27 Classification of Races

Dr.Gulrukh Begum

Content

· Introduction

· Racial elements in India

· Classification of Giufrida-Ruggeri

· Classification of A.C. Haddon

· Classification of Eickstedt

· Classification of H.H. Risley

· Classification of B.S. Guha

· Classification of S.S. Sarkar

Learning Objectives:

History of defining race
Genetical definition of race
Statement of race by the American Anthropological Association
Anthropologists division of human races
Racial elements in India

Racial Classification

Introduction

The word “race” has been variously traced to the Latin ratio (“reason”) or radix (“root”), and to the Hebrew for “head” or “origin”. Johnson’s definition of race in the 1755 first edition of A Dictionary of the English Language are “A family ascendency”, “A family descendancy”, “A generation; a collective family”, and “A particular breed” (cf. Hudson, 1996).While tracing the origin in the nineteenth century, he states that no edition of either Webster’s or Chamber’s Dictionary defines “race” in a modern way, despite the popularity of this term in Victorian science and ethnography.

Finally, in the first edition of the Oxford English Dictionary, Vol. 8 (1910), definitions of “race” describes the term as “A group of several tribes or peoples, forming a distinct ethnic stock” and “One of the great divisions of mankind, having certain peculiarities in common”. Later on race has been defined by Hooton (1946) as “a great division of mankind, the members of which, though individually varying are characterized as a group by certain combinations of morphological and metrical features, principally, non-adaptive, which have been derived from their common descent. Montagu (1942) has defined a race or an ethnic group as representing one of a number of populations comprising the single species Homo sapiens, which individually maintain their differences, physical and cultural, by means of isolating mechanisms such as geographic and social barriers.

The term race is used in various senses, even by human biologists. Today, despite of the fact that race is not a useful tool for classification but to understand the human differences and diversity it still remains a practice and thus presents a contradiction as how can we study human differences without talking about race?

Beginning in the 1930s, advances in population genetics and evolutionary biology led many to conclude that the race concept was not a particularly useful or accurate marker of biological differences. Explanations for racial differences based on measurable and observable physical traits such as cranial capacity and skin colour gave way to a whole new way of thinking about the subject since the beginning of the 20th century. Ultimately race came to be understood as a reflection of unseen differences that the scientists of the time attributed to the recently discovered factors of heredity called, genes (Yudell, 2015).

Montagu has given the genetical definition of a race as “a population which differs in the frequency of gene or genes, which is actually exchanging or capable of exchanging genes across whatever boundaries separate it from other populations of the species”. Race could also be defined anthropologically as “a population characterized by some concentrations, relative as to the frequency and distribution of genes or physical characters, which appear, fluctuate and often disappear in the course of time by means of geographical and /or cultural isolation”. Many prominent biologists by 1970s, including the geneticists Richard Lewontin and L. Luca Cavalli-Sforza viewed the concept of race as a deeply flawed way to organize human diversity that is inseparable from the prejudices about human differences that spawned the concept in the 18th century. Theodosius Dobzhansky, the evolutionary biologist whose work between the 1930s and 1970s had a tremendous influence on the way race was thought about by the scientists. They concluded that the number of human races was variable depending upon what traits those were being examined. In the context of evolutionary biology and population genetics, the concept of race is simply a tool for making genetic “diversity intelligible and manageable” in scientific study (Dobzhansky, 1962).

Nei and Roy Choudhary (1993) using gene frequency have prepared a phylogenetic tree for 26 representative human populations from around the world and found consistent with the traditional racial divisions and subdivisions, thus providing genetic proof that race is real and that the traditional racial classifications are accurate. However, they also say that the agreement between the genetic and linguistic trees becomes poor if their phylogenetic tree is correct. In social life race appears as omnipresent and real and it becomes difficult to put down in any objective sense because the concept of race is full of contradictions. Modern anthropologists could not reach consensus with regard to the number of “races” and their composition.

