Racial Composition of Indians

The classification of Indian races has been the subject of much controversy. The division which is generally recognized by the scholarly community was proposed by B. S. Guha in 1935. He divided the Indian races into six main types: the Negroids, the Proto-Austroloids, the Mongoloids, the Mediterraneans, the Alpoinarics and the Northmen. Alpoinarics), and the Nordics.

The Negroes were one of the earliest racial entities to come to India with distinctive characteristics. The word "Negro" means "black". Therefore, the so-called Negroes are the blacks. According to anthropologists, the Negro geographic race, also known as the African geographic race, is native to the southern Sahara region of Africa. The Congolese and Cape peoples of Africa are typical of the Negro race. This race is characterized by medium to dark black skin, thin, curly hair, short stature, a small, protruding forehead, a flat nose, and wide, thick lips. These features can still be seen today in the Kadar and Pragyan peoples of Kerala, India, in the Angaminagas of Manipur and the Kutch Hills, and in the forest-dwelling Uralis of South India and the aborigines of the Andaman Islands. It is evident that they are related by blood to the Negroes of Africa. In comparison with the Negroes, these newcomers were both strong and intelligent. The Negroes were either assimilated by them or driven by them to the less-traveled jungles and islands in the Bay of Bengal. The worship of trees of the genus Banyan, which in many parts of the world had been associated with reproduction and the soul, was also popular in India. This may have been inherited from the primitive beliefs of the Negros. Certain concepts of totem worship of fish, animals and plants that are popular in India may likewise have originated with the Negros. Some of the Indian Negros used bows and arrows for hunting. Some anthropologists, therefore, believe that they should be credited with the invention of this primitive tool that served to extend the human arm. The existence of the Indian Negroes also lends credence to the popular theory that modern humans originated in Africa and then spread out.

After the Negros, the primitive Australians moved into India on a large scale. They are also known as the pre-Darovidians. As to where the primitive Australians came from, scholarly opinion is divided and inconclusive. According to one theory, they probably came to India during the Ice Age along a land bridge, just as the Indians migrated from Asia to the Americas across the Bering Strait during the Ice Age. Another theory holds that the original Australians may not have come from Oceania, but that they are extremely closely related in descent to some of the indigenous races of the South Pacific islands belonging to Oceania. Another popular view is that they appear to have come from Palestine. This race is characterized by curly hair, dark complexion, flat nose, and broad lips. Apparently they have a resemblance in physical features to the Negroes. The Mundas, Gaurs, Santals and Bhils who now inhabit the vast tracts of western, central and eastern India are generally believed to be the descendants of the original Australians. They have retained their distinctive physical features, lifestyles, and languages and beliefs to this day. The Chinchu, Kurumba and Yelawas living in South India are also descended from the original Australians. The primitive Australians believed in animism. The rituals with animistic overtones seen among the Indian tribesmen mentioned above are the legacy of the primitive Australians. Pantheism may be a precursor to some of the primitive religions that are still practiced by several tribal people in places such as Meghalaya in north-eastern India. They readily refrain from applying axe pounds to trees, etc., and thus the state still has a high forest cover. Some scholars, such as the famous British anthropologist, Sir Arthur Keith, who is also a member of the Indian Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. Some scholars, such as the famous British anthropologist Sir Arthur Keith, are skeptical of the Indian outgrowth and believe that the Indian subcontinent could not have been an ethnic vacuum.

The migration of the Mongols as the first people of the Asian continent to India formed the third wave of the migration of foreign races into India. The Mongols, who originated in northern China, came to India via the Tibetan plateau. The Mongols living in India today can be divided into two main groups, the ancient Mongols and the Tibetan Mongols. The Paleo-Mongols live mainly in southern Tibet, Nagaland, the Assamese mountains, and along the Indo-Burma border. The Chakma, Mughals and Rebchas of Assam and Bengal are typical examples. Man is a product of his environment. Due to changes in geography and other reasons, the physical features of their Mongolian counterparts are no longer very distinct. The Tibetan-Mongolians, on the other hand, have obvious Mongolian features. They are tall, with broad noses, and their body hair and beards are not thick. The main ethnic group living in Sikkim and Bhutan are the Tibetan-Mongolians.

