Genetics of Castes and Tribes of India: Somatometry

© Kamla-Raj 2006 Int J Hum Genet, 6(4): 323-356 (2006)

Genetics of Castes and Tribes of India: SomatometryM. K. Bhasin

Department of Anthropology, University of Delhi, Delhi 110 007, India

KEYWORDS Anthropometry; measurements and indices; biological variation; ethnic groups

ABSTACT The discipline of human population biology incorporates study of biology and environmental factors, aswell as the forces of micro-evolution leading to macro-evolution which ultimately influence the biological structureof human populations. The unit of study in understanding variations in man is a ‘breeding population’ some times alsoreferred to as ‘Mendelian population’. India is inhabited by people of great diversity, different creeds and customsforming what may be designated as multiple (or plural) society. There are about 3000 castes in India, some havegenesis in tribal stock while others are occupational, linguistic, religious and territorial entities. Each caste is a socialunit or what may be called ‘monopolistic guild’ in itself. All these groups are not entirely independent; usually peoplebelong to two or more of such groups at the same time. India is a country with distinct geographical entity and ismarked off from rest of Asia by both mountains and sea. Indian sub-continent may be divided into four natural regions:(1) The Himalayan Mountain Complex, (2) The Indus-Ganga-Brahmaputra Plains, (3) The Peninsular Plateau and(4) The Islands. The climate of India has many regional variations determined by locations, altitude, distance fromthe sea or the mountains and the general relief. India is divided into eight climatic regions based on the monthly valueof temperature and precipitation. India is a Union comprising 25 States and 7 Union Territories and these may becategorised into six zones (North, West, East, Central, South India and Islands). Himalayan region may be divided intothree divisions (Western, Central and Eastern Himalayan Regions). The present paper aims at investigating first thevariation in the people of India in regional (Natural Regions of India, Climatic Regions of India, Political Divisionsof India), ethnic (castes, scheduled castes, scheduled tribes, communities), traditional occupational and linguisticgroups and families with the help somatometry measurement and indices. Second, to study the variation with the helpof biostatistics methods in the region, ethnic groups and linguistic groups. The basic data were collected from theliterature and it was categorized in regional, ethnic, occupational and linguistic groups and coded accordingly for theanalysis on computer.

INTRODUCTION

Biological relationships and distancesbetween human individuals and groups can beassessed by the use of anthropometric data atleast as successfully as this can be done by theuse of serological traits with known modes ofinheritance (Spielman and Smouse 1976). Theobvious reason is that anthropometric dimensionsare also genetically determined even if thepolygenic nature of the genetic control and theenvironmental effect on the development of theirphenotypic manifestation cannot be spelled outin detail (Brace and Hunt 1990; Brace et al. 1991).

Although the effects of physical environmentsuch as temperature, rainfall, humidity, altitudeetc. upon human physique have been widelydiscussed, from the available literature yet it isdifficult to offer definitive explanations in termsof the causations of variations in bodydimensions. As it appears, the variations may becaused by complex interactions of physicalenvironmental factors with others e.g. biological

(diseases—degenerative and contagious),nutritional, economic and cultural (behaviouralnorms and practices relating to habitation, food,diseases etc.) factors.

The environmental changes brought aboutby the factor of ‘migration’ of the original migrantsand their progeny may be responsible formeasurable variations that have been observed.The findings of many investigations are availablein which attempt has been made to isolate theeffect of dietary differences and climatic changesupon human physique.

Shapiro (1939) found that the Hawaiian-bornchildren of Japanese-born immigrants areconsiderably taller than their parents, but theirheads are significantly shorter and broader andthus they have greater stature with pronouncedbrachycephaly.

Mills from his studies on the effects of climateon body growth and development revealed thattemperate climate is more favourable for growthand development than the tropics (Mills 1937)and that dietary modifications and altered vitaminintake in the tropics affect adult dimensions (Mills1942).

Kaplan (1954) has reviewed 25 studies andPostal Address: M. K. Bhasin, B-2 (GF), South City IIGurgaon 122 002, Haryana, India

324 M. K. BHASIN

observed that most of the investigators assumethat bodily changes which they report are notevolutionary in nature, although several of themrefer to long-range secular changes in size. Shepointed out that in fact the changes are notevolutionary, but merely individual responses tothe particular environment and it should bepossible to find the precise facet or facets of theenvironment responsible for the changesobserved. She found that dietary changes are mostfrequently mentioned as important and concludedone wonders, to what extent eating and livinghabits, improvements in housing and sanitaryconveniences, greater attention to personalhygiene, shorter school and working days, or evenpsychological factors play their part.

Tobias (1985) discussed the concept ofsecular trend i.e. long-term systematic or non-random changes in a wide variety of traits insuccessive generations of a population living inthe same territories (Wolanski 1966, 1967). Headded that it is probably analytically more usefulto distinguish between secular changes with aterritorial restriction, and the effects of migrationin general and of urbanization as a special case.He argued that the direction of the secularprocesses should always be specified i.e. firstupward or positive secular trend, second negativesecular trend and third absence of secularchanges, positive or negative. On the basis ofsecular trend data, Tobias suggested a four-foldsubdivision of the world’s populace taking socio-economic status into consideration:

1. Have most (affluent) with absence of seculartrend at present as they have reached upperphenotypic limit set by their genetic potential.

2. Have ample (less affluent) with positivesecular trend at present as they are moving frommiddle to upper reaches of genetically determinedgrowth rate and body size range.

3. Have little (pastoral/agriculture), absent ornegative secular trend as they are moving frommiddle to lower reaches of genetically determinedrange of growth rates and body sizes.

4. Have least (hunters and gatherers) positivesecular trend as they are rising from the lowestreaches of genetic potential towards the middleof the range of growth rates and body sizes.

Tobias pointed out that the biggest challengefacing planners is how to solve the problem oftransforming the negative secular trend of the“has little” sector to the positive secular trend ofthe “have ample” sectors.

The anthropometric studies on the Indianpopulations started in 1868. However systematicsurveys were carried on All India level by Risley(1915), v. Eickstedt (1934) and Guha (1935). Themain emphasis of these studies was to classifythe peoples of India into various ‘Racial Types’.They recognized the existence of more than one‘Racial Type’ and a great deal of anthropometricheterogeneity among the peoples of India. Later,a number of surveys were conducted to studythe regional variations for example among thepeople of Gujarat (Majumdar and Sen 1949), UttarPradesh (Mahalanobis et al. 1949), Maharashtra(Karve and Dandekar 1951), Bengal (Majumdarand Rao 1960), Tamil Nadu (Malhotra et al. 1981),among others. Besides these a good number ofother studies are available, and about 1200population groups reported by different authorsare listed by Bhasin et al. (1992).

There are a rather high number of anthro-pometric studies on populations of India.Unfortunately, technical differences exist, andtherefore sometimes the results are notcomparable. It has been observed that some ofthe measurements on face taken by differentauthors show variation in dimensions whichobviously reflect technical deviations, probablyin the determination of nasion and otherlandmarks. Moreover, the samples are notdistributed homogeneously. Only a few studiesare available from Central India, whereas rests ofthe zones are better represented. For thetechniques, methods and analysis of the data,readers are referred to Martin and Saller (1957),Wiener and Lourie (1969, 1982), Lohman et al.(1988), Knussmann (1988) and Singh and Bhasin(1989, 2004).

The aim of the study is to have a satisfactoryknowledge of micro-evolutionary processes asthey are reflected in genetic and morphologicaltraits in human populations. This variability hasbeen studied in terms of natural regions, climaticfactors, climatic regions, political division of India,ethnic groups, traditional occupations andlinguistic groups (For details see Bhasin 1988;Bhasin et al. 1992, 1994; Bhasin and Walter 2001,Bhasin 2006a).

The studies on Genetics of Castes and Tribeshave been reported on Serum ProteinPolymorphisms KM and GM Systems (Bhasinand Walter 2002); Glucose-6-PhosphateDehydrogenase Deficiency and Haemoglobinvariants (Bhasin 2006b); Red and Green Colour

325GENETICS OF CASTES AND TRIBES OF INDIA: SOMATOMETRY

Vision Deficiency (Bhasin, 2006c); TasteSensitivity (Bhasin 2006d) among the people ofIndia and factors responsible to operate in favourof these traits.

IDENTIFY AND DISTINGUISHTHE PEOPLE

For the biogenetical study of the people ofIndia, researchers have generally used thefollowing criteria to identify and distinguish thepeople: 1. Regional Groups, 2. Ethnic Groups, 3.Linguistic Groups, and 4. Religious Groups (Fordetails see Bhasin et al., 1994; Bhasin and Walter2001; Bhasin 2006)

It should, however, be kept in mind that theseare the convenient units of study, although thereare significant levels of overlapping betweenthem. For example, an occupational grouppursuing traditional job inhabits a region, sharesreligion with other categories, belongs to one orthe other language group and has an aggregationof ethnic properties. But in the human populationgenetic studies, out of these criteria one is chosen(Bhasin 1988).

In the present study an attempt has been madeto analyse the above mentioned biogenetical traitsinto 1. Regional Groups, 2. Ethnic Groups, 3.Traditional Occupational Groups and 4. LinguisticGroups.

I. Regional Groups

These can be divided into the followinggroups:1. Natural Regions of India2. Climatological Factors and Climatic Regions

of India3. Political Division of India

Each region has its own characteristics and abrief description of each one will give an idea ofwhat it constitutes of.

1. Natural Regions of India

The natural regions have broad uniformity intheir characteristics, such as relief, geomor-phological history, drainage, climate, soil, naturalvegetation and wild life. Broadly speaking theIndian sub-continent may be divided in thefollowing natural regions:1. The Himalayan Mountain Complex2. The Indus-Ganga-Brahmaputra Plain

3. The Peninsular Plateau and4. The Islands

2. Climatological Factors and Climatic Regionsof India

Various climatological factors (Rainfall,Humidity, Temperature) and Altitude have beenconsidered to study correlations with differentbiological traits. The values for the climatologicalfactors are after “Climatological Tables ofObservations in 1931-1960” MeteorologicalDepartment, Government of India, New Delhi.

A climatic region generally possesses a broaduniformity in climatic conditions produced bycombined effects of climatic factors. India can bedivided into the following climatic regions afterKöppen’s method, based on the monthly valuesof temperature and precipitation:

(1) Tropical Savannah Type, (2) Monsoon Typewith Short Dry Season, (3) Monsoon Type withDry Season in High Sun Period, (4) Semiarid andSteppe Climate, (5) Hot Desert Type, (6) MonsoonType with Dry Winters, (7) Cold Humid WintersType with Shorter Summer, and (8) Polar Type.

3. Political Division of India

India is a Union of States. Comprising 25States1 and 7 Union Territories, according to theCensus 1991, there are 4689 towns and 587,226inhabited and 47,095 uninhabited villages in thecountry. The country had 466 districts in 1991.

India-Political and Ethnic Zones: Theweighted mean values of various biological traitshave been classified into 25 States and 7 UnionTerritories (U.T.) which have been categorised asfollows (after Bhasin, 1988):

I. North India, II. West India, III. East India,IV. Central India, V. South India, and VI. Islands.Himalayan Region may be divided into threedivisions, i.e., A) Western Himalaya, B) CentralHimalaya, and C) Eastern Himalaya as follows:I. North India:

(A) Western Himalaya (S. No. 1, 2):(1) Jammu and Kashmir, (2) Himachal Pradesh,

(3) Punjab, (4) Chandigarh (U.T.), (5) Haryana,(6) Delhi (U.T.), (7) Uttar Pradesh

(B) Central Himalaya (S.No.7, EightDistricts of Uttar Pradesh)

[(i) Almora, (ii) Chamoli, (iii) Dehra Dun, (iv)Garhwal (Pauri), (v) Naini Tal, (vi) Pithoragarh,(vii) Tehri Garhwal, and (viii) Uttarkashi.] and 8.Rajasthan

326 M. K. BHASIN

II. West India:(1) Gujarat, (2) Maharashtra, (3) Goa2, (4)

Daman and Diu2 (U.T.) and (5) Dadra and NagarHaveli (U.T.)III. East India:

C) Eastern Himalaya: (S. No.1 to 8 andDarjeeling District of West Bengal)

(1) Arunachal Pradesh, (2) Assam, (3)Nagaland, (4) Manipur, (5) Mizoram, (6) Tripura,(7) Meghalaya, (8) Sikkim, (9) West Bengal, (10)Bihar, and (11) OrissaIV. Central India:

(1) Madhya PradeshV. South India:

(1) Karnataka, (2) Andhra Pradesh, (3) TamilNadu, (4) Kerala and (5) Pondicherry (U.T.).VI. Islands:

(1) Lakshadweep (U.T.) and (2) Andaman andNicobar Islands (U.T.).

II. Ethnic Groups

An aggregation of biological and socio-cultural characteristics constitutes an ethnicgroup. Within the category of Ethnic Group, weinclude Castes, Scheduled Castes, ScheduledTribes and Communities (the names of ScheduledCastes and Scheduled Tribes after Manual ofElection Law 1982, Government of India, NewDelhi). Biological anthropological studies of suchethnic groups as well as “Communities” havebeen reported in India. By Community wegenerally refer to a group of people who may haveoccupational, linguistic, religious or regionalcharacteristics (Bhasin 1988).

III. Traditional Occupational Groups

In the traditional society, there were occupa-tional guilds. The Chaturvarna system with itsdivision into Brahman (priestly caste), Kshatriya(warrior caste), Vaishya (land owners and traders)and Sudra (labouring caste) was based onoccupational differentiation. The occupations aregrade manual labour is looked down upon, andthose dealing with swine-herding, scavenging,butchery, removal of night soil are regarded aspolluting (Bhasin 1988). The caste based divisionof occupation is 1. Priesthood, 2. Warfare, 3. Tradeand Commerce, 4. Agriculture, 5. AnimalHusbandry, 6. Artisan and 7. Menial Workers.