The American Anthropological Association (1998) in their statement of race says:

Physical variation in any given trait tends to occur gradually rather than abruptly over geographic areas. Since physical traits are inherited independently of one another, the presence of a varied range of traits does not predict the presence of other traits e.g. There is a variation in the skin colour from light in the temperate areas in the north to dark in the tropical areas in the south; its intensity is not related to hair texture or nose shape. Dark skin colour may be associated with frizzy or kinky hair or curly or wavy or straight hair. All of which are found among different indigenous peoples in tropical regions. These facts make any attempt to establish lines of division among biological populations as both arbitrary and subjective.

Biological distinctiveness is also emphasized in the Cambridge Encyclopedia (1990) stating “race as a biologically distinct human group”. Biological differences result because of isolation between breeding population but there have been few isolated human groups in the world today. The “racial” classifications typically emphasize superficially obvious features, such as skin colour or hair type, but other traits which are transmitted genetically are also dealt with. These are like blood groups or differences in inherited enzyme deficiencies, which are more precisely measurable and tend to cross-cut the classical categories. With the interaction of genetic dispositions and environment produce local physical type; for example, there are clear correlations between body proportions and climate variations. Scholars have assumed that biological races could be clearly demarcated and that racial groups would vary not only in skin colour, skull shape and so on, but also in intelligence and even in personality. Despite many attempts to establish such correlations, there seems to be no evidence that biological differences between populations have any relationship to variations in ability or character or with any cultural institutions.

All races are currently classified by anthropologist or biologist as belong to the one species, Homo sapiens. All races of mankind in the world can interbreed because they have so much in common. All races share 99.99 + % of the same genetic materials which means that divisions of race are largely subjective. A number of racial classifications of human population have been given but at the same time there seems to be no agreement about these classifications. The anthropologists usually divide human being into races like the Caucasoid, Negroid and Mongoloid and Australoid. This division is usually on the basis of origin and the variations found among them. But again clear cut demarcating line doesn’t exists and there are always intermediate types possessing combination of characteristics. So every race has some overlapping traits.

Caucasoid are the inhabitants of Europe, America (White), Australia (White), New Zealand (White), South Africa (White), West Asia, South Asia and parts of Central Asia. They are usually medium to tall in stature with a skin colour which varies from light reddish white to olive brown. Some are brown as well. The head hair is light blond to dark brown in colour. It is fine to medium in texture and straight to wavy in form. They have moderate to profuse quantity of body hair. Head form ranges from broad (brachycephalic) to long (dolicocephalic). They have narrow to medium broad face. Jaw is not projecting forward, i.e. prognathism is not present. They have a leptorrhine to mesorrhine nose with a high nasal bridge. Lips are thin to medium and the colour of their eyes is usually of lighter shades ranging from light blue to dark brown. There is a relatively high incidence of A2 with highest frequency of Rh-ve.

Negroid

www.thehindu.com

Negroids are divided into African negroid and oceanic negroid. They are the inhabitants of Africa, America, New Guinea and the neighboring islands, Andaman Islands, Malay Peninsula, east Sumatra and Philippine Island. Their height ranges from very short to tall with a skin colour which is dark brown to black. Some are yellow- brown. The head hair is dark brown to black in colour which is coarse in texture and curly to frizzly or woolly in form. Body hair is slight in quantity. The head form is predominantly dolichocephalic ) with protruding occiput and rounded head. Face is medium broad to narrow. Prognathism is very often present. Their nose is platyrrhine and the bridge and root is usually low and broad. The lips are thick and everted. The colour of their eyes is dark brown to black.

Mongoloid

https://www.flickr.com/nishigirl

Mongoloids are the inhabitants of China, Mongolia, Tibet, Siberia, North America, Greenland, Burma, Thailand, Malay Peninsula, Philippines, Japan and North-East India. They are medium to short in stature. Their skin colour ranges from yellow to yellow-brown, sometimes reddish brown. The hair is coarse in texture, straight in form and from brown to brown black in colour. They have a sparsely distributed body hair. Their eyes are brown to dark brown in colour, the eyes are oblique with narrow slit-like opening and mongoloid eye fold is often present. They have a medium broad to very broad face form with high and flat cheek bones. Their head form is predominantly brachycephaly with a medium head height. The nose is mesorrhine to platyrrhine .The bridge is usually low to medium. Cheekbones are high and flat. The lips are thin.

