pradesh
• Bhutas – Sikkim
• Jagmitras – Meghalaya
• Great Andamanies – Andaman Island
• Khonds – Orissa
• Kuki – Manipur
• Mundas – Bihar
• Todas – Tamil Nadu
• Santhals – West Bengal