IV. Linguistic Groups

Although the Schedule VIII recognizes fifteenlanguages in India, there are innumerable dialectswhich change after few scores of kilometers.Linguistic diversity is an important factor in theformation of regional groups, and it also reflectsthe regional differentiation. The four- fold regionaldivision can be seen for the major languages, i.e.,(i) the Dravidian region of the south; (ii) the Indo-Aryan regions of the north and north-west; (iii)the Mon Khmer and the Tibeto-Burman region ofthe north-east and the Himalayan region; and (iv)the Austric region of the Aravalli-Vindhya-ChotaNagpur complex. These languages are againdivided into sub-families and groups as follows:

Language Classification-—Indian Languages

The family, branch, group and language ofIndia are as follows:I. AUSTRO-ASIATIC FAMILY

Mon-Khmer Group (Mon-Khmer Branch)Munda Group (Munda Branch)

II. TIBETO-CHINESE FAMILYSIAMESE-CHINESE SUB-FAMILYTai GroupTIBETO-BURMAN SUB-FAMILYTibeto-Himalayan BranchBhotia Group (Tibetan Group)Himalayan Group (Pronominalized/Non-

Pronominalized Himalayan Group)North-East Frontier Group (North Assam

Branch)Assam-Burmese BranchBodo Group (Bara or Bodo Group)Naga GroupKachin GroupKuki-Chin GroupBurma Group

III. DRAVIDIAN FAMILYSouth Dravidian GroupCentral Dravidian GroupNorth Dravidian Group

IV. INDO-EUROPEAN FAMILY ARYAN SUB-FAMILY

Dradic (or Pisacha) BranchKafir GroupKhowar GroupDard GroupIndo-Aryan Branch:Outer Sub-BranchNorth-Western Group


Southern GroupEastern GroupBihari Group (Bhojpuri, Maithili & Magahi

Sub-Group)Mediate Sub-Branch/Inner Sub-Branch:Mediate Group/Central Group/Pahari GroupMediate Group/Central GroupPahari GroupEastern PahariCentral PahariWestern Pahari

Mean Weighted Values

To discern the pattern of regional groups,ethnic groups, traditional occupational groupsand linguistic groups using the frequency data,the mean weighted values of the biological traitshave been calculated and estimates for the variousgroups are presented.

1. MEASUREMENT

1.1. Stature

The mean value of stature among Indianpopulations is 163.06 cm (medium), which variesfrom 143.50 cm - very short (among Naya Kurumbaof Tamil Nadu) to 181.90 cm - very tall (inMohammedans from West Punjab). The value ofstature is low (159.75 cm -short) among scheduledtribes as compared to other ethnic groups. In thenatural regions, populations from Himalayanmountain complex are showing lower values(162.13 cm) as compared to other regions exceptfrom Islands from where different scheduled tribesare reported (Table 1), (Bhasin et al. 1994; Bhasinand Walter 2001). The dimension at Himalayanmountain complex is in conformity withBergmann’s and Allen’s rule, which states that inwarm-blooded animals body size, andconsequently surface area/weight, as also thelength of the extremities, are smaller in colder thanin warmer climates to minimize heat loss. Similarobservations have been reported by Harrisonet al. (1969) in their Ethiopian study. Attentionshould also be given to the ideas of Roberts(Roberts 1953, 1973) who asserts that thesesignificant relationships between the temperatureof biome and body size have both direct (responseto temperature) and/or indirect (acting throughfood, genetics etc.) relationship. However, fromthe available literature, it may not be possible to

offer definitive explanations in terms ofcausations by altitudinal variations (as theyreflect temperature values) as it appears that thesevariations may be caused by complex interactionsof physical environment factors with otherbiological, socio-economic and cultural factors(e.g. Walter 1982).

The mean value of stature is highest from semiarid steppe type climatic region (165.39 cm) andlowest from monsoon type with short dry seasonregion (156.80 cm), followed by cold humidwinters with short summers (159.05 cm) whereasfrom monsoon type with dry season, tropicalsavannah type and monsoon type with drywinters region the values show less differences(163.07, 163.06 and 163.66 cm, respectively).Takahashi (1971) also reported geographicalgradients of stature with respect to climaticenvironmental variables and observed that tallerstatures are found in the arid belt of the northernand north-western sectors of the subcontinentwhile shorter statures occur in the humid regionsof the eastern and southern zones. There is agradient of stature distribution from north-westto east and south positions of the Indiansubcontinent.

The inhabitants of Punjab, Delhi andRajasthan are in general of taller stature (168.85,168.57, 168.69 cm, respectively) than thepopulations of other regions of India, a featureespecially marked among castes as compared toother ethnic groups (Table 1, Fig. 1). From thestates of Jammu and Kashmir and HimachalPradesh of Western Himalayan region and fromCentral Himalayan region the mean values arealmost similar (163.38, 163.13 cm, respectively).In the state of Jammu and Kashmir, KashmiriPandits and Muslims are taller (medium) ascompared to Ladakhis (from high altitude) withMongoloid affinities (lower medium, 160 - 163.9cm), and also populations from Himachal Pradesh.The populations studied from Lahaul-Spiti andKinnaur districts (middle to high altitude) withMongoloid affinities are showing low mediumheight as compared to other populations andsimilar results have been observed from CentralHimalayan region from where also populationswith Mongoloid affinities living at middle to highaltitude are showing lower medium stature(different groups of Bhotias). From the EasternHimalayan region, the mean values of stature arequite low from all the states [Arunachal Pradesh(159.05 cm), Assam (162.04 cm), Nagaland (161.10

328 M. K. BHASIN

cm), Manipur (160.02 cm), Mizoram (163.26 cm),Tripura (160.17 cm). Meghalaya (158.50 cm),Sikkim (159.97 cm)] inhabited by populations withMongoloid admixture of varying degrees atdifferent altitudes (Table 1, Fig. 1). Among thedifferent ethnic groups from the Himalayanregion the mean value of stature is less than 164(lower medium) with little differences, except fromEastern region where scheduled tribes are havinglow value (160.42 cm) as compared to other ethnicgroups. From Nepal also the various populationshaving Mongoloid admixture in varying degreesand living in middle to low altitudes (Rai, Tamang,Sunwar, Newars, Magars, Gurungs, Gurkhasamong others) show short to low medium stature.

As compared to the North Indian populationswith taller stature (medium category) the valuesof height among populations inhabiting differentstates of West India, Orissa, Madhya Pradeshand States and Union Territories of South India

fall in the category lower medium whereasIslanders have a short stature. Takahashi (1971)attributes this cline to differential diet noting thatthe western and northern inhabitants of SouthAsia include many herding groups who consumehigh quantities of dairy food. Milk products arehigh in protein relative to grains that make updiet of Indians living in eastern and southernhabitats. Among the different ethnic groups,peoples belonging to castes are taller followedby communities as compared to scheduled castes(lower medium) and scheduled tribes (shortstature). Caste groups from North India and EastIndia zones are taller as compared to other zones,whereas tribes from South India and East Indiazones are short in stature (157.69 and 159.62 cm,respectively) as compared to other zones, andthey are falling in lower medium category.Mahalanobis (1927) and Olivier (1963) alsoreported that caste status was positively

Fig. 1. Mean values of stature (in cm) in different regions of India (after Bhasin and Walter 2001)

INDIA

PAKISTAN

AFGHANIS

TAN

CHINATIBET

NEPAL

Lakshadweep (India)

BANGLA-DESH

Andaman

andN

icoba

rIsla

nds(

India)

Stature (in cm)

< 159.9160.0 - 161.9162.0 - 163.9164.0 - 165.9166.0 - 167.9168.0 - 169.9

> 170.0


correlated to stature.From islands, among isolates very short

stature (130.0 to 149.9 cm) is observed amongOnge and Andamanese tribals and short to lowermedium stature in Nicobarese tribals (Table 1, Fig.1). The Andamanese and Onges are consideredto have Negrito affinities and Nicobarese indicatetheir Malayan ancestry (Dutta 1978).

As observed, caste populations are on anaverage taller as compared to scheduled castes.This may be due to genetic differences betweenthese groups since they belong to different racialaffinities—Caucasoid (Aryan and/or Dravidian)in caste populations and Caucasoid and/orAustraloid (Dravidian and/or Pre-Dravidian)among scheduled caste people. Further there is adifference between socio-economic conditionsbetween the two groups. Therefore the tallerstature may be largely but not solely attributableto genetic differences. The tribals who areconsidered to be autochthonous have had alonger stay in their habitat as compared to otherethnic groups. The short stature among tribalgroups suggests in particular that the basicsubstratum of ethnic elements have been infavour of short individuals. In view of theadvantages of the smaller body size in both‘undernourished’ and ‘hot climate’ the smallerstature among the tribals might have developedin the process of adaptation to these conditions.

The mean values of stature correlations withvarious climatic factors and altitude by differentethnic groups although showing significantdifferences are not high except in scheduled tribes,where there are negative correlations of staturewith climatic factors and altitude (Table 6).

For assessment of the environment - bodydimension relationship, Basu et al. (1980) lookedat the correlations between stature, cephalic indexand nasal index on one hand and environmentalvariables like rainfall and temperature on the other.They found that none of them is significant exceptthe correlation between stature and rainfall in theall India sample, and also that this correlationdisappears when they restrict analysis to arelatively less heterogeneous group i.e.Brahmans. From this finding they pointed out thatthe relevant environmental factors are not theclimatic ones they have considered but otherse.g. social (i.e. castes/class), economic, nutritionaletc.

To study the correlations between stature andcaste status, Mahalanobis (1927) ranked castes

in a hierarchical order and showed positivecorrelation between caste status and stature andsought to interpret these relations in terms ofsuccessively greater intrusion of Caucasoidgenes into the higher castes through admixture.Olivier (1963) observed similar results on datafrom Tamil Nadu. Basu et al. (1980) stated that theimmensely elaborate and rigid systems of socialstratification, in which each strata was virtuallyclosed to fresh intrusion at an unknown antiquity,seem to be a plausible enough determinant ofanthropometric variations in India. They addedthat for this hypothesis to assume general validity,findings such as of Mahalanobis (1927) andOlivier (1963) should be repeated from diverseIndian populations, which is however not thecase. They argued that for instance while ananthropometric survey conducted in the state ofUttar Pradesh (Mahalanobis et al. 1949) showsthat castes of comparable hierarchical status tendto cluster together, a similar survey in Bengalshows that the clusters are not necessarilycomposed of castes of similar social status(Majumdar and Rao 1960). Further, the nature ofbiological similarity/differences among castes/subcastes of similar and different hierarchicalstatus lead Karve and Malhotra (1968) to concludethat hierarchical affinity does not oftencorrespond to biological similarity. Also Rakshit’s(1966) study showing wide diversity among theBrahmins also points in the same direction. Theyconcluded that it seems that both the hypotheses(a) of fission of an ancestral social group intocastes/sub-castes, each of the latter having morebiological similarities with the other than with sub-castes of other castes and (b) of coming togetherof social groups of disparate origins withoutfusion of their marital boundaries to constitutecaste clusters/castes, are probable but notsufficient from the point of view of explaining theimmense biological variations among the Indianpopulation. Further in the few regional studies inwhich clusters have been worked out or at leastdistance matrices have been computed(Mahalanobis et al. 1949; Majumdar and Rao 1960;Karve and Malhotra 1968), the similarities/differences do not seem to follow any definitepattern. Mahalanobis et al.’s (1949) study doesshow some clusters which correspond totraditional caste affinities, but even then thereare frequent exceptions. Further, they consideredthe tribal populations only and observed thatvariations among conventional racial categories

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331GENETICS OF CASTES AND TRIBES OF INDIA: SOMATOMETRYTa

ble

1: C

ontd

......

Part

icul

ars

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o. o

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rmat

ion

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332 M. K. BHASIN

i.e., Australoid, Mongoloid, Mundari and Negroidare not significant and concluded that neithercaste as such nor race, therefore, seem to bedeterminant of inter group anthropometricvariability.

The correlation between nutritional factorsand body size showed positive correlationbetween calorie intake and stature, fat intake andheight and fat intake and weight, although nosuch correlation between protein intake andheight or weight seems to exist (Basu et al., 1980).The protein-deprived individuals fail to attain theirfull ontogenetic growth potential and under theseconditions of chronic deficiency stress smallerbody size (of which stature is a critical component)may be highly adaptive for survival. Naturalselection for reduction of body size and massmay continue in a population existing under thesenutritional conditions which may persist overmany generations. However the genotype is notaltered and realization of full ontogeneticdevelopment may be attained in high proportionof the population when adequate protein isintroduced into the diet.

Malhotra (1966) also demonstrated the effectof nutrition on height and weight. Consideringthat nutritional level is strongly influenced byeconomic condition, the source of much of thevariations that are traditionally ascribed to racialproperties can be traced to much less abstrusesocio-economic variables.

A number of small scale studies from all overthe world suggest that growth and maturation ofchildren and adult body dimensions e.g., height,weight etc. are positively related to urbanization,social, economic and professional status andfamily size. Basu et al. (1980) reported that Gangulyconducted a study in 1974 taking these factorsinto consideration and observed that rural/urbanhabitat does not have any effect on any of theanthropometric traits he considered and the wellto do section of the population differssignificantly from the poorer section almost inevery character. They pointed that the weaknessof Ganguly’s (1979) study lies in the fact that theprobable effects of occupational and sexualselection and nutrition on body dimensions havenot been tested by any rigorous method (Basuet al. 1980). The effect of nutrition on height,weight and/or other measures of child growth andadult body dimensions have been more amplydemonstrated by Pachauri et al. (1971), Gopalanet al. (1973), Easwaran et al. (1974), Rao and

Satyanarayana (1974), Rao et al. (1975),Vijayalakashmi and Devaki (1976), Devdas et al.(1977) among others.

Among the higher occupational groups—priesthood, warfare, trade and commerce, thepopulations are taller (165.64, 166.96 and 165.47cm, respectively) as compared to lower groups—artisans and menial groups (162.79 and 161.66 cm,respectively). Mahalanobis (1927) and Olivier(1963) reported positive correlations betweenstature and caste status. Whereas amongpastoralists the value is maximum as compared toother groups (167.17 cm), which may be explaineddue to selection as suggested by Wolpoff (1980).He suggests that tallness was adaptive forprehistoric people, who were nomadic, travellinglong distances in pursuit of game which migratedseasonally to different ecozones. The physicaldemands of the hunting-gathering life style whichinvolved tracking of large and dangerous gameplaced a selective advantage on high muscular-skeletal robusticity and large body size,particularly among males who were involved inprocurement of flesh foods under conditions ofhigh risk and strenuous demands upon physicalstrength and stamina. Selection for large androbust body form was relaxed among sedentaryfood producing populations where the physicaldemands and risks are of a very different sort (inthe present study stature mean value is 163.52among agriculture group). Pastoralism mayinvolve selection for efficiency of long-distancewalking, and the tallest modern South Asians arefrom the northwest sector of the subcontinentwhere herding is a common way of life.