It can be said that India's numerous tribesmen are essentially descended from the Negroes, the primitive Australians and the Mongoloids, while the bulk of the Indian population is descended from the Mediterranean, the Alpine Dinaric and the Nordic peoples.

The predominant race in India is the Mediterranean. However, the Mediterranean people are not a uniform ethnic group. They can be categorized into three types, namely, the Paleo-Mediterranean with a light black complexion, the so-called authentic Mediterranean with a yellowish-brown complexion, and the Eastern Mediterranean or Semitic Mediterranean. The Paleo-Mediterranean lineage is found mainly among the Telugu and Tamil Brahmins of present-day South India. The Mediterraneans were once widely distributed in the central, northern and northwestern parts of the Indian subcontinent. It is widely believed that they were the creators of the urban civilization of the Indus Valley in the third millennium BC. The Indus civilization is an extremely important chapter in the history of Indian civilization along with the history of world civilization. Therefore, its creators naturally hold a respected historical position. However, the creators of the Indus Civilization are somewhat mysterious as there are many unanswered questions about it. They are also known as the Dravidians. The Tamils, Telugus, Malayalam and Brahmans of Pakistan in South India today are their descendants.

Other foreign races that have had a major impact on Indian civilization are the Alpine Dinaras. This race came from the Dinaric mountain range that stretches along the Adriatic coast in southern Europe, which is the southeastern section of the Alps. The Alpine Dinaras are fairer in complexion than the Mediterranean. The main ethnic origin in the area east of present-day Bihar and Orissa and west of Assam is from the Alpine Dinaras. Their descendants can be seen in Gujarat, Bengal, Orissa and Gurg district of Karnataka. They have merged with the Mediterranean people. The Alpine people are actually another branch of the Caucasian race. Physical features similar to those of Armenians are evident in the Indian Parsis.

An aboriginal people with the physical features of the Germanic peoples of northern Europe, who originally inhabited the steppe regions of southern Russia and southern Ukraine, came to India around 1500 B.C. across the mountain passes of the northwest. They had fair complexions, elongated heads with narrow, thin and bulging noses, and tall bodies. They were nomadic, living by water and grass, and were highly migratory, seeking new pastures for many centuries, reaching Iran and Syria, with some branches scattered to Anatolia, Greece, and various parts of Eastern Europe. Some of the branches that reached Iran entered North India from the northwest via Afghanistan. They are therefore also called the Indo-Iranians or Indo-Europaeans. These foreign nomads were less civilized than the natives of India, but were skilled with the bow and horse and good at riding and shooting. They conquered the relatively weak natives by force of arms and gradually spread to many parts of the Indian subcontinent. They accepted parts of the latter's culture and gradually mixed with it. Linguists refer to them as Aryans from the perspective of historical comparative linguistics. This name has been controversial throughout the ages but has become very popular. Thus, today's Kashmiris, Punjabis, Bengalis, Rajasthanis, Sindhis, Baluchis, Pashtuns in Pakistan, and Sinhalese in Sri Lanka, etc., can be described as Aryans or mixed Aryans. They brought with them the so-called Aryan culture, which became the source of Hinduism as well as Indian literature, philosophy and art. The word "Aryan" is primarily a linguistic term. The British linguist Friedrich Max Muller did not favor the use of the term to refer to race. However, there is no doubt that they are a race of European origin and are white.

Through intermarriages and exchanges, there was much mixing of different racial bloodlines. The Negroes went to the brink, near extinction. The original Australians were scattered among the tribes of southern, western and central India. The Mongoloids, least integrated with other races, are found in northeastern India, West Bengal, and the foothills of the Himalayas. The Mediterranean people were the creators of the glorious Indus Valley Civilization. After the demise of this civilization, they migrated eastward and dispersed in the Ganges Valley. When the races from the Alps penetrated the Ganges Valley, the fusion of different racial origins began to occur in great numbers. The Mediterranean people lived mainly in the upper Ganges and the Alpine people in the lower Ganges. In southern India, the Dharavitas and pre-Dharavitas predominated.