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Essay on Race and Race Movements in India
In considering race and race movements in India, we should bear in mind that there are both primary and secondary races in India. Primary races are “differentiated by early geographical and genetic isolation, by the loss of some genes and fixation of others, by mutations, by inbreeding, and by selection”.
Secondary races are formed “by the stabilization of blends of two or more primary races”. We should also bear in mind that terminologies which are generally used in order to refer to racial elements are sometimes confusing.
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Thus the terms “Aryan” and “Dravidian” refer to linguistic groups, but these terms have often been used, and are still being used, in the ethnic sense. Some anthropologists, for example, call all the peoples of North India as belonging to the Hindu race—a term which has only a religious connotation.
Similarly, the term Proto-Australoid has been used in Indian anthropology without a proper perspective. The term was implied to mean the primary race of India. In this sense the proper term would be ‘veddid’ or Australoid’. The term Proto-Australoid literally means a race living before the Australoids.
All these confusions are due to lack of proper data regarding race and race movements in India. During a long stretch of a few thousand years, there has been immigration on a fairly large scale during different periods. As a result, there has occurred inter-mixture of various races on a fairly extensive scale.
Yet attempts have, been made to explain the differentiation of the population of India into racial types in terms of immigration only without taking into account the fact that India has bred her own races. It is difficult to accept the assumption that this vast sub-continent was once a vacuum.
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In The ‘Cambridge History of India a question is asked:
“Is there any evidence to show whence they (i.e. the Dravidians) came to India?”.
But the most relevant question which has been ignored is this: Could not the Dravidians have evolved on Indian soil? Keith is inclined to regard the Dravidian type as having evolved from the Veddids.
Similarly, the ethnic difference between the peoples speaking Mundari and Dravidian has also been ignored. The district of Santal Parganas in Bihar sheds light on this. Here the Dravidian-speaking Male’ reside on the slopes of the Rajmahal Hills, while the Mundari-speaking Santals occupy the valleys between the hills. The’ two differ in physical features, language and culture. The differences are too obvious to be ignored.
The Male’ represents the northern extension of the Veddids of the South, while the santals are habitual migrants. “Each village has its quota, and as soon as it is full, a band of pioneers goes out, seeking to establish another suitable village. The Santals are said to restrict their migration along the lateritic soil. Their population is also fast increasing, and this pressure of population has caused the people to migrate far and wide.”
The Mundas also exhibit the same physical traits and migratory habits. They have always inhabited the eastern coastland of India, and have not penetrated deep into the hinterland which was already occupied by the Veddis. The Mundas have given rise to some peculiar hybrid combinations which are not found in the case of any other aboriginal tribe in India.
These hybrids are known as:
(i) Khangar-Munda,
(ii) Kharia-Munda,
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(iii) Konkpat- Munda,
(iv) Karanga-Munda,
(v) Mahili-Munda,
(vi) Nagbansi-Munda,
(vii) Oraon-Munda,
(viii) Sad-Munda,
(ix) Savar-Munda,
(x) Munda-Bhuiya and
(xi) Munda-Chamar,
There is a theory that the Mundas entered India without women. H. H. Risley was of the view that these hybrids are descended from intermarriages between Munda men and women of other tribes. The greatest immigrant group into India from outside has been the Aryans or the Indo- Aryans.
They caused a considerable change in the ethnic and cultural history of India. Though sporadic infiltrations might have begun earlier, the largest influx occurred about 1200 B.C. from the Aral-Caspian basin. These people are represented by the eneolithic skulls found from the archaeological excavations at Tepe Hissar, Period I and II, near Damghan in Persia.
In period III we find another mesocephalic (medium-headed) people, besides the dolichocephalic (long-headed) Aryans. On the West, at Alishar in Anatolia, the same type of long-headed skulls has been discovered in Period IV. The people of this race extended along the banks of the Indus, and are now found in the populations of the Punjab, Rajasthan, and Kashmir.