Among the speakers of Mon Khmer group(Austro-Asiatic family) and Tibeto-Chineselanguages the mean value of stature is low (158.78and 161.37 cm, respectively) as compared to Indo-European language groups (Dard group - 164.08and Pahari group - 163.11 cm) from the Himalayanregions among whom most have Mongoloidaffinities. Most of the tribals reported in thepresent study from peninsular region speakMunda group (Austro-Asiatic family) andDravidian language and among them also the meanvalues of stature are low, whereas speakers of Indo-European languages (mostly caste groups) showtaller stature as compared to the speakers of otherlanguages (164.52 cm) (Table 1, Fig. 1) (Bhasinet al. 1994; Bhasin and Walter, 2001).

Indian populations are on an average mediumin stature (163.06 cm) among whom caste people


are taller as compared to scheduled casteswhereas tribals are short in stature, suggestingthat the basic substratum of ethnic elements hasbeen in favour of short individuals. In view of theadvantages of the smaller body size in both‘under-nourished’ and ‘hot climate’ the smallerstature among the tribals might have developedin the process of adaptation to these conditions.The inhabitants of Punjab, Delhi and Rajasthanare in general taller than the populations of otherregions, which show a gradient of staturedistribution from northwest to east and southpositions of Indian subcontinent. Amongoccupational groups, the taller stature is foundamong pastoralists who indicate that pastoralismmay involve selection for efficiency of a longdistance walking. The speakers of Austro-Asiatic,Tibeto-Chinese and Dravidian languages areshorter in stature as compared to Indo-Europeanlanguage speakers.

2. INDICES

2.1. Cephalic Index

The mean value of cephalic index amongIndian populations is 76.06, which is falling intothe mesocephaly category, and it varies from 67.91(hyperdolichocephalic from Kerala, South India)to 90.88 (hyperbrachycephalic in West Bengal,East India). The mean value of cephalic index islow among scheduled tribes (75.81 - dolicho-cephalic) as compared to other ethnic groups.From the natural regions, the population groupsof Indus-Ganga-Brahmaputra plains with loweraverage mean value (75.67 - mesocephalic index)as compared to populations of other naturalregions. The cephalic index from monsoon typewith short dry season and cold humid winterswith short summers climatic region aredolichocephalic as compared to other climaticregions, where mesocephalic index is observed(Table 2) (Bhasin et al. 1994; Bhasin and Walter2001).

There are 244 studies available from NorthIndia and all the populations are showing meanvalues less than 76 which falls in the dolicho-cephaly category, except a few populations withMongoloid affinities from the Himalayanregions—Ladakhi, Changpa, Kashmiri from thestate of Jammu and Kahsmir; Kanets Lahoul,Keonthali of Mahasi, Bunan and Lahauli ofLahaul, Spiti, Tibetans and Nyamslat of Kinaur

of Himachal Pradesh of Western Himalayanregion; Bhotia groups, Tharus, Kewat who aremesocephalics and Burman Mongoloid (83.10brachycephalic) of Central Himalayan region. Thevalue of index is high among scheduled tribes ofNorth India, who are mostly from Himalayanregion with Mongoloid affinities as compared toother ethnic groups from North India. From Nepal,the Old Nepalese and Gurkha are having meso-tobrachycephalic index and there is tendencytowards higher indices in the East. Among thepopulation groups from Eastern Himalayan regionthe mean value of cephalic index is high (78.09)as compared to Western and Central Himalayanregions (74.00 and 76.71, respectively). From thestates of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Nagaland,Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, Meghalaya andSikkim, most of the populations studied showmean average value between 76.0 and 80.9(mesocephaly) except Garo and Abor groups,Kuki Chin, Rengma and Sema Nagas, Kaipeng,Synteng, Pnar Khasi who are falling indolichocephalic category and Ahom, AssameseBrahmin, Ao Naga, Bhutias, Chhetris (Sikkim), Raisand Limboos who are brachycephalics. FromDarjeeling district of West Bengal also brachy-cephalics are observed among Lepchas, Limbus,Khambus, Gurungs, Bhutias population groupswith Mongoloid affinities. From West Bengal inmost of the populations the mean value of indexis falling in mesocephalic category except a fewnamely Mal Pharia, Santal, Mala (tribal groups)and Rajbanshi, Barui, Mashiya, Rishi, Mahato(scheduled castes and caste groups) who aredolichocephalics. From West Bengal incidenceof mesocephalic is predominant amongpopulations belonging to different ethnic groupsand this may be due to Mongoloid racial elementpresent among them in varying degrees.From the states of Bihar and Orissa most of thetribal groups are dolichocephalics as comparedto other ethnic groups who are mesocephalics(For details see Bhasin et al. 1992).

From the states of Gujarat and Maharashtraof West India, the mean values of cephalic indexare quite high (78.89 and 77.79, respectively). Thevalues are high among castes (78.69) andcommunities (78.68) as compared to scheduledtribes (76.55). The brachycephalic index isreported among Brahmin Nagar, Parsis, Ahir,Kunbis, Kshatriyas, Prabhu Pathare whereasdolichocephalic index is observed among Dhanuk,different groups of Bhils, Halbi, Govari, Koli,

334 M. K. BHASIN

Katkari, all scheduled tribes.The mean value of cephalic index is 74.96

among the populations of Central India—who ismostly tribals and speaks Indo-European (Centralgroup), Austro-Asiatic (Munda group) andDravidian (Central Dravidian) languages and isfalling in dolichocephalic category. Similarly fromthe states of Bihar and Orissa among the tribalsthe mean value of cephalic index is less than 76(dolichocephalic) and they belong mainly to thespeakers of Austro-Asiatic (Munda group) andIndo-European (Eastern group) in Bihar andAustro-Asiatic (Munda group) and Dravidian(Central Dravidian) from Orissa.

The value of cephalic index is quite highamong the populations from the states ofKarnataka (78.71), Andhra Pradesh (77.79) ascompared toTamil Nadu (75.71) and Kerala (74.21),from where the mean value is low among

scheduled tribe (74.21 dolichocephaly, varies from69.44 to 78.90) as compared to other ethnic groupswho are mesocephalics and are having almostsimilar values. The brachycephaly (81.0) isobserved among the populations namely—Gauda, Kodagu, Kunchitiga, Brahmin Havig,Pattasali, Gangadikara Vokkaliga from Karnatakastate, Badaru and Kamti from Andhra Pradesh,Sukum Sale and Suka Sale from Tamil Nadu.

Onges and Andamanese of Andaman Islandsare brachycephalics whereas among Nicobaresethe differences are quite wide as observed fromdolichocepalic Car Nicobarese to mesocephalicNicobarese of Choura and Terressa Islands tohyperbrachycephalic Southern Nicobarese(Ganguly 1976). It appears that dolichocephalicsare predominant in North, East and towardsSouthern tip of India, whereas mesocephalics arefrequent in West and parts of South India and

Fig. 2. Frequencies of cephalic index in different regions of India (after Bhasin and Walter 2001)

INDIA

PAKISTAN

AFGHANISTAN

CHINATIBET

NEPAL

Lakshadweep (India)

BANGLA-DESH

Andaman

andN

icoba

rIsla

nds (

India)

Cephalic Index

< 73.974.0 - 74.975.0 - 75.976.0 - 76.977.0 - 77.978.0 - 78.9

> 79.0


Eastern Himalayan region (Table 2, Fig. 2).The correlations of mean value of cephalic

index with various climatic factors and altitudeby different ethnic groups though showingsignificant differences are not high (Table 6).

The brachycephalic element is observedamong the population groups with Mongoloidaffinities from the Himalayan region, particularlyfrom Eastern Himalayan region. From West India,brachycephalics are observed among caste groupsand a migrated community of Parsis and from thestates of West Bengal, Karnataka, Andhra Pradeshand Tamil Nadu also this element is observedamong the caste groups. From the Islands, amongOnges, Andamanese and Nicobarese-Southern,brachycephaly is predominant. It is interestingto note that brachycephalic element, which is ingeneral quite low among populations of India isobserved among populations with Mongoloid

affinities and caste groups of West and SouthIndia and state of West Bengal.

Guha in Census of India 1931 has made acoloured map of the distributions of the head formin India to which Keith (1936) has referred asfollows:

“Guha’s map shows brachycephaly (red)sweeping southwards rounds both ends ofHimalayas. From Pamir it descends throughAfghanistan, Baluchistan and Sind and thenextends continuously along the west, broadeningout from Bombay so far as the whole of Deccan isincluded. The red band sweeps across thepeninsular so as to include the South Madras.Only a small area in South is left as blue(dolichocephalic), it is along the Malabar Coast.From the eastern end of the Himalaya thebrachycephalic (red) area passes from Bhutan andTibet southward through Assam to spread over

Fig. 3. Distribution of type of cephalic index in different regions of India (after Sarkar 1958)

INDIA

PAKISTAN

AFGHANISTAN

CHINATIBET

Lakshadweep (India)

Andaman

andN

icoba

rIsla

nds(

India)

Cephalic Index

HyperdolichocephalsDolichocephalsDolichocephals (Indo Aryan)Brachycephals (Percentage

in Figures)MesocepalsDolichocephals (Mundari)

336 M. K. BHASINTa

ble

2: C

epha

lic I

ndex

Part

icul

ars

Subj

ects

No.

of

Cep

halic

Ind

exst

udie

dst

udie

sM

ean

Min

Max

1.N

ATU

RA

L R

EG

ION

Him

alay

an M

ount

ain

Com

plex

8860

140

76.3

869

.29

86.5

1In

dus-

Gan

ga-B

rahm

aput

ra P

lain

s27

517

294

75.8

770

.80

90.8

8Pe

nins

ular

Pla

teau

4909

659

776

.07

67.9

187

.00

Isla

nds

762

1478

.64

74.3

386

.11

2.C

LIM

ATIC

RE

GIO

NM

onso

on T

ype

with

Sho

rt D

ry42

2372

75.0

067

.91

86.1

1

Seas

onM

onso

on T

ype

with

Dry

Sea

son

3000

6176

.16

70.0

080

.87

Trop

ical

Sav

anna

h Ty

pe34

622

362

76.2

371

.80

87.0

0Se

mi A

rid S

tepp

e Ty

pe49

4510

276

.00

69.0

683

.00

Hot

Des

ert

Type

-0

--

-M

onso

on T

ype

with

Dry

Win

ters

3657

443

176

.01

69.2

990

.88

Col

d H

umid

Win

ters

with

Sho

rt33

85

75.7

973

.23

78.0

6

Sum

mer

sPo

lar

Type

533

1276

.24

73.4

479

.56

3.PO

LIT

ICA

L D

IVIS

ION

OF

IND

IAI.

NO

RTH

IN

DIA

A.

Wes

tern

Him

alay

a (S

. No.

1, 2

)1.

Jam

mu

and

Kas

hmir

1139

2474

.15

69.2

979

.56

2.H

imac

hal

Prad

esh

2294

2473

.92

70.7

078

.54

3.Pu

njab

1077

1573

.60

72.3

074

.40

4.C

hand

igra

h U

T-

0-

--

5.H

arya

na-

0-

--

6.D

elhi

UT

742

1074

.14

72.3

576

.00

B.

Cen

tral

Him

alay

a (S

. No.

7, E

ight

Dis

tric

ts o

f U

ttar

Prad

esh)

7.U

ttar

Prad

esh

1481

316

073

.54

70.8

083

.10

8.R

ajas

than

1698

1173

.85

72.4

076

.50

II.W

EST

IND

IA9.

Guj

arat

4749

5078

.89

74.9

083

.76

10.M

ahar

asht

ra69

6412

277

.79

72.4

083

.15

11.G

oa, D

aman

and

Diu

UT

-0

--

-12

.Dad

ra a

nd N

agar

Hav

eli

UT

-0

--

-II

I.EAS

T IN

DIA

C.

East

ern

Him

alay

a (S

. No.

13

to 2

0 an

d D

arje

elin

g D

istr

ict

of W

est

Beng

al)

13.A

runa

chal

Pra

desh

338

575

.79

73.2

378

.06

14.A

ssam

4846

6678

.11

73.4

782

.83

15.N

agal

and

1700

3577

.83

75.6

981

.87

16.M

anip

ur28

04

75.8

774

.19

77.2

517

.Miz

oram

401

75.1

575

.15

75.1

518

.Tri

pura

312

576

.56

74.9

876

.93

19.M

egha

laya

887

1277

.04

73.4

077

.81

20.S

ikki

m79

716

80.0

676

.46

86.5

121

.Wes

t B

enga

l74

7062

79.9

371

.75

90.8

8

Part

icul

ars

Subj

ects

No.

of

Cep

halic

Ind

exst

udie

dst

udie

sM

ean

Min

Max

22.B

ihar

1602

876

75.1

172

.40

78.2

023

.Oris

sa37

0053

75.2

372

.22

78.4

0IV

.CEN

TRAL

IN

DIA

24.M

adhy

a Pr

ades

h25

2536

74.9

671

.80

79.8

0V.

SOU

TH I

ND

IA25

.Kar

nata

ka21

8748

78.7

173

.10

83.0

026

.And

hra

Prad

esh

1426

3477

.79

72.8

987

.00

27.T

amil

Nad

u26

3590

75.7

169

.16

82.2

028

.Ker

ala

3665

6474

.01

67.9

178

.40

29.P

ondi

cher

ry U

T11

618

76.2

672

.44

80.8

7VI

.ISL

AND

S30

.Lak

shad

wee

p U

T-

0-

--

31.A

ndm

an I

slan

ds a

nd18

78

82.6

581

.18

84.8

0N

icob

ar I

slan

ds U

T57

56

77.3

374

.33

86.1

13A

. ZO

NE

S O

F IN

DIA

I.N

orth

Ind

ia21

763

244

73.6

569

.29

83.1

0II

.W

est

Indi

a11

713

172

78.2

472

.40

83.7

6II

I.Ea

st I

ndia

3639

833

576

.82

71.7

590

.88

IV.

Cen

tral

Indi

a25

2536

74.7

671

.80

79.8

0V.

Sout

h In

dia

1107

424

476

.07

67.9

187

.00

VI.

Isla

nds

762

1478

.64

74.3

386

.11

IND

IA (

TOTA

L)84

235

1045

76.0

667

.91

90.8

83B

. RE

GIO

NS

OF

HIM

AL

AYA

A.W

este

rn H

imal

aya

3433

4874

.00

69.2

979

.56

B.