Australoid

http://www.blogs.indiewire.com David Ngoombujarra

The Australoids include two main groups- the Australian aborigines and the pre-Dravidian or Australoid or Veddoid. They are small statured people with an average height of 165cms for the Australian aborigines and 157cms for the Veddoid. The Australian Aborigines have a skin colour varying from medium to dark chocolate brown and hair form is curly, sometimes wavy, and rarely straight and the colour is from medium brown to black. Veddoids of Malay Peninsula have a skin colour varying from yellowish to dark brown. Hair colour is black with reddish tinge which is wavy or curly. Their head is mesocephalic and nose is of medium breadth and flat i.e. mesorrhine, approaching platyrrhine. The Australian Aborigines have a very platyrrhine nose with a markedly depressed nasal root. Their head is usually dolichocephalic and the brow ridges are extremely large and the forehead is receding. Their face is short, showing medium to pronounced prognathism, lips are full and the chin is receding. The Veddoids have an orthognathous face, lips are of medium thickness and chin is somewhat weak.

They mainly inhabit in Australia, Melanesia, Philippines, Malay Peninsula, Andaman Islands, south and central India.

Racial elements in India

The racial classification of Indian people was attempted first by Sir Herbert Risley and findings published in a book ‘The Peoples of India’. The lists of various classifications given on the people of India by different authors are as follows:

Risley’s classification (1915)
Giuffrida-Ruggari’s classification (1921)
Haddon’s classification (1925)
V.Eickstedt’s classification (1934,1952)
Guha’s classification (1935,1937)
Roy’s classification (1934-38)
Sarkar’s classification (1958)
Biasutti’s (1959)
Roginskij and Levin’s classification (1963)
Büchi’s classification (1968)
Bowle’s classification (1977)

All the classifications are important and noteworthy. Of all these some are given below:

Classification of Giufrida-Ruggeri

Ruggeri found the following ethnic stratification in India:

(a) Negritos

(b) Pre-Dravidians (Australoid-Veddaic)- Santal, Ho, Munda etc.

Telegu speaking people.

(d) Tall dolichocephalic (Mesocephalic?) elements- Toda.

(e) Dolichocephalic Aryan (Homo Indo-europeaus dolichomorphus).

(f) Brachycephalic leucoderm (Homo Indo-europeaus brachymorphus).

Classification of A.C. Haddon

Haddon has divided India into three main geographical regions, viz., the Himalayas, the Northern plains or Hindustan and the Southern plateau, the Deccan; and has dealt with the racial elements in each of these regions separately.

1. Deccan

Haddon has observed the following racial elements in this region.
A Negrito element is suspected among some populations like the Kadirs.
Pre-Dravidian. They form the oldest population. They are dolichocephalic, short stature, platyrrhine people. Their skin colour is dark brown to nearly black. Some of the representatives are: Bhil, Gond, Oraon, Santal, etc.
Head is dolichocephalic, nose is mesorrhine, and stature is medium. Skin clolour is brownish black, e.g., Tamil, Malayalam, Telegu, Canarese, etc. speaking people.
Southern Brachycephals. They have mesocephalic to brachycephalic head and medium nose. This type is represented by the Panyan in the Tamil district and the Pavara, fishermen of the Tinnevelly coast.
Western Brachycephals. They are occupying the regions extending from Gujarat to Coorgs along the western coast. They are the Scytho-Dravidians of Risley. They have brachycephalic head, almost leptorrhine nose, light brown complexion and tall stature. The examples are: the Nagar Brahmins of Gujarat; the Prabhu, etc.

2. Hindustan

The Indo-Afghan appears to be the predominating type in this region. They are characterized by dolichocephalic head; finely cut, straight or convex, prominent nose; long face; regular feature; medium to tall stature; dark eyes; light brown complexion and black wavy hair. The typical representatives are Jats, the Rajputs, etc.