They entered the adjacent regions of Tibet, as is evident from the physical features of the Ladakhis. They spread far into eastern India along the Ganga and also migrated into South India. The Todas of the Nilgiris constitute, in their ethnic composition, a branch of this race. The Namputiri Brahmanas migrated from North India during the fifth century A.D.
The mesocephalic (medium-headed) people from another immigrant population in India from the Iranian plateau. They are known as Scythians. They appear to have followed the Indo-Aryans not only in India but also elsewhere. At present, Iran shows a predominantly mesocephalic population. Since some affinity seems to exist between the Iranians and the Scythians, these people may be called Irano-Scythians.
The dolichocephals and the mesocephals kept the north-western frontier of India so much occupied that little brachycephaly (broad-headed) people could infiltrate through them. Whatever brachycephaly has entered into India is probably due to the ‘brachycephalic hordes’ of the pre-historic period. They have not probably influenced appreciably the head- form of the peoples of Western India.
Population pressure appears to be the main cause of migration. In this connection, reference may be made to the “expulsion and attraction’ theory of Haddon (The Wanderings of Peoples, Cambridge, 1911). It appears, therefore, that India is a predominantly dolichocephalic country.
The following people have this form of head:
(i) The aboriginal peoples of India:
They show a basic Veddid strain in almost all of them in varying degrees, this strain owes its origin to the Vedas of Ceylon. Because of their similarity with the Australian aborigines, this ethnic element is also known as Australoid.
(ii) The Dravidians, as represented by the Tamils, Telugus, etc. of South India. They appear to have evolved out of the Veddids through various ecological changes. Their physical features have been changed by the varied environmental conditions.
(iii) The Caucasians or the Indo-Aryans:
They entered India across the north-western frontier about 1200 B.C. with a different language and culture, and occupied the plains of the Indus and the Ganga up to the borders of Bengal. They overran the whole country and crossed over to Ceylon during the early centuries of the pre-Christian era.
They also intermixed with other racial types, thereby bringing about many changes in physical features. As already pointed out, the mesocephalic (medium-headed) people appear to have followed the Indo-Aryans into India. Mudi of their ethnic strain is due to the IranoScythians.
The brachycephalic (broad-headed) population of India has its origin in four different sources:
(a) The Irano-Scythian element contained some brachycephaly.
(b) The brachycephalic hordes of Central Asia (Pamirs) who entered India during the pre-historic times,
(c) The Malayan, found in the coastal regions of the Chittagong Hill Tracts and Tirunelveli.
(d) Mongolian.
Another immigrant population in India are the dolichocephalic Mundas. They got highly mixed up with the Veddids. They appear to have reached India along the eastern border. The North-East Frontier of India is inhabited by a large number of tribes who appear to belong to different racial strains.
Thus, the Naga tribes exhibit in them a strong Indonesian strain both in race and culture. Haddon tentatively suggested a strong ancient Australoid strain among the Khasi, Kuki, Manipuri, Miri, Kachari, etc. and in a weaker form among the Nagas. Assam and the north-east region of India have been occupied by the immigrants comparatively recently.
The Ahom invasion of Assam took place during the thirteenth century. The Indonesian movements appear to be much earlier. Possibly, it began with the Polynesian movements during the first century B.C. A mongoloid strain is obvious among all the people of north-eastern region—their straight lank hair, high cheek bones, yellowish colour of skin and, above all, the short thickset build.
According to Sir Herbert Risley, India has seven racial types:
(i) Pre-Dravidian type surviving among primitive tribes of the hills and jungles,
(ii) The Dravidian type living in the southern peninsula up to the Gangetic valley,
(iii) The Indo-Aryan type of Kashmir, Punjab and Rajputana.
(iv) The Aryo-Dravidian type in the Gangetic valley,
(v) The Cytho-Dravidian type running east of Indus,
(vi) The Mongoloid type found in Assam and the foothills of the eastern Himalayas,
(vii) The Mongolo Dravidian type.