Cen

tral

Him

alay

a13

9417

76.7

171

.13

83.1

0C

.Ea

ster

n H

imal

aya

9766

153

78.0

973

.23

86.5

1H

IMA

LAYA

(TO

TAL)

1459

321

877

.00

69.2

986

.51

NO

N-H

IMA

LAYA

N R

EGIO

NS

6964

282

775

.86

67.9

190

.88

4.E

TH

NIC

GR

OU

PA

.ZO

NES

OF

IND

IA1.

NO

RTH

IN

DIA

Cas

te68

0382

73.4

069

.88

77.5

0Sc

hedu

led

Cas

te35

5847

73.2

671

.00

75.3

0Sc

hedu

led

Trib

e24

2827

75.0

171

.14

79.8

9C

omm

unity

8974

8873

.62

69.2

983

.10

II.W

EST

IND

IAC

aste

4656

7878

.69

74.5

083

.76

Sche

dule

d C

aste

561

977

.42

76.5

178

.64

Sche

dule

d Tr

ibe

2107

2776

.55

72.4

080

.27


ble

2: C

ontd

......

Part

icul

ars

Subj

cect

sN

o. o

fC

epha

lic I

ndex

stud

ied

stud

ies

Mea

nM

in M

axC

omm

unity

4389

5878

.68

75.2

083

.15

III.

EAST

IN

DIA

Cas

te16

721

7676

.51

72.9

990

.88

Sche

dule

d C

aste

3927

4278

.03

73.8

980

.48

Sche

dule

d Tr

ibe

1259

817

576

.25

71.7

586

.51

Com

mun

ity31

5242

79.2

373

.77

84.3

0IV

.CEN

TRAL

IN

DIA

Cas

te10

42

74.8

374

.30

75.5

3Sc

hedu

led

Cas

te-

0-

--

Sche

dule

d Tr

ibe

2371

3374

.96

71.8

079

.80

Com

mun

ity50

175

.17

75.1

775

.17

V.SO

UTH

IN

DIA

Cas

te32

9582

76.9

871

.43

87.0

0Sc

hedu

led

Cas

te13

3732

76.5

073

.10

83.0

0Sc

hedu

led

Trib

e33

1665

74.2

169

.44

78.9

0C

omm

unity

3126

6576

.89

67.9

181

.70

VI.I

SLAN

DS

Cas

te-

0-

--

Sche

dule

d C

aste

-0

--

-Sc

hedu

led

Trib

e76

214

78.6

474

.33

86.1

1C

omm

unity

-0

--

-IN

DIA Cas

te31

579

320

76.2

069

.88

90.8

8Sc

hedu

led

Cas

te93

8313

075

.96

71.0

083

.00

Sche

dule

d Tr

ibe

2358

234

175

.81

69.4

486

.51

Com

mun

ity19

691

254

76.1

767

.91

84.3

0B

. RE

GIO

NS

OF

HIM

AL

AYA

A.

Wes

tern

Him

alay

aC

aste

858

1073

.78

69.8

877

.50

Sche

dule

d C

aste

701

71.8

771

.87

71.8

7Sc

hedu

led

Trib

e10

9812

74.4

371

.14

78.5

4C

omm

unity

1407

2573

.90

69.2

979

.56

B.

Cen

tral

Him

alay

aC

aste

602

75.6

674

.82

76.8

4Sc

hedu

led

Cas

te21

32

74.2

173

.69

74.8

0Sc

hedu

led

Trib

e53

66

77.3

373

.90

79.8

9C

omm

unity

585

777

.16

71.1

383

.10

C.

East

ern

Him

alay

aC

aste

243

579

.08

77.0

881

.41

Sche

dule

d C

aste

1221

1478

.22

75.7

880

.12

Sche

dule

d Tr

ibe

6811

108

77.5

773

.23

86.5

1C

omm

unity

1491

2680

.19

77.9

684

.30

5. T

RA

DIT

ION

AL

OC

CU

PAT

ION

Prie

stho

od15

528

7675

.60

70.7

081

.56

Part

icul

ars

Subj

cect

s

No.

of

Cep

halic

Ind

exst

udie

dst

udie

sM

ean

Min

Max

War

fare

3491

3374

.45

69.8

881

.81

Trad

e an

d C

omm

erce

2383

2977

.18

71.3

081

.40

Agr

icul

ture

1950

3975

.34

71.8

780

.12

Ani

mal

Hus

band

ry88

012

73.8

572

.40

81.2

8A

rtis

ans

710

1177

.33

72.9

882

.20

Men

ial

Wor

kers

6409

7176

.27

71.0

080

.48

No

Info

rmat

ion

5288

477

476

.27

67.9

190

.88

6.L

AN

GU

AG

E G

RO

UP

I.AU

STRO

-ASI

ATIC

FAM

ILY

Mon

Khm

er G

roup

1436

1677

.34

74.3

386

.11

Mun

da G

roup

5441

5875

.18

71.7

580

.48

II.T

IBET

O-C

HIN

ESE

FAM

ILY

(i)

Siam

ese-

Chi

nese

Sub

-Fam

ilyTa

i G

roup

851

78.4

878

.48

78.4

8(i

i) T

ibet

o-Bu

rman

Sub

-Fam

ilyB

hotia

Gro

up20

9827

77.3

470

.38

86.5

1H

imal

ayan

Gro

up10

3920

79.6

672

.98

85.0

4N

orth

Eas

t Fr

ontie

r G

roup

1111

1978

.11

73.2

382

.83

Bod

o G

roup

1983

2476

.89

73.7

480

.13

Nag

a G

roup

1901

3977

.90

75.6

981

.87

Kac

hin

Gro

up13

176

.06

76.0

676

.06

Kuk

i C

hin

Gro

up38

88

75.5

573

.40

77.2

5II

I. D

RAVI

DIA

N F

AMIL

YSo

uth

Dra

vidi

an G

roup

1083

624

076

.06

67.9

187

.00

Cen

tral

Dra

vidi

an G

roup

2031

3375

.41

71.8

079

.80

Nor

th D

ravi

dian

Gro

up30

0911

73.6

772

.30

75.7

9IV

.IN

DO

-EU

ROPE

AN F

AMIL

YD

ard

Gro

up65

210

74.0

569

.88

76.2

0N

orth

Wes

tern

Gro

up30

182

.91

82.9

182

.91

Sout

hern

Gro

up70

6411

577

.93

74.3

081

.81

East

ern

Gro

up18

9234

76.2

072

.40

78.4

0B

ihar

i20

718

109

76.9

472

.99

90.8

8C

entra

l G

roup

2085

324

974

.49

70.8

083

.76

Paha

ri G

roup

969

1674

.10

69.2

981

.49

Uns

peci

fied

256

276

.46

73.9

077

.33

Oth

er L

angu

ages

430

1279

.29

74.2

984

.80

No

Info

rmat

ion

-0

--

-6A

. LA

NG

UA

GE

FA

MIL

YI.

Aus

tro A

siat

ic F

amily

6877

7475

.63

71.7

586

.11

II.

Tibe

to C

hine

se F

amily

8616

139

77.6

770

.38

86.5

1II

I.D

ravi

dian

Fam

ily15

876

284

75.5

267

.91

87.0

0IV

.In

do E

urop

ean

Fam

ily52

434

536

75.9

969

.29

90.8

8O

ther

Lan

guag

es43

012

79.2

974

.29

84.8

0N

o In

form

atio

n-

0-

--

338 M. K. BHASIN

Bengal and to end in Orissa. The actual data onwhich Guha based his map has not beenpublished. So Guha’s map cannot be studied orchecked by other researchers”.

Sarkar et al. (1955) made an attempt to findout whether brachycephaly is restricted to certainzones or it has sweeping distribution as shownin Guha’s map. In their paper, they placed thedata into four tables and found the followingzones with highest concentration ofbrachycephaly (Fig. 3).

Zone A: North West Frontier Provinces(NWFR), Punjab, Rajputana, and SouthernExtension

Zone B: Himalayan foot hillZone C: Chittagao Hill Tracks, Bengal and

AssamOthers excluding zones A, B, and C in which

states are Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and then fromMelghat Orissa, Nilgiri Hills, Travancore,Tinnevalley.

It has been observed that brachycephalyconfines more or less to certain zones and thesezones are not interrelated. It does not appear asclear sweeping continued and evenly distributedstrain as reported by Guha (1931).

In Zone A, the highest value is 76.8 per centof Northwest Frontier Provinces to about 60 percent in Punjab and Baluchistan and then it fallsby 1 to 2 per cent in certain groups. The southwardextension of the above is justified because of theabsence of the high percentage of brachycephalysimilar to N.W.F.P., only in Prabhu highest is 52per cent which falls to 46 in Nagar Brahmin and40 per cent in Vadnagar Nagar Brahmin. The othergroups of these areas show very low percentageof brachycephaly. They suggested that Pamirhave always been recognized as centre ofbrachycephaly and the same is true for Hindukushregion. It would therefore be not out of place toassume that N.W.F.P. brachycephaly has itssource in the above region.

In Zone B, high brachycephaly has been withLimbu of Nepal (82 per cent). This appears to beof Mongoloid origin.

Zone C has the highest brachycephaly amongChakama (76 per cent). It therefore appears thatwhatever brachycephaly is found in this area hasits origin in the east and this is all the more evidentin the absence of any influx of brachycephalyfrom the Zone B.

The latter argument of Sarkar et al. (1955) isborn out of the fact that the brachycephaly

appears to decrease appreciably and significantlyin the region further from the nucleus. TheKayasthas (Uttar Radhi) of Bengal have only 10per cent of brachycephaly and it has been foundto be very low in the western region of Bengal.They observed that the source of thisbrachycephaly is Southeast Asia, which ispredominantly brachycephalic and closer toEastern India.

Sarkar et al. (1955) have not grouped in anycategory the people of Tinnevalley in the southerntip of peninsula among whom they found fairlyhigh brachycephaly (Parwars and Shanars, whoshow 34.0 ± 6.7 and 51 ± 4.9 per cent ofbrachycephaly, respectively). Hornwell (1923)who has studied them in course of his researchon the origin and ethnological significance ofIndian Boat was of the opinion that there havebeen separate waves migrations from SoutheastAsia and the first wave was of Polynesian andsecond of Malayanesians. He emphasized thesimilarities between the Sharnas andMalayanesian people of Java. It is therefore notimprobable that Malayan element has beenresponsible for the brachycephaly in East Indiato a certain extent. (Basu et al. 1980).

Among the higher occupational groups—priesthood and warfare, the mean value ofcephalic index is low (75.60 and 74.45) and aredolichocephalics as compared to the artisans andmenial workers who are mesocephalics. Howeveramong all these occupational groups thedifferences in the mean values are not high andthe values are either dolichocephalic or near thelower range of mesocephaly (76.0 to 80.9), whichindicates gene flow among them, as also observedfor other biological traits (Table 2) (Bhasin et al.1994; Bhasin and Walter 2001).

Among the speakers of Munda group ofAustro-Asiatic and North and Central Dravidiangroups of Dravidian languages, the predominantelement present is dolichocephaly and they aremostly tribals. The mean value of cephalic indexis high among speakers of Mon Khmer group(Austro-Asiatic family), Bhotia group, Himalayangroup, North East Frontier group, Naga group(Tibeto-Chinese family) and Northwestern group(Indo-European family) languages who arehaving Mongoloid affinities. The speakers ofCentral group are dolichocephalics as comparedto Bihari, Eastern (East India) and Southern groups(Maharashtra) who are mesocephalics (Table 2)(Bhasin et al. 1994; Bhasin and Walter 2001).


In India, cephalic index value varies fromdolichocephaly to mesocephaly barring a fewpopulation groups from West, East, South andIslands among whom brachycephaly has beenobserved; the mean value of the index is 76.06which are mesocephaly. In various zones, thedistribution of cephalic index is mostlydolichocephaly in North and Central India andbrachycephaly is absent; West, East and SouthIndia are predominantly mesocephalic with lowfrequency of brachycephaly, while thebrachycephaly element is prominent from Islands.In the Hiamalayan region the low mean value ofcephalic index is observed from Western regionwhich is dolichocephalic than in Central andEastern regions which fall in mesocephaly class.The value is low in the scheduled tribe ethnicgroups as compared to others in all zones andIndia except in North India, where it is higher thanother groups. No correlation is observed withclimatic factors and altitude with different ethnicgroups. Among the different occupational groupsvalue of cephalic index is low among priesthoodand warfare groups as compared to artisans andmenial workers groups but the differences are notsignificant. Among the language families, highvalue of the index is observed among speakers ofTibeto-Chinese languages who are havingMongoloid affinities whereas low value is record-ed in Central and North Dravidian (Dravidianfamily) and Munda group (Austro-Asiatic family)speakers who are mostly tribals.

2.2. Nasal Index

The nose, like the dentition, is more directlyregulated by the forces of selection than is truefor other aspects of cranial morphology (Brace1964; Brace and Hunt 1990; Brace et al. 1991).

Global variation in the human nasal index iswidely viewed as the result of an adaptiveresponse to climatic variability. Thomson andBuxton (1923) first, and many later investigators(Davies 1932; Weiner 1954; Crognier 1981; Beals

Zone IncidenceHigh Medium Low

North India Dolichocephaly - Meso-and BrachycephalyCentral India Dolichocephaly Mesocephaly -West India Mesocephaly - Brachy-and DolichocephalyEast India Mesocephaly Dolichocephaly BrachycephalySouth India Mesocephaly Dolichocephaly BrachycephalyIslands Brachycephaly - Meso-and Dolichocephaly

et al. 1984) found that nasal indices are positivelyassociated with both temperature and humidity.Nasal indices are also related to latitude, whichunderlies variation in temperature and humidity(Newman 1953; Kelso 1970). In addition, nasalheight and breadth, the components of the index,have been studied with respect to climate (Wolpoff1968; Hiernaux and Froment 1976; Corgnier 1981).Nasal height is more strongly associated withtemperature, covarying negatively, whereas nasalbreadth is most strongly associated with humidity,covarying positively. However, the nasal indexshows a higher correlation with climatic gradientsthan do either nasal height or nasal breadth alone.These patterns have been explained as evolution-ary adaptations optimizing respiratory heat andmoisture exchange in nasal mucosa, primarily toprevent ciliary and lung alveoli damage, as wellas to moderate body water loss and maintainthermal equilibrium (e.g., Thomson and Buxton1923; Davies 1932; Weiner 1954).

