Racial Classification of India by Herbert Hope Risley
Herbert Hope Risley (British ethnographer) attempted the racial classification of India and conducted the study on the basis of Anthropomorphic Technique. In the ‘The Peoples of India‘ Risley has classified Indian population into seven racial types.
Racial Classification of India by Herbert Hope Risley in Seven Races
-
Turko – Iranian Type
- broad head, medium nose
- fairly tall
- Plentiful hair on the face
- eyes are generally dark
- fair complexion
- Baluchistan Province.
- represented by Baluchis and Afghans.
-
Indo – Aryan Type:
- long head
- long nose,
- Fair complexion and have dark coloured eyes
- live in the regions of Rajasthan, Patna, Punjab and the valley of Kashmir
-
Scythio – Dravidian Type
- medium to broadhead
- nose is medium
- Fair complexion.
- Scanty hair on the face and body.
- Stature is medium.
- larger heads, flatter faces, higher noses and shorter stature.
- Gujarat and Coorg regions.
-
Aryo – Dravidian Type
- long heads with tendency towards medium
- Skin colour varies from light brown to dark
- Nose is medium but broad
- shorter and dark nose.
- Uttar-Pradesh, Rajputana, Bihar.
- inter-mixture of male Aryans and female Dravidians.
- broad head with tendency towards medium
-
Mongolo – Dravidian or Bengali Type
- nose is medium.
- skin colour is dark.
- plentiful facial hair.
- Stature is medium and short sometimes.
- broadheads.
-
Mongolian Type:
- broad head and nose varies from fine to broad
- Stature is short or below medium
- Oblique eyes showing epicanthic fold
- skin color is dark
- Scanty body with hair on the face
- in and around Assam Nepal and Burma.
-
Dravidian Type
- short statured people.
- Long head and Nose is broad
- depression seen at the root of nose
- Skin colour is very dark and dark coloured eyes
- true aborigines of India
- Hair is dark in colour and tends to curl.
- from ceylon to ganges covering whole south-eastern India