In some places, the members of the Indo-Afghan type have mixed with the aboriginal people. The intermixture is more apparent in the lower caste people

3. The Himalayas

Haddon observed the following racial elements in this region:

Indo-Afghans, represented by the Balti.
Indo-Afghan, e.g., the Kanets. The Kanets of Kulu Valley exhibit a trace of Tibetan blood among them while the Kants of Lahoul also have some Mongoloid traits.
Mongoloid, this is the dominating element in Nepal, Bhutan, Sikkim, etc.

Assam has been dealt with separately by Haddon. The Assam tribes are mostly Mongoloid. He has included the Khasi, Bodo, Mishmi, Arleng, etc. in his Protomorphus division of the Mesocephalic Asiatic Xanthoderms.

In Assam he observes the following racial elements:

Dolichocephalic- Platyrrhine type. (Pre-Dravidian). This element is strong among the Khasi, Kuki, Manipuri, Kachari, etc. It occurs in weaker form among the Naga tribes.
Dolichocephalic-Mesorrhine. (Nesiot element). It is noticed among the Naga tribes, and other hill tribes.
Mesocephalic Platyrrhine. Is seen among the Khasis.
Mesocephalic Mesorrhine.
Brachycephalic Leptorrhine came from the north and is related to the Eurasiatic group.
Brachycephalic Platyrrhine, a variety of the Pareoean.
Dolichocephalic Leptorrhine, it was from India.

Classification of Eickstedt

Eickstedt classified the peoples of India into four main divisions, namely:

1. We did or Ancient Indian. They are primitive people and they live in jungles. They are again divided into:-

Skin colour dark brown; hair curly. Matriarchal influence is seen among them.They use mattock. Totemistic belief among them is noteworthy.E.g. Juangs, Bhils, Oraons, Gonds, etc.
Skin colour dark brown; hair curly; peoples with ancient culture; though a foreign influence is observed. E.g. Kurumber, Weddah, etc.

Melanid or Black Indian, Racially they form a mixed group. They are divided into-

Southern Melanid. They live in the southernmost plains of India. Matriarchal influence is marked. Their skin colour is black. e.g. Yanadi, etc.
They are found in the North Deccan forests. They have strong totemistic beliefs. Matriarchal influence is observed. Skin colour is black brown. e.g. Munda, Ho, Santal, etc.

Indid or New Indians. They are culturally advanced peoples, having finer physical characteristics.

Their division’s are-

Gracile Indid. Skin colour is brown. They have gracile appearance. They are patriarchal people. e.g. The Bengalis.
North Indid. Skin colour is light brown; patriarchal people. e.g. The Rajputs, Todas, etc.

Palae-Mongoloid. e.g. Palayan from Wynad.

Eickstedt’s classification is based on both physical characteristics and culture of the peoples. Though his attempt as a pioneer to classify the Indian people is quite appreciable, his classification is not at all convincing. It is open to serve criticism.

Classification of H.H. Risley

Risley divided the peoples of India into the following types. He excluded the Negritos of Andaman islands, as they had, according to him, little to do with the peoples of India.

The Turko-Iranian. The Turko-Iranians have broad heads and fine to medium nose, which is long and prominent. They are fairly tall, the average stature varying from 162 cm. to 172 cm. They have plentiful hair on the face. Their eyes are generally dark, though grey eyes are also not uncommon and the complexion is fair. These people live in the Baluchistan Agency and Frontier Province, which are now in Pakistan. The type is represented by the Balochis, the Afghans, etc. Risley suggests that this type was formed as a result of a mixture of Turki and Persian.

The Indo-Aryan. They have long heads and in this character they markedly differ from the Turko-Iranians. Nose is long, narrow and prominent; complexion is fair; eyes have a dark colour. They have plentiful facial hair. They are tall-statured people. This type is found to predominate in Rajputana, the Punjab, and the valley of Kashmir. The Jats, the Khattris are some of the examples of this type.