Despite the associations described above, thenasal index is not universally accepted as areflection of climatic adaptation (Hoyme 1965; St.Hoyme and Iscan 1989).

The mean value of nasal index is 75.53 amongIndian populations (varies from 51.40 - hyperlepto-rhinae in Jain Pancham of Maharashtrato 96.75 -chamaerhinae in Garo or Mande of Assam).

The value is high (79.40 - mesorhinae) amongscheduled tribes as compared to other ethnicgroups (scheduled caste - 75.61; caste - 74.78 andcommunity - 71.57).The value of index is low inHimalayan mountain complex region (70.68)followed by Indus-Ganga-Brahmaputra plains(72.13) and then gradually increases towardspeninsular plateau (78.01) and islands region(79.98). From the climatic regions, the value islowest from polar region (66.38) and startsincreasing towards cold humid winters with shortsummers (71.31) and monsoon type with drywinters (72.11) regions and reach quite highvalues in tropical savannah type (78.05) tomaximum in monsoon type with short dry season

340 M. K. BHASINTa

ble

3: N

asal

Ind

exPa

rtic

ular

sSu

bjec

tsN

o. o

fN

asal

Ind

exst

udie

dst

udie

sM

ean

Min

Max

1.N

ATU

RA

L R

EG

ION

Him

alay

an M

ount

ain

Com

plex

8408

129

70.6

860

.83

92.8

6In

dus-

Gan

ga-B

rahm

aput

ra P

lain

s22

844

249

72.1

350

.90

96.7

5Pe

nins

ular

Pla

teau

4648

056

378

.01

51.4

095

.90

Isla

nds

751

1379

.98

69.5

893

.01

2.C

LIM

ATIC

RE

GIO

NM

onso

on T

ype

with

Sho

rt D

ry41

7968

80.6

265

.70

93.0

1

Seas

onM

onso

on T

ype

with

Dry

Sea

son

2827

4876

.75

67.9

295

.10

Trop

ical

Sav

anna

h Ty

pe34

389

354

78.0

551

.40

95.9

0Se

mi A

rid S

tepp

e Ty

pe47

6892

76.1

064

.52

92.9

0H

ot D

eser

t Ty

pe-

0-

--

Mon

soon

Typ

e w

ith D

ry W

inte

rs31

449

375

72.1

159

.00

96.7

5C

old

Hum

id W

inte

rs w

ith S

hort

338

571

.31

70.3

472

.90

Su

mm

ers

Pola

r Ty

pe53

312

66.3

862

.18

68.4

63.

POL

ITIC

AL

DIV

ISIO

N O

F IN

DIA

I.N

ORT

H I

ND

IAA

.W

este

rn H

imal

aya

(S. N

o. 1

, 2)

1.Ja

mm

u an

d K

ashm

ir92

615

64.7

461

.75

75.5

42.

Him

acha

l Pr

ades

h22

9424

65.8

160

.83

74.1

03.

Punj

ab10

3513

69.7

864

.71

75.2

04.

Cha

ndig

rah

UT

-0

--

-5.

Har

yana

-0

--

-6.

Del

hi U

T74

010

67.9

665

.92

71.1

7B

.C

entr

al H

imal

aya

(S. N

o. 7

, Eig

ht D

istr

icts

of

Utta

r Pr

ades

h)7.

Utta

r Pr

ades

h12

232

123

71.0

159

.00

86.1

08.

Raj

asth

an16

9811

73.6

370

.03

84.1

0II

.WES

T IN

DIA

9.G

ujar

at47

5050

73.5

365

.84

80.8

010

.Mah

aras

htra

6935

120

77.4

551

.40

94.8

011

.Goa

, Dam

an a

nd D

iu U

T-

0-

--

12.D

adra

and

Nag

ar H

avel

i U

T-

0-

--

III.E

AST

IND

IAC

.Ea

ster

n H

imal

aya

(S. N

o. 1

3 to

20

and

Dar

jeel

ing

Dis

tric

t of

Wes

t Be

ngal

)13

.Aru

nach

al P

rade

sh33

85

71.3

170

.34

72.9

014

.Ass

am48

4766

76.0

565

.69

96.7

515

.Nag

alan

d16

9935

77.4

664

.42

92.8

616

.Man

ipur

280

475

.93

70.8

480

.95

17.M

izor

am40

169

.98

69.9

869

.98

18.T

ripu

ra31

15

72.9

270

.63

75.3

119

.Meg

hala

ya88

712

79.1

673

.58

87.6

320

.Sik

kim

797

1670

.13

65.1

578

.20

21.W

est

Ben

gal

5378

5572

.18

65.4

094

.70

Part

icul

ars

Subj

ects

No.

of

Nas

al I

ndex

stud

ied

stud

ies

Mea

nM

in M

ax22

.Bih

ar15

650

7078

.46

58.8

095

.90

23.O

rissa

3700

5381

.53

70.4

691

.81

IV.C

ENTR

AL I

ND

IA24

.Mad

hya

Prad

esh

2504

3582

.09

72.9

292

.20

V.SO

UTH

IN

DIA

25.K

arna

taka

2149

4776

.60

65.2

092

.62

26.A

ndhr

a Pr

ades

h14

2634

75.3

069

.70

81.9

027

.Tam

il N

adu

2323

6876

.72

64.5

290

.81

28.K

eral

a36

3261

81.3

165

.70

95.1

029

.Pon

dich

erry

UT

1161

876

.04

70.8

281

.21

VI.I

SLAN

DS

30.L

aksh

adw

eep

UT

-0

--

-31

.And

man

Isl

ands

and

176

784

.15

71.6

093

.01

N

icob

ar I

slan

ds U

T57

56

78.7

069

.58

83.8

73A

. ZO

NE

S O

F IN

DIA

I.N

orth

Ind

ia18

925

196

70.1

359

.00

86.1

0II

.W

est

Indi

a11

685

170

75.8

651

.40

94.8

0II

I.Ea

st I

ndia

3392

732

277

.07

58.8

096

.75

IV.

Cen

tral

Indi

a25

0435

82.0

972

.92

92.2

0V.

Sout

h In

dia

1069

121

877

.99

64.5

295

.10

VI.

Isla

nds

751

1379

.98

69.5

893

.01

IND

IA (

TOTA

L)78

483

954

75.5

351

.40

96.7

53B

. RE

GIO

NS

OF

HIM

AL

AYA

A.

Wes

tern

Him

alay

a32

2039

65.5

160

.83

75.5

4B

.C

entr

al H

imal

aya

1157

1572

.85

65.7

883

.00

C.

East

ern

Him

alay

a97

6515

375

.56

64.4

296

.75

HIM

ALA

YA (

TOTA

L)14

142

207

73.0

560

.83

96.7

5N

ON

-HIM

ALA

YAN

REG

ION

S64

341

747

76.0

751

.40

95.9

04.

ET

HN

IC G

RO

UP

A.

ZON

ES O

F IN

DIA

1.N

ORT

H I

ND

IAC

aste

6290

6870

.27

59.0

084

.28

Sche

dule

d C

aste

2638

3875

.16

63.0

086

.10

Sche

dule

d Tr

ibe

2389

2671

.20

62.1

884

.10

Com

mun

ity76

0864

67.9

260

.83

83.4

0II

.WES

T IN

DIA

Cas

te46

5678

74.9

865

.84

82.8

1Sc

hedu

led

Cas

te56

29

78.8

674

.79

81.9

0Sc

hedu

led

Trib

e21

0827

80.0

469

.27

94.8

0


ble

3: C

ontd

....

Part

icul

ars

Subj

ects

No.

of

Nas

al I

ndex

stud

ied

stud

ies

Mea

nM

in M

axC

omm

unity

4359

5674

.39

51.4

087

.56

III.

EAST

IN

DIA

Cas

te14

694

6976

.34

58.8

090

.16

Sche

dule

d C

aste

3684

4074

.44

66.3

988

.70

Sche

dule

d Tr

ibe

1255

117

279

.95

64.4

296

.75

Com

mun

ity29

9841

71.8

765

.40

82.0

6IV

. CEN

TRAL

IN

DIA

Cas

te10

42

79.2

672

.92

85.1

4Sc

hedu

led

Cas

te-

0-

--

Sche

dule

d Tr

ibe

2350

3282

.30

75.9

092

.20

Com

mun

ity50

177

.91

77.9

177

.91

V. S

OU

TH I

ND

IAC

aste

3199

7576

.03

65.7

085

.50

Sche

dule

d C

aste

1304

3078

.45

69.7

082

.31

Sche

dule

d Tr

ibe

3183

6281

.34

64.5

295

.10

Com

mun

ity30

0551

76.3

362

.50

92.6

2VI

ISL

AND

SC

aste

-0

--

-Sc

hedu

led

Cas

te-

0-

--

Sche

dule

d Tr

ibe

751

1379

.98

69.5

893

.01

Com

mun

ity-

0-

--

IND

IA Cas

te28

943

292

74.7

858

.80

90.1

6Sc

hedu

led

Cas

te81

8811

775

.61

63.0

092

.31

Sche

dule

d Tr

ibe

2333

233

279

.49

62.1

896

.75

Com

mun

ity18

020

213

71.5

751

.40

92.6

2B

. RE

GIO

US

OF

HIM

AL

AYA

A. W

este

rn H

imal

aya

Cas

te81

88

64.9

062

.11

74.1

0Sc

hedu

led

Cas

te70

165

.39

65.3

965

.39

Sche

dule

d Tr

ibe

1059

1166

.48

62.1

875

.54

Com

mun

ity12

7319

65.0

960

.83

69.5

8B.

Cen

tral

Him

alay

aC

aste

602

69.1

768

.54

70.0

6Sc

hedu

led

Cas

te21

32

79.9

875

.98

83.0

0Sc

hedu

led

Trib

e53

66

72.0

965

.78

79.5

0C

omm

unity

348

570

.73

66.3

073

.14

C.

East

ern

Him

alay

aC

aste

243

569

.08

65.6

970

.17

Sche

dule

d C

aste

1221

1473

.34

66.3

983

.70

Sche

dule

d Tr

ibe

9810

108

76.6

964

.42

96.7

5C

omm

unity

1491

2673

.27

65.7

582

.06

5. T

RA

DIT

ION

AL

OC

CU

PAT

ION

Prie

stho

od14

940

7075

.89

58.8

082

.81

Part

icul

ars

Subj

ects

No.

of

Nas

al I

ndex

stud

ied

stud

ies

Mea

nM

in M

axW

arfa

re31

1426

69.0

162

.11

82.4

8Ta

de a

nd C

omm

erce

1937

2673

.16

63.0

079

.60

Agr

icul

ture

1846

3372

.74

64.0

083

.70

Ani

mal

Hus

band

ry47

810

71.3

265

.74

78.9

5A

rtis

ans

708

1171

.94

63.0

081

.71

Men

ial

Wor

kers

5359

6475

.98

64.0

088

.70

No

Info

rmat

ion

5000

171

476

.08

51.4

096

.75

6. L

AN

GU

AG

E G

RO

UP

I. AU

STRO

-ASI

ATIC

FAM

ILY

Mon

Khm

er G

roup

1436

1679

.57

69.5

887

.63

Mun

da G

roup

5395

5582

.28

69.0

095

.00

II.

TIBE

TO-C

HIN

ESE

FAM

ILY

(i) S

iam

ese-

Chi

nese

Sub

-Fam

ilyTa

i G

roup

851

77.2

677

.26

77.2

6(ii

) Ti

beto

-Bur

man

Sub

-fam

ilyB

hotia

Gro

up17

7423

66.0

560

.83

75.5

4H

imal

aya

Gro

up10

3920

71.3

365

.15

78.5

0N

orth

Eas

t Fr

ontie

r G

roup

1111

1974

.05

69.6

690

.58

Bod

o G

roup

1982

2477

.64

68.5

496

.75

Nag

a G

roup

1901

3977

.96

64.4

292

.86

Kac

hin

Gro

up13

181

.26

81.2

681

.26

Kuk

i C

hin

Gro

up38

88

75.6

969

.98

82.6

7II

I. D

RAVI

DIA

N F

AMIL

YSo

uth

Dra

vidi

an G

roup

1045

421

578

.04

64.5

295

.10

Cen

tral

Dra

vidi

an G

roup

2010

3282

.06

73.6

791

.81

Nor

th D

ravi

dian

Gro

up30

0911

72.8

267

.00

89.1

2IV

. IN

DO

-EU

ROPE

AN F

AMIL

YD

ard

Gro

up57

26

63.3

462

.11

66.5

0N

orth

Wes

tern

Gro

up30

173

.58

73.5

873

.58

Sout

hern

Gro

up70

5711

476

.77

51.7

088

.40

East

ern

Gro

up18

9234

81.3

070

.46

93.6

0B

ihar

i18

294

9975

.29

58.8

088

.70

Cen

tral

Gro

up18

438

210

72.1

359

.00

94.8

0Pa

hari

Gro

up92

914

67.4

362

.42

77.9

3U

nspe

cifie

d25

62

77.0

569

.10

79.5

0O

ther

Lan

guag

es41

810

79.9

5-

93.0

1N

o In

form

atio

n-

0-

--

6A. L

AN

GU

AG

E F

AM

ILY

I. A

ustro

Asi

atic

Fam

ily68

3171

81.7

269

.00

95.9

0II

. Ti

beto

Chi

nese

Fam

ily82

9313

573

.87

60.8

396

.75

III.

Dra

vidi

an F

amily

1547

325

877

.55

64.5

295

.10

IV. I

ndo

Euro

pean

Fam

ily47

468

480

74.2

351

.40

94.8

0O

ther

Lan

guag

es41

810

79.9

569

.10

93.0

1N

o In

form

atio

n-

0-

--

342 M. K. BHASIN

(80.62) region. The value of index increases asone moves from cold climate towards hot climate(Table 3), (Bhasin et al. 1994; Bhasin and Walter2001).

The value of nasal index is low from the NorthIndia zone (70.13) as compared to other zones.The nasal index is leptorhinae among thepopulations from the states of Jammu andKashmir (64.74), Himachal Pradesh (65.81) ofWestern Himalayan region, and also from Punjaband Delhi (69.78 and 67.96, respectively) ascompared to the peoples from any other State orUnion Territory of India, where the nasal index ismesorhinae type (Table 3, Fig. 4). From CentralHimalayan region among the population groupswith Mongoloid affinities the value of index isless than 70.0 (different groups of Bhotias,Jaunsari) as also among caste groups comparedto scheduled castes in which the value is quite

high (79.28). From Rajasthan also the value ofthe index is high among scheduled tribes(different groups of Bhils) as compared to thecaste groups.

From East India, from the states of Assam,Nagaland, Manipur, Meghalaya of EasternHimalayan region the values of index are quitehigh (76.05, 77.46, 75.93, 79.16, respectively)among the population groups with Mongoloidaffinities as compared to the population groupsfrom Western and Central Himalayan regions andSikkim state (70.13). This may be due to racialelements present among the peoples from EasternHimalayan region—Australoid (Pre-Dravidian),Caucasoid (Dravidian, and/or Aryan) andMongoloid in varying degrees. From Nepal,among Sherpas, Chhetris, Rais, Thakurs,Tamangs, Newars, Sunwars, Limbus the nasalindex is leptorhinae as also observed among

Nasal Index

< 69.970.0 - 71.972.0 - 73.974.0 - 75.976.0 - 77.978.0 - 79.9

> 80.0

INDIA

PAKISTAN

AFGHANISTA

N

CHINATIBET

NEPAL

Lakshadweep (India)

BANGLA-DESH

Andaman

and N

icoba

r Is l a

nds (

India)

Fig. 4. Frequencies of nasal index in different regions of India (after Bhasin and Walter 2001)


different populations from Sikkim among whomNepalis are in majority.

From West India the value of the index is 75.86(mesorhinae) and quite high value is foundamong the populations from Maharashtra (77.45)as compared to Gujarat (73.53). The value ishighest among the scheduled tribes (80.04 -mesorhinae) followed by scheduled castes (78.86)as compared to other ethnic groups. From WestIndia, however, the value of index below 70(leptorhinae) is observed among a few castes(Brahmin, Rajput, Khatri, Jain) and Parsis - amigrant community from Southwest Asia.

Among the populations from Central India(Madhya Pradesh) the value of index is quite high(82.09) followed by the states of Orissa (81.53)and Bihar (78.46) from which the studies are onscheduled tribes. From these states, as well asfrom West Bengal, the values of index are quitehigh (above 85) among tribals (e.g. Santal, Munda,Oraon, Paharia, Gond, Muria) and low (less than70) among caste groups (mostly Brahmin).

The mean value of nasal index is again highfrom the states of South India (77.99) and in thiszone also, the value is highest among scheduledtribes (81.34) followed by scheduled castes(78.45), as also observed from West India zone.The low values (less than 70) are observed amonga few populations—Curgs, Lambadi-nomadsmigrated from North India, Toda, Kaku andMohammadans. Whereas quite high values (morethan 85) have been reported among Kuruba,Yeruvas, Sholega, Siddi (a community with blackancestry), Kadar, Malasar, Paniyan, Malavetan,Ulladan, Muthuvan, Urali, Nayadi, Malser,Malapulayan, Malayarayan. From this zone, thestudies available on different caste populationsare falling in mesorhinae class.

From Islands, among Andamanese from Northand South the nasal index is quite high (morethan 85), whereas others are falling in mesorhinaeclass except Nicobarese Southern who are havingleptorhinae nasal index.

In general, it has been observed that the valueof nasal index is low among population groupsfrom the Himalayan region, however, differencesare observed among the peoples from westernand central Himalayan regions who are havingCaucasoid (Aryans) affinities and Caucasoid(Aryan) and Mongoloid admixture in varyingdegrees in which value of nasal index is low whilethat of Eastern Himalayan region who are havingadmixture of Australoid (Pre-Dravidian),

Caucasoid (Dravidian and/or Aryans) andMongoloid racial elements in varying degreeshave high value.

As one moves towards Indus-Ganga-Brahma-putra plains region, the value of nasal indexincreases a little whereas among castes andcommunities who are Caucasoid (Aryans) thevalue of index is low as compared to scheduledcastes and scheduled tribes and they are havingCaucasoid (Aryan, Dravidian) and Austraoloid(Pre-Dravidian) racial elements in varying degrees.

In the peninsular region, the value of the indexincreases sharply and it has been observed thatin West India, Central India and state of Orissa,the mean values are quite high among scheduledtribes and scheduled castes who are havingmostly Australoid and/or Caucasoid (Dravidian)admixture, albeit higher caste groups from thisregion are having leptorhinae type of nose. InSouth India, among Dravidians, the value of nasalindex is quite high among all the ethnic groupswith highest in scheduled tribes who are havingAustraloid (Pre-Dravidian) and/or Caucasoid(Dravidian) racial element (s).

The nasal index shows a correlation withclimatic gradients, but as it appears from theabove discussion, the differences observed arealso due to different racial elements present amongthem and due to various ethnic groups from thesame natural regions.

Further when nasal index correlations arecalculated with various climatic factors andaltitude by different ethnic groups significantdifferences are observed but correlations are nothigh (Table 6). Therefore it appears difficult toevaluate to what extent there is an association ofthe nasal index with climatic adaptation.

The value of nasal index among differentoccupational groups is low in warfare (69.01 -leptorhinae), animal husbandry (71.32) andartisans (71.94) followed by agriculture (72.74) andtrade and commerce (73.16) group as comparedto priesthood and menial workers among whomthe values are quite high (75.89 and 75.98,respectively) (Table 3), (Bhasin et al. 1994; Bhasinand Walter 2001). Most of the studies reportedon priesthood group are from West Bengal, WestIndia and South India among whom the value ofnasal index is observed high as compared to othergroups, particularly warfare group. The socialstratification is most clearly shown in the nasalindex—with increasing social rank the nasal indexbecome slower i.e. nose becomes narrower and

344 M. K. BHASIN

more pronounced (Risley 1915; v. Eickstedt 1952;Büchi 1968). However in present study it is notso with the highest rank i.e. priesthood.

The value of the index is high among thespeakers of Mon Khmer group (79.57) of AustroAsiatic; Bodo group (77.84), Naga group (77.96),Kachin group (81.26), Kuki Chin group (75.69),Tai group (77.26) and North East Frontier group(74.05) of Tibeto-Chinese languages from EasternHimalayan region who are having Mongoloidaffinities as compared to Dard group (63.34),Pahari group (67.43) of Indo-European and Bhotiagroup (66.05), Himalayan group (71.33) of Tibeto-Chinese languages from Western and CentralHimalayan regions and state of Sikkim. Amongthe speakers of Eastern group of Indo-European,Munda group of Austro-Asiatic and CentralDravidian group of Dravidian languages whobelong mostly to tribals the values are quite high(81.30, 82.28 and 82.06). In general, the values ofnasal index are low among the speakers of Tibeto-Chinese (73.87) and Indo-European (74.23)languages as compared to others (Table 3)(Bhasin et al. 1994; Bhasin and Walter 2001).

In India, the nasal index is observed ofmesorhinae type (75.53) among various populationgroups of India. The mean value of the index isobserved high in Central India and Islands fromwhere mostly scheduled tribe groups are reported,followed by South, East, West and North India.The value of nasal index is high in Eastern region(mesorhinae) as compared to Western and Centralregions of Himalaya. In general, the high value ofnasal index is observed among scheduled tribegroups followed by scheduled caste as comparedto caste and community from various zones andregions. The value is high in Austro-Asiaticfollowed by Dravidian language speakers ascompared to Indo-European and Tibeto-Chineselanguage speakers. No correlations are observedwith various climatic factors and altitude bydifferent ethnic groups. Leptorhinae type of noseis observed mostly from North India and in fewcaste groups from West and East India, althougha few cases have also been reported from SouthIndia among inbreeding groups (Muhammadansand Curg), small ethnic groups (Kapu and Toda)and a group which is originally not from SouthIndia (Lambadi) and chamaerhinae type of nose isreported generally among scheduled tribe andscheduled caste groups from West, East, SouthIndia and Islands zones.

2.3. Facial Index

The mean value of facial index is 86.34(mesoprosopic) among Indian populations, whichvaries from 75.00 (hypereuryprosopic type amongNaga Sundan of Nagaland) to 122.80 (hyperlepto-prospic in Bhil Khandesh of Maharashtra). Amongall the ethnic groups the index falls in mesopro-sopic class (84.0 - 87.9) with low value in schedul-ed caste (85.79) and high in community (86.58).The facial index is leptoprosopic among popu-lation groups from Himalayan mountain complexnatural region (88.33) and as one moves towardssouth the value starts decreasing gradually asobserved in Indus-Ganga-Brahmaputra plains(87.00 - mesoprosopic) and peninsular plateau(85.84 - mesoprosopic) whereas in Islands region,the value is quite low among Andamanese whoare having Negrito affinities (83.48 - eurypro-sopic) and high among Nicobarese (86.10 -mesoprosopic) among whom Mongoloid elementis present. From the climatic regions—polar type,monsoon type with short dry season andmonsoon type with dry season, the facial index isabove 88.0 (leptoprosopic) followed by monsoontype with dry winters (87.21) as compared to semiarid steppe type and tropical savannah typeregions where the values are low (84.78 and 85.34,respectively) (Table 4), (Bhasin et al. 1994; Bhasinand Walter 2001).

The facial index is leptoprosopic among thepopulations of North India zone as compared toother zones from where it is falling in mesopro-sopic class. The values are quite high among thepopulations from the states of Jammu andKashmir (90.71 - leptoprosopic) and HimachalPradesh (89.50 - leptoprosopic) of WesternHimalayan region (89.92 - leptoprosopic) ascompared to Central Himalayan region (87.71 -mesoprosopic). From East India in the EasternHimalayan region the value of index is low (85.47- mesoprosopic) as compared to Western andCentral Himalayan regions. However, a fewexceptions have been observed from Manipur,Mizoram and Tripura states where the value ofindex is above 88 (leptoprosopic) which may bedue to smaller number of studies reported fromthese states. From West Bengal the value of indexis high (88.43) as most of the studies are amongthe caste and community populations ascompared to Bihar and Orissa states from wherethe tribals are studied in majority (86.74 and 84.88,respectively). Among the scheduled tribes from


Central India the value of index is high (87.31) ascompared to that observed from East and WestIndia tribals (85.29 and 86.69, respectively).

Among the scheduled tribes from the Westand South India zones, the mean values of facialindex are high (86.69 and 89.49, respectively) ascompared to other ethnic groups from thesezones. From West India, the value of index is low(84.52) as compared to other zones and the indexis euryprosopic among caste populations in thiszone. In different states of South India zones themean value varies from 83.99 (Karnataka) to 90.01(Kerala); the value of index is quite high amongthe tribals of Kerala (in most cases above 88) ascompared from other states.

In general the value of index is high inNorthern India and decreases towards peninsularregion (Table 4, Fig. 5).

The facial index correlations with variousclimatic factors and altitude by different ethnicgroups though showing significant differencesare not high (Table 6).

The values of facial index among priesthood,agriculture, artisans and menial workers traditionaloccupational groups are almost similar (86.03,86.21, 85.30 and 86.04, respectively) as comparedto warfare, trade and commerce and animalhusbandry groups which have high values (87.93,87.51 and 86.76, respectively). However, thedifferences observed are not significant whichindicates gene flow among these groups as alsoobserved for other traits (Bhasin et al., 1994;Bhasin and Walter 2001).

Among the speakers of Dard group, Paharigroup of Indo-European and Bhotia group andHimalayan group of Tibeto-Chinese languages,

Facial Index< 83.9

84.0 - 84.985.0 - 85.986.0 - 86.987.0 - 87.988.0 - 88.9

> 89.0

INDIA

PAKISTAN

AFGHANISTA

N

CHINATIBET

NEPAL

Lakshadweep (India)

BANGLA-DESH

Andaman

and N

icoba

r Is la

nds (

India)

Fig. 5. Frequencies of facial index in different regions of India (after Bhasin and Walter 2001)

346 M. K. BHASINTa

ble

4: F

acia

l In

dex

Part

icul

ars

Subj

ects

No.

of

Faci

al I

ndex

stud

ied

stud

ies

Mea

nM

in M

ax1.

NAT

UR

AL

RE

GIO

NH

imal

ayan

Mou

ntai

n C

ompl

ex49

0771

88.3

375

.00

99.0

0In

dus-

Gan

ga-B

rahm

aput

ra P

lain

s10

526

106

87.0

079

.65

93.9

0Pe

nins

ular

Pla

teau

2343

332

085

.64

79.9

712

2.80

Isla

nds

596

886

.10

82.0

888

.91

2.C

LIM

ATIC

RE

GIO

NM

onso

on T

ype

with

Sho

rt D

ry14

5520

88.4

882

.08

110.

99Se

ason

Mon

soon

Typ

e w

ith D

ry S

easo

n14

6611

88.4

784

.50

90.7

5Tr

opic

al S

avan

nah

Type

1748

623

885

.34

79.9

712

2.80

Sem

i Arid

Ste

ppe

Type

2662

4784

.78

80.2

487

.71

Hot

Des

ert

Type

-0

--

-M

onso

on T

ype

with

Dry

Win

ters

1555

217

387

.21

75.0

099

.00

Col

d H

umid

Win

ters

with

Sho

rt33

85

87.1

384

.35

90.1

0Su

mm

ers

Pola

r Ty

pe50

311

90.0

388

.25

92.0

03.

POL

ITIC

AL

DIV

ISIO

N O

F IN

DIA

I.N

ORT

H I

ND

IAA

.W

este

rn H

imal

aya

(S. N

o. 1

, 2)

1.Ja

mm

u an

d K

ashm

ir89

514

90.7

188

.25

99.0

02.

Him

acha

l Pr

ades

h16

7919

89.5

088

.01

94.1

53.

Punj

ab19

94

90.6

987

.30

93.9

04.

Cha

ndig

rah

UT

-0

--

-5.

Har

yana

-0

--

-6.

Del

hi U

T10

01

88.9

588

.95

88.9

5B

.C

entr

al H

imal

aya

(S. N

o. 7

, Eig

ht D

istr

icts

of

Utta

r Pr

ades

h)7.

Utta

r Pr

ades

h31

8639

87.2

780

.80

92.8

38.

Raj

asth

an72

25

86.5

786

.34

87.4

0II

.WES

T IN

DIA

9.G

ujar

at31

6030

83.9

981

.40

86.1

810

.Mah

aras

htra

5440

101

84.8

379

.97

122.