The Scythio-Dravidian. This type has medium to broad head, medium nose, fair complexion and scanty hair on face and body. They are medium-statured. They differ from the Turko-Iranians in having larger heads, flatter faces, higher noses and shorter stature. This type is the result of an intermixture of two distinct racial elements, the Scythians and the Dravidians. They are distributed in the region extending from Gujarat to Coorgs. The Dravidian element is more prominent in the socially lower groups of these regions, while the Scythian elements predominate among the higher groups of people.

The Aryo-Dravidian of Hindustan Type. Their heads are long with tendency towards medium. Nose is generally medium but broad noses are also not unknown. The skin colour is also variable; it varies from light brown to dark. Stature ranges from 159 cm. 166 cm. Thus they are differentiated from the Indo-Aryans in shorter and broader nose. This type is found in the Uttar Pradesh, Rajputana and Bihar, As the name implies, this type is a result of an intermixture of two distinct racial types- the Aryans in the male and the Dravidians in the female line.

The Mongolo-Dravidian or Bengali Type. The members of this type have broad head with a tendency to medium and medium nose which tends towards broad in some cases. Skin colour is dark with plentiful facial hair. Stature is generally medium, but short stature also occurs quite frequently. They inhabit Bengal and Orissa. Some of the representatives of this type are Bengali Brahmins Bengali Kayastha, etc. They differ from the Aryo-Dravidians and the Indo-Aryans in having broader heads. Risley suggests an intermixture of the Mongolians and the Dravidians in this type, to which some Indo-Aryan strains were also added.

The Mongloid Type. Head is generally broad; Nose shows a wide range of variation being fine to broad. Stature is short or below medium. They have characteristically broad Mongolian face with oblique eyes showing epicanthic fold. Skin colour is dark with yellowish tinge. Hair on the face and the body is scanty. This type is found in Assam, Nepal and Burma.

The Dravidian. They are short-statured people. Head is long. Nose is very broad and sometimes a depression is seen at the root of the nose. Skin colour is very dark; eyes also have a dark colour. Hair is also dark, it is plentiful and occasionally it tends to curl. They are found in the region extending from Ceylon to the Ganges covering the whole of South-Eastern-India. Madras, Hyderabad, Central Province and Chota Nagpur. The Paniyans of South India, the Santals of Chota Nagpur, etc. are some of the best example of this type. According to Risley they are the true aborigines of India, and now they have been modified by an infiltration of Aryan, Scythian and Mongoloid elements.

Risley’s classification had to face considerable criticism from different authorities, especially in respect of the Dravidians, the Scythio-Dravidians and the Mongolo-Dravidians.

Classification of B.S. Guha

B.S. Guha has found the following racial elements, which have entered into the population of India:

The Negrito. They are considered to be the first comers and the true autochthones of India. Their physical characteristics are- head is small; it is round, medium or long; nose is straight, flat and broad; stature is very short or pygmy stature; skin colour is dark brown to dark; hair is woolly; forehead is bulbous; supraorbital ridges are smooth. This type is represented by the Kadars, Pulayans (Cochin and Travancore), Irular and primitive tribes of the Wynad.

In respect of the head from and hair structure the Indian Negritos are more close to the Melanesian Pygmies than to the Andamanese.

2. The Proto-Australoid. They are characterized by dolichocephalic head; markedly Platyrrhine nose, which is depressed at the root; short stature; dark brown skin colour; wavy or even curly hair. Their limbs are delicate. The forehead is less developed and slightly retreating. Supraorbital ridges are often Prominent. They are closely akin to the Australian tribes. They markedly differ from the Negritos in having wavy hair instead of the frizzly or woolly of the latter.

This element is found in the Pulayan women (Travancore), Urali (Travancore), Baiga (Rewa), etc. The tribes like the Male Chenchu, Kannikar, Kondh, Bhil, Santal, Oraon, belong to this group.

3. The Mongloid. The Mongoloids are distinguished by scanty growth of hair on body and face; obliquely set eyes showing epicanthic fold, flat face with prominent cheek bones and straight hair. The Mongoloid peoples entered India probably through the north-eastern routes in successive waves of migration.