8011

.Goa

, Dam

an a

nd D

iu U

T-

0-

--

12.D

adra

and

Nag

ar H

avel

i U

T-

0-

--

III.

EAST

IN

DIA

C.

East

ern

Him

alay

a (S

. No.

13

to 2

0 an

d D

arje

elin

g D

istr

ict

of W

est

Beng

al)

13.A

runa

chal

Pra

desh

338

587

.13

84.3

590

.10

14.A

ssam

4104

4385

.29

79.6

591

.23

15.N

agal

and

704

1483

.89

75.0

097

.37

16.M

anip

ur10

01

88.1

588

.15

88.1

517

.Miz

oram

401

90.5

090

.50

90.5

018

.Tri

pura

312

588

.73

87.3

290

.72

19.M

egha

laya

860

1184

.99

82.0

088

.89

20.S

ikki

m80

187

.75

87.7

587

.75

21.W

est

Ben

gal

3653

3088

.43

82.9

891

.68

Part

icul

ars

Subj

ects

No.

of

Faci

al I

ndex

stud

ied

stud

ies

Mea

nM

in M

ax22

.Bih

ar33

6933

86.7

481

.59

92.1

023

.Oris

sa30

8139

84.8

880

.59

95.3

0IV

.CEN

TRAL

IN

DIA

24.M

adhy

a Pr

ades

h21

8929

87.4

580

.45

90.5

8V.

SOU

TH I

ND

IA25

.Kar

nata

ka18

4039

83.9

980

.24

87.6

026

.And

hra

Prad

esh

490

884

.39

82.7

687

.30

27.T

amil

Nad

u15

84

87.6

383

.50

89.9

428

.Ker

ala

901

1390

.01

82.1

011

0.99

29.P

ondi

cher

ry U

T12

668

88.7

486

.99

90.7

5VI

.ISL

AND

S30

.Lak

shad

wee

p U

T-

0-

--

31.A

ndm

an I

slan

ds a

nd22

283

.48

83.3

883

.54

Nic

obar

Isl

ands

UT

574

686

.20

82.0

888

.91

3A. Z

ON

ES

OF

IND

IAI.

Nor

th I

ndia

6781

8288

.33

80.8

099

.00

II.

Wes

t In

dia

8600

131

84.5

279

.97

122.

80II

I.Ea

st I

ndia

1664

118

386

.27

75.0

097

.37

IV.

Cen

tral

Indi

a21

8929

87.4

580

.45

90.5

8V.

Sou

th I

ndia

4655

7286

.61

80.2

411

0.99

VI.

Isla

nds

596

886

.10

82.0

888

.91

IND

IA (

TOTA

L)39

462

505

86.3

475

.00

122.

803B

. RE

GIO

NS

OF

HIM

AL

AYA

A.

Wes

tern

Him

alay

a25

7433

89.9

288

.01

99.0

0B

.C

entr

al H

imal

aya

659

1087

.71

86.2

689

.15

C.

East

ern

Him

alay

a66

3882

85.4

775

.00

97.3

7H

IMA

LAYA

(TO

TAL)

9871

125

86.7

875

.00

99.0

0N

ON

-HIM

ALA

YAN

REG

ION

S29

591

380

86.2

079

.97

122.

804.

ET

HN

IC G

RO

UP

A.

ZON

ES O

F IN

DIA

1.N

ORT

H I

ND

IAC

aste

2781

2887

.29

80.8

090

.63

Sche

dule

d C

aste

207

488

.53

87.8

692

.83

Sche

dule

d Tr

ibe

1344

1888

.53

86.2

692

.29

Com

mun

ity24

4932

89.3

786

.32

99.0

0II

.WES

T IN

DIA

Cas

te26

6453

83.6

679

.97

92.4

1Sc

hedu

led

Cas

te46

28

81.7

480

.71

84.2

9Sc

hedu

led

Trib

e14

3620

86.6

980

.24

122.

80


ble

4: C

ontd

......

Part

icul

ars

Subj

cect

sN

o. o

fFa

cial

Ind

exst

udie

dst

udie

sM

ean

Min

Max

Com

mun

ity40

3850

84.6

380

.18

120.

60II

I. EA

ST I

ND

IAC

aste

3504

4187

.95

82.4

191

.68

Sche

dule

d C

aste

2679

2486

.80

80.7

591

.41

Sche

dule

d Tr

ibe

8835

101

85.2

975

.00

97.3

7C

omm

unity

1623

1787

.05

83.9

591

.43

IV.C

ENTR

AL I

ND

IAC

aste

104

288

.98

88.3

089

.61

Sche

dule

d C

aste

-0

--

-Sc

hedu

led

Trib

e20

3526

87.3

180

.45

90.5

8C

omm

unity

501

89.8

389

.83

89.8

3V.

SOU

TH I

ND

IAC

aste

1509

3086

.17

80.2

490

.75

Sche

dule

d C

aste

543

1083

.21

80.3

887

.66

Sche

dule

d Tr

ibe

854

1389

.49

83.5

011

0.99

Com

mun

ity17

4919

86.6

580

.65

89.7

4VI

.ISL

AND

SC

aste

-0

--

-Sc

hedu

led

Cas

te-

0-

--

Sche

dule

d Tr

ibe

596

886

.10

82.0

888

.91

Com

mun

ity-

0-

--

IND

IA Cas

te10

562

154

86.4

579

.97

92.4

1Sc

hedu

led

Cas

te38

9146

85.7

980

.38

92.8

3Sc

hedu

led

Trib

e15

100

186

86.2

675

.00

122.

80C

omm

unity

9909

119

86.5

880

.18

120.

60B

. RE

GIO

NS

OF

HIM

AL

AYA

A.

Wes

tern

Him

alay

aC

aste

575

590

.12

89.7

590

.60

Sche

dule

d C

aste

-0

--

-Sc

hedu

led

Trib

e72

69

89.1

388

.01

92.0

0C

omm

unity

1273

1990

.29

88.2

599

.00

B.

Cen

tral

Him

alay

aC

aste

602

88.8

888

.50

89.1

5Sc

hedu

led

Cas

te-

0-

--

Sche

dule

d Tr

ibe

280

487

.08

86.2

687

.75

Com

mun

ity31

94

88.0

587

.25

88.7

5C

. Ea

ster

n H

imal

aya

Cas

te10

12

87.5

484

.06

91.2

3Sc

hedu

led

Cas

te10

9811

85.3

083

.90

87.7

2Sc

hedu

led

Trib

e45

5259

85.3

275

.00

97.3

7C

omm

unity

887

1086

.18

83.9

590

.25

5. T

RA

DIT

ION

AL

OC

CU

PAT

ION

Prie

stho

od34

8351

86.0

380

.80

91.6

8

Part

icul

ars

Subj

cect

s

No.

of

Faci

al I

ndex

stud

ied

stud

ies

Mea

nM

in M

axW

arfa

re20

3019

87.9

383

.02

91.5

4Tr

ade

and

Com

mer

ce70

911

87.5

181

.37

90.5

6A

gric

ultu

re78

113

86.2

182

.40

88.9

5A

nim

al H

usba

ndry

193

486

.76

82.7

393

.90

Art

isan

s38

54

85.3

082

.52

87.8

4M

enia

l W

orke

rs28

9928

86.0

480

.71

91.4

1N

o In

form

atio

n28

982

375

86.2

975

.00

122.

806.

LA

NG

UA

GE

GR

OU

PI.

AUST

RO-A

SIAT

IC F

AMIL

YM

on K

hmer

Gro

up13

5415

85.3

382

.00

88.9

1M

unda

Gro

up40

5635

85.7

980

.59

95.3

0II

.TIB

ETO

-CH

INES

E FA

MIL

Y(i

) Si

ames

e-C

hine

se S

ub-F

amily

Tai

Gro

up85

185

.81

85.8

185

.81

(ii)

Tib

eto-

Burm

an S

ub-F

amily

Bho

tia G

roup

1508

1888

.69

86.2

692

.00

Him

alay

an G

roup

216

489

.49

87.7

592

.29

Nor

th E

ast

Fron

tier

Gro

up96

412

86.9

783

.95

90.2

5B

odo

Gro

up17

8818

85.4

580

.27

91.1

5N

aga

Gro

up87

216

83.0

975

.00

97.3

7K

achi

n G

roup

-0

--

-K

uki

Chi

n G

roup

181

488

.56

83.5

490

.50

III.

DRA

VID

IAN

FAM

ILY

Sout

h D

ravi

dian

Gro

up45

1071

86.6

080

.24

110.

99C

entra

l D

ravi

dian

Gro

up18

7129

86.0

880

.45

90.5

8N

orth

Dra

vidi

an G

roup

752

787

.37

81.8

789

.45

IV.I

ND

O-E

URO

PEAN

FAM

ILY

Dar

d G

roup

502

590

.29

89.7

691

.88

Nor

th W

este

rn G

roup

301

81.4

081

.40

81.4

0So

uthe

rn G

roup

5110

9184

.23

79.9

712

0.60

East

ern

Gro

up11

4919

85.2

180

.75

89.6

1B

ihar

i61

7063

87.5

583

.90

91.6

8C

entra

l G

roup

7561

8486

.63

80.8

012

2.80

Paha

ri G

roup

561

890

.38

89.5

094

.15

Uns

peci

fied

-0

--

-O

ther

Lan

guag

es22

24

85.4

183

.38

86.3

7N

o In

form

atio

n-

0-

--

6A. L

AN

GU

AG

E F

AM

ILY

I. A

ustro

Asi

atic

Fam

ily54

1050

85.6

880

.59

95.3

0II

. Ti

beto

Chi

nese

Fam

ily56

1473

86.4

775

.00

97.3

7II

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348 M. K. BHASIN

the value of facial index is above 88(leptoprosopic) who are inhabiting Western,Central Himalayas as also among Lepcha, Bhutiasof Sikkim state, whereas from Eastern Himalayanregion the value of index varies between 84.0 and87.9 (mesoprosopic) as observed among thespeakers of Mon Khmer group (85.33) of Austro-Asiatic and North East Frontier group (86.97),Bodo group (85.45) and Naga group (83.09) ofTibeto-Chinese languages except Kuki Chingroup speakers (88.56). In the Southern groupsof Indo-European language speakers the valueof index is low as observed from the West ascompared to the Eastern group (85.21) and Biharigroup from Eastern India (87.55). Among thespeakers of Munda group the value of index iseither low (85.79) as compared to North Dravidiangroup (87.37) or similar to Central Dravidian group,who are mostly tribals. However, in general, thedifferences among the speakers of differentlanguages are not significant (Bhasin et al. 1994;Bhasin and Walter, 2001).

The mesoprosopic facial index is observedamong various population groups of India andfrom all the zones of India except North India(Leptoprosopic). In the Himalayan regionmesoprosopic type is predominant except inWestern Himalayan region where leptoprosopictype is found. The value of index is high in theHimalayan region and it gradually starts decliningtowards South. Leptoprosopic facial index isobserved among caste groups from West Bengaland Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Pondicherry of SouthIndia. Euryprosopic type of facial index isobserved among caste groups of Gujarat andscheduled caste groups of West and South Indiazones. However, generally a high frequency isobserved among Community or Caste>Caste orCommunity>Scheduled Tribe> Scheduled Casteexcept from West and South India where highvalue is observed among scheduled tribes. Nocorrelations are observed with various climaticfactors and altitude by different ethnic groups.The differences observed in the various languagefamilies for facial index are not significant(Dravidian>Tibeto-Chinese>Indo-European>Austro-Asiatic).

Considering India as a whole, the biogeneticaltraits distribution is seen to follow a pattern thatmight have been expected from the complexstructure of its people. Indian populations areliving in different natural and climatic regions.The composition of Indian populations is

multiethnic consisting of elements ofautochthonous (Pre-Dravidian/Australoids),Caucasoids (Dravidians) who are inhabitingSouth of India and to some extent Central India,Caucasoids (mostly Aryans) in the North andNorthwest India, Mongoloids in the Himalayanregion, mostly in North East and East India andNegrito/Negroids in the Andaman Islands. Exceptfor the Caucasoids, the other three groups mainlyinvolve tribal populations and are numericallyrelatively smaller. The Caucasoids, Mongoloidsand autochthonous elements have interbred invarying degrees to give mixtures which aredifficult to unravel. The peoples are categorizedinto caste (on the basis of their traditionaloccupation, who are considered to have come insuccessive waves of immigration of known andsometimes unknown antiquity) and tribal (mostof them are considered to be original inhabitantsof India). The existence of caste and tribal systemsmade the Indian population genetically isolated.Indians speak different languages of variousfamilies—Austro-Asiatic, Tibeto-Chinese,Dravidian and Indo-European, which arerepresented within specific boundaries. Inaddition other factors that have influenced thedistribution of biological traits in India are geneticdrift, mutation and selection.