The Mongoloid comprises two types namely, the Palae-Mongoloid and the Tibeto-Mongoloid. The Palae-Mongloids have again been subdivided into long-headed type and broad-headed type.

The long-headed type possesses long head, medium nose, and medium stature. Their cheek bones are prominent; skin colour is dark to light brown; face is short and flat; supraorbital regions are faintly developed. They inhabit the sub-Himalayan region. This type is found in the tribes of Assam and Burma Frontier. The Sema Nagas of Assam and the Limbus of Nepal are said to be true representatives of this type.

The other sub-division of the Palae-Mongoloid, the broad-headed, is represented by the Lepchas of Kalimpong. This type is found in the hill tribes of Chittagong, like t he Chakmas, the Maghs, etc. Their characteristic feature are: broad head, round face, dark skin colour, medium nose, obliquely set eyes which show marked epicanthic fold.

Among the Tibeto-Mongoloids, the head is broad and massive; face is long and flat; stature is tall; nose is long or medium; eyes are oblique having marked epicanthic fold; body hair and facial hair are markedly absent; skin colour is light brown. The Tibetans of Bhutan and Sikkim have these characteristics.

The Mediterranean. They comprise three distinct racial types. These are:

The Palae-Mediterranean. They are the most ancient people and in many characters they resemble

The Proto-Egyptian type. Their distinctive characters are; long and narrow head with bulbous forehead projecting occiput and high vault; small and broad nose; medium stature. Face is narrow; chin is pointed; body is slightly built. Their skin colour is dark and hair on face and body is scanty.

The human skeletal remains found at Aditanallur show this type of characteristics. These people probably introduced Megalithic culture to India. At present the Dravidian-speaking people of South India show the preponderance of this type. The Tamil Brahmins of Madura, Nairs of Cochin and Telugu Brahmins form the best example.

The Mediterranean. They are characterized by long head with arched forehead; long face; narrow And prominent nose; tall to medium stature; light skin colour. Chin is well developed; hair is dark; eyes also have dark brownish to dark colour. They possess plentiful facial and body hair; and slender-built body. They are found in Uttar Pradesh, Bombay, Bengal, Malabar, etc. The true representatives are the Numbudiri Brahmins of Cochin, Brahmins of Allahabad, and Maratha ladies of Indore. The Bengali Brahmins of Allahabad and Maratha ladies of Indore. The Bengali Brahmins also show this type of characteristics.

Probably this type was responsible for the building for the building up of Indus Valley Civilization. (iii) The Oriental (of Fischer). They very closely resemble the Mediterranean in almost all the Characters accept the nose which is long and convex in the former. This type is found in the Punjab, Sind, Rajputana, etc. The typical representatives are the Punjabi Khattris and the Pathans.

The Western Brachycephals. They have been divided into three types:-

The Alpenoid. Characterized by broad head with rounded occiput; prominent nose; medium Stature; round face. Skin colour is light; hair on face and body is abundant, body is thickly set. This type is found among the Bania of Gujarat, the Kathi of Kathiawar, the Kayastha of Bengal, etc.

The Dinaric. Amongst these people the head is broad with rounded occiput and high vault; nose is very long and often convex; stature is tall; face is long; forehead is receding; skin colour is darker, eyes and hair are also dark. This type is represented in Bengal, Orissa and Coorgs. The Brahmins of Bengal and the Kanarese Brahmins of Mysore are also some of the representatives.The Alpino-Dinaric people entered India through Baluchistan, Sind, Gujarat, and Maharashtra into Kannada, thence to Ceylon. The presence of this type is found in the Indus Valley site, Tinnevelley Hyderabad.

The Armenoid. In most of the characters the Armenoids show resemblance with the Dinarics. In The former the shape of occiput is more marked and the nose is more prominent, narrow and acquiline. The Parsis of Bombay show typical Armenoid characteristics.

The Nordics. Their head is long with protruding occiput and arched forehead; they are tall statured People with long face, strong jaw and powerfully built body. Nose is fine, narrow and straight; complexion is fair. Eyes often have bluish tinge.

This element is found sporadically in different parts of Northern India, especially in the Punjab and Rajputana. The Kho of Chitral, the Red Kaffirs, and the Khatash are some of the representatives of this type.

The Nordics came from the north, probably from Southeast Russia and South-west Siberia, through Central Asia to India.

Classification of S.S. Sarkar

According to S.S. Sarkar six ethnic elements constitute the main types of the population of India. These are as follows:

Australoids

The Australoids are known by different names, like Proto-Australoid, Pre-Dravidian, Nisada, and Veddid. Certain types of South India, e.g., Urali, Kannikar, Malapantaran, Paniyan, Kadar and such other tribes, are to some extent preserving the original form of the Australoids. According to Sarkar at one time the Australoids were widely distributed throughout India and they form the earliest substratum of the population of India. Sarkar is of opinion that the Australoid make –up is present among all castes of India though its greatest concentration is found among the lower castes.

The Australoids are short statured people having dark complexion. Their head is dolichocephalic and nose is platyrrhine. Their hair is wavy.

2. Indo-Aryan:

The physical type of the Indo Aryan is quite distinct from that of the Australoid. The Indo-Aryans are tall in stature, lighter in skin colour and eye colour and even the head hair is not as dark as that of the Australoid. Their head is also long but massive. Their cranial capacity is higher than that of the Australoid. The whole physique of the Indo-Aryan is most robustly built than the Australoid. The Baltis of the Hindukush Mountains are the best representatives of the Indo-Aryan.

The Indo-Aryan are frequently met with in the Indus and the Gangetic valley in Western India. Their extension in an almost unbroken manner is seen up to Western Bihar. Beyond that region towards east the Indo-Aryan type is sporadic in distribution in eastern Bihar, Bengal and Assam. In these regions this type is mostly confined among the higher castes only.

3. Irano-Scythian

Almost at the same time during the Indo- Aryan migration to India, another ethnic element entered India from north –west and that is Irano-Scythian. The Irano-Scythians are medium statured people. Their head is Mesocephalic and by that they are different from the dolichocephalic Indo- Aryan. Otherwise the two elements are more or less similar to one another. In eastern Bihar, Bengal and Assam the long headed Indo-Aryan element is replaced by the medium headed Irano-Scythian. Among the Indo-Aryan the cephalic index vary round 73, while among the Irano-Scythians it ranges between 77 and 79. The Irano-Scythians appear to be more variable in physical features than the Indo-Aryans.

After entering India the Irano-Scythians moved southward along the valley of the Indus to arrive at Gujarat, Bombay and Maharastra. Their extension is seen upto northern Mysore, Deccan, etc.also. Therefore, in the population of these regions this element is frequently observed. From the Western littoral the Irano-Scythians migrated to eastern India following the river valleys of the Narbada and the son.

Mundari-Speakers:

The Mundari speaking people are confined to the river valleys and plateaus of eastern central India, i.e., Chota Nagpur, Orissa hills and Madhya Pradesh. They migrated from east and they appear to have some sort of affinities with the Mongoloid.

“The Mundari- speakers “ as described by Sarkar “are a stucky, thickset people with short stature and robust constitution, long head and skin colour somewhat lighter than the Australoid. Their head hair is The Mongoloids are distributed in the north-eastern borders of India and the foothills of the Himalayas. The skin colour of the Mongoloid is yellowish. Hair is sparsely distributed in their face and body. They exhibit Mongolian eye fold. By these and such other criteria the Mongoloids are easily distinguishable from the other populations of India (Das, 1980).

In today’s world the racial classification is hardly meaningful as the barrier between populations no longer exists. The gene pools are broken down continuously by the forces of migrations, genetic drift, mutation and selection. It is also proved that “The concept of race has no genetic or scientific basis” when the completion of a draft sequence of the human genome was announced at a June 2000 Rose Garden Ceremony, Venter (then President of Celera Genomics) and Collins (head of the National Human Genome Research Institute) emphasized that their work confirmed that human genetic diversity cannot be captured by the concept of race, and also showed that all humans have genome sequences that are 99.9% identical.

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