It is rather difficult to evaluate the effect ofenvironmental factors on the somatometric traitsas observed from the foregoing text. Generally inthe Himalayan region, the populations are of lowermedium stature, head and nose indices aremesocephalic and mesorhinae with leptoprosopicfacial index, but the differences are observedbetween the peoples from Western and CentralHimalayas and that of Eastern Himalayas, whichare due to genetic composition i.e. different racialelements present among these populations (Table5). Again from the Indus-Ganga-Brahmaputraplains region the differences are well markedbetween the population groups from the states ofPunjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh (North India) andthat of Bihar and West Bengal (East India) whichare due to different racial elements present in thesetwo regions. Further in latter two states, along withOrissa and Madhya Pradesh (peninsular region),the scheduled tribes are in majority and havingAustraloid (Pre-Dravidian) racial element showsignificant differences with the other ethnic groupswho are predominantly Caucasoid (Aryan).Towards West of India also scheduled tribes whospeak Indo-European languages show significant


Particulars Stature Cephalic Index Nasal Index Facial IndexINDIA L. Med. (163.06) Meso (76.06) Meso(78.53) Meso (88.34)Natrual Region

Himalayan L. Med. (162.13) Meso (76.38) Meso (70.68) Lepto (88.33)Mountain ComplexIndus-Ganga-. Med. (164.15) Dolicho (75.87) Meso (72.13) Meso (87.00)Brahmaputra PlainsPeninsular Plateau L. Med. (162.77) Meso (76.07) Meso (78.01) Meso (85.64)Islands Short (155.50) Meso (78.64) Meso (79.98) Meso (86.10)

Zones of IndiaNorth India Med. (164.70) Dolicho (73.65) Meso (70.13) Lepto (88.33)West India L. Med. (163.09) Meso (78.24) Meso (75.86) Meso (84.52)East India L. Med. (163.05) Meso (76.82) Meso (77.06) Meso (86.27)Central India L. Med. (160.32) Dolicho (74.96) Meso (82.09) Meso (87.45)South India L. Med. (161.23) Meso (76.07) Meso (77.99) Meso (86.61)Islands Short (155.50) Meso (78.64) Meso (79.98) Meso (86.60)

Regions of HimalayaWestern Himalaya L. Med. (163.38) Dolicho (74.00) Lepto (65.51) Meso (89.92)Central Himalaya L. Med. (163.13) Meso (76.71) Meso (72.85) Meso (87.71)Eastern Himalaya L. Med. (161.20) Meso (78.09) Meso (75.56) Meso (85.47)

Ethnic GroupsCaste Med. (165.25) Meso (76.20) Meso (74.78) Meso (86.45)Scheduled Caste L. Med. (162.11) Dolicho (75.96) Meso (75.61) Meso (85.79)Scheduled Tribe Short (157.75) Dolicho (75.81) Meso (74.49) Meso (86.26)Community Med. (164.18) Meso (76.17) Meso (71.57) Meso (86.58)

Language FamilyAustro-Asiatic Short (158.89) Dolicho (75.63) Meso (81.72) Meso (85.68)FamilyTibeto-Chinese L. Med. (161.37) Meso (77.67) Meso (73.87) Meso (86.47)FamilyDravidian Family L. Med. (161.34) Dolicho (75.52) Meso (77.55) Meso (86.54)Indo-European Med. (164.52) Dolicho (75.99) Meso (74.23) Meso (86.42)Family

L. = Lower, Med. = Medium

Table 5: Classification of stature and indices

Mean Annual TemperatureCaste 0.025 0.098 0.1261 0.027Scheduled Caste -0.110 0.081 0.033 -0.007Scheduled Tribe -0.1512 -0.2093 0.2673 -0.107Community 0.002 0.084 0.2052 -0.4703

Total 0.0681 0.027 0.0821 -0.1793

Mean Annual RainfallCaste 0.023 -0.1411 0.011 0.3143

Scheduled Caste -0.2492 0.2472 -0.031 0.4002

Scheduled Tribe -0.2723 0.3173 -0.1572 0.052Community -0.1872 0.078 0.016 0.1891

Total -0.3313 0.055 0.1263 0.1763

Mean Annual HumidityCaste -0.052 -0.028 0.088 0.1901

Scheduled Caste -0.2532 0.3213 -0.025 0.215Scheduled Tribe -0.3083 0.2523 -0.1702 -0.040Community -0.2062 0.1561 0.129 0.2612

Total -0.2963 0.1253 0.0932 0.1031

Mean AltitudeCaste -0.089 0.065 -0.010 -0.1691

Scheduled Caste 0.1771 -0.2362 0.174 -0.4182

Scheduled Tribe 0.2013 0.078 -0.1732 0.045Community -0.068 -0.086 -0.021 0.1921

Total -0.047 -0.022 0.015 -0.0041. Significant at P < 0.05 2. Significant at P < 0.01 3. Significant at P < 0.001

Table 6: Correlations with climatic factors and ethnic groups

Ethnic groups SomatometryStature Cephalic Index Nasa Index Facial Index

350 M. K. BHASIN

differences with other ethnic groups. As one movestowards South India, there are a number ofscheduled tribes which are numerically smaller ascompared to the tribes from the adjoining states ofWest India, Madhya Pradesh and Orissa. Thoughthey speak Dravidian languages, they are showingsignificant differences from other ethnic groups ofSouth India who are Caucasoids (Dravidian). Itappears that they are basically Australoid (Pre-Dravidian) having some admixture with Caucasoid(Dravidians) and adopted their language. FromIslands, Andaman is inhabited by Andamaneseand Onges who are considered to be Negritos andNicobarese and Shompens, who are havingMongoloid affinities. The differences which areobserved among the various populations of Indiaare due to different racial elements present amongthem and the division of the peoples into casteand tribal systems i.e. different ethnic groups. Thedifferences are well marked between tribals andother populations whereas among caste, scheduledcaste and community the differences are invariablyin relation to their proximate category e.g. betweencastes and scheduled castes between communitiesand castes etc. This may be explained as castesystem is based on traditional occupational groupsand it has been observed that there is gene flowamong them as the differences observed betweenvarious occupational groups are not high, whereascommunities are those which are not identifiableon the basis of caste system or are not denoted astribes and which are much more heterogeneousthan either a caste group or a tribe. Further thedifferences observed between scheduled tribesand other ethnic groups can also be explained bythe fact that they are the oldest inhabitants in theirecological niches as compared to other ethnicgroups who have migrated to this area only a fewthousand years back. The effect of different climaticfactors (temperature, rainfall, humidity) and altitudeon stature and different indices in relation to ethnic

groups shows significant differences butcorrelations observed are not high.

The differences observed among Indianpopulations are mainly due to the presence ofvarious racial elements and prevailing of ethnicgroups among them. Differences due to climaticfactors are observed but no association isestablished between biological traits and climaticfactors since the values of correlations observedare not high.

3. GENETIC DISTANCES

For anthropometric measurement (stature) andindices the number of investigations is maximumfrom East India (about 45 per cent for EasternHimalayan region) followed by North and SouthIndia.

The distribution of the available studiesshows that about 30 per cent of the total reportsare on scheduled tribes followed by castes,communities and scheduled castes. Again in allthe zones of India, in general, more studies areavailable among scheduled tribes (around 35 percent), followed by castes (about 26 per cent),communities and scheduled castes (about 13 percent) except from North India where thedistribution is high in castes, communities,scheduled castes followed by scheduled tribes.Further about 50 per cent of the caste groupsstudied from India belong to North India zoneand scheduled tribes to East India zone.

In the language families—the maximumstudies are from Indo-European family followedby Dravidian, Tibeto-Chinese and Austro-Asiaticfamilies.

The dendrograms generated on the basis ofanthropometric for various Indian populationssubdivided by zones (North, West, East, Centraland South India) are represented in figure 6. Thetrend observed in the dendrogram is that West,

Fig. 6. Dendrograms of anthropometric traits according to different zones of India(after Bhasin and Walter 2001)

36 32 28 24 20 16 12 8 4ZONES


East, South and Central India together form onemajor cluster and separating out from them isNorth India. It is noted that from North India,maximum studies are available among castes andcommunities and it has been reported by Balakri-shnan (1978) that considerable homogeneity hasbeen demonstrated among populations of North-West India and it has been further pointed out byBalakrishnan (1981) that homogeneity isincreased in certain regions by excluding the tribalpopulations.

Figure 7 shows dendrograms for variousIndian populations based on social ranking. It isobserved that caste group is invariably clusteredwith the scheduled caste and the community,while the scheduled tribe is distinct from all. Anexplanation of this phenomenon can be found inthe fact that the scheduled castes may have inthem a substantial contribution of gene flow fromthe higher castes in past generations (Majumdar,1965). Since the communities are grouped on thebasis of religion, occupation etc. they representa fairly heterogeneous group. The distribution ofmajor ethnic components may be present in theproportions similar to those observed in castegroups as the groups forming the communities inone way or the other are the offshoot of the majorIndian ethnic stock (mainly the groups based onVarna system of Manu) at different periods oftime in Indian history. The scheduled tribes, whorepresent mainly the Australoid (Pre-Dravidian),or Mongoloid strain, understandably are distinctfrom all the other groups subdivided by socialranking. Similar findings have also been reportedby many other investigators (for exampleBalakrishnan 1978; Bhasin et al. 1986; Char et al.1989; Chakraborty et al. 1986; Danker-Hopfe et al.1988; Mukherjee et al. 1979, 1989; Roychoudhury1984; Saha et al. 1976; Walter et al. 1993).

The dendrogram for different Indianpopulations subdivided by language families arepresented in figure 8. As observed, from thedendrograms, the speakers of Tibeto-Chineselinguistic group show small differences with theIndo-European linguistic group and they are closerto Austro-Asiatic and Dravidian linguistic groups.From this dendrogram it is reasonable to believethat the current population of Indian Region is theproduct of differential admixture of Austro-Asiaticwith Dravidian, Dravidian with Indo-Aryan andTibeto-Chinese with Indo-European and also withDravidian and Austro-Asiatic.

Clustering of the population groups of India

subdivided by geographical proximity and socialranking on the basis of anthropometric distances isclearly seen in the dendrogram presented in figure 9.

It has been observed that except for NorthIndia, where all the four ethnic groups fall nearerto each other in social rank— caste, communityor/and scheduled caste and scheduled tribe whilefor the rest of the zones it is generally observedthat caste, scheduled caste and communitygroups are closer to each other, whereasscheduled tribe groups are nearer to one another.The ethnic groups of West India are closer toSouth India as observed before and scheduledtribes of East India and South India. Thus, overallthe various ethnic groups of North India areshowing less difference, different ethnic groupsof West India and South India are falling nearerto each other and scheduled tribes of East Indiaand South India are showing small distances and,in general, scheduled tribes are falling apart fromthe other ethnic groups.

In the dendrogram generated on the basis ofanthropometric traits (Fig. 10) for Indianpopulations classified by language families andsocial-ranking it has been observed that Tibeto-Chinese join the main cluster which consists ofIndo-European and Dravidian speaking peopleand Austro-Asiatic (Scheduled Tribe) make acluster with Dravidian (Scheduled Tribe) and Indo-European (Scheduled Tribe). This isunderstandable, since as reported earlier theTibeto-Chinese speakers are dominating EasternHimalayan region in Eastern India and this zoneis the meeting ground of three ethnic groups:people with Mongoloid elements from theNortheastern region, non-tribals of Caucasoidorigin from Northwestern region and tribals fromthe Southern and Southwestern regions.Whereas Austro-Asiatic (Scheduled Tribe) makea cluster with Dravidian (Scheduled Tribe) andIndo-European (Scheduled Tribe) and these areshowing small differences with the Tibeto-Chinese (Scheduled Tribe) speakers. It has alreadybeen established that Austro-Asiatic speakingtribals are predominating in Bihar, Orissa, as wellas also in Central India, Assam and NicobarIslands, and admixture has taken place amongthem and other linguistic groups—Dravidian,Indo-European and Tibeto-Chinese, as well asbetween these groups in varying degrees. TheIndo-European and Dravidian speakers areshowing small distances and it has beensuggested that the Dravidians who entered

352 M. K. BHASIN

Fig. 8. Dendrograms of anthropometric traits according to different language families of India(after Bhasin and Walter 2001)

Fig. 9. Dendrogram of anthropometric traits according to different zones and ethnic groups of India(after Bhasin and Walter 2001)

Fig. 7. Dendrograms of anthropometric traits according to different ethnic groups of India(after Bhasin and Walter 2001)

36 32 28 24 20 16 12 8 4

36 32 28 24 20 16 12 8 4

32 28 24 20 16 12 8 4


Indian region early and moved southward withthe arrival of Aryans have had admixture withthem.

The above discussion was based on thedendrograms generated from different Indianpopulations subdivided by geographical regions,social status and linguistic division that have beenconsidered separately as well as in combinationviz., geographical regions/zones with social ranksand social ranks with linguistic groups. From thedendrograms derived from various geographicalregions/zones (North, West, East, Central andSouth India) it has been observed that there is ageneral tendency of correlation betweenmorphological distance with geographic distance.The dendrograms based on social ranking andmorphological traits show that the scheduledtribes are distant from all the other groups andcaste group is invariably clustered with thescheduled caste and the community, which showsthat scheduled caste population may have in thema substantial trace of gene flow from upper castesor/and from communities, who are grouped onthe basis of religion, occupation, region, etc.Considering now India as a whole, the biological

trait distribution is seen to follow a simpler patternthan that might have been expected from thecomplex history of its people. The scheduled tribegroups stand out as a uniform and uniquepopulation, showing less similarity with theneighbouring peoples and certainly much lesswhen compared to the caste groups of India.From the dendrograms based on differentlinguistic groups, it has been observed thatAustro-Asiatic, Dravidian and Indo-Europeanlinguistic categories form one cluster and Tibeto-Chinese category stand out separately. It may beconcluded that the current population of India isthe product of differential admixture betweenthree distinct population entities viz., Austro-Asiatic (Australoid or Pre-Dravidian), Dravidianand Indo-European (Caucasoid) linguisticgroups, whereas the Tibeto-Chinese linguisticgroup along the northeastern and northernperipheries of the subcontinent is the product ofadmixture between Mongoloids and Australoidand Caucasoid populations in varying degrees.

The migration of early Homo sapiens sapiensfrom Africa to Asia and Pacific might be throughIndian subcontinent. Modern humans are believ-

Fig. 10. Dendrogram of anthropometric traits according to different language families and ethnicgroups of India (after Bhasin and Walter 2001)

28 24 20 16 12 8 4

354 M. K. BHASIN

ed to have arisen in Africa and subsequentlymigrated to the rest of the world beginningaround 100, 000 years ago. India may be in thepath of this and subsequent migration eventsout of Africa and thus these migrants were theancestors of the original inhabitants of Indiansubcontinent (Mourant 1983; Cavalli-Sforzaet al. 1994).

Descendants of Paleolithic expansion intoIndia believed to have contributed substantiallyto tribal populations, which constitute 8.1percent of the total population of India (Censusof India, 1991).

Later migration events spread Austrics –Austro-Asiatic (may be either from Indo-Chinaand South China or a very off-shoot of theMediterranean people who came to India fromthe West even before the Dravidian), Dravidian,Tibeto-Chinese (the area of the speechesstretches from Baltistan in the West to the northeastern frontiers of the country and furtherreaching up to southern most portions of Assam)followed by Indo-European speakers in to theIndian subcontinent. The Indo-Europeanspeakers introduced the caste system, a socialhierarchy that strictly governs marriage andmating practices. The later migrants i.e., Indo-European speakers of North India had lessinfluence on Dravidian speakers of South India,therefore both the groups are genetically andlinguistically distinct from each other (Bhasin etal., 1994; Bhasin and Walter 2001).

The genetic diversity of caste and tribalpopulation groups is well established (Bhasin etal. 1994, Bhasin and Walter 2001; Cordaux et al.2004).

NOTES

1. Three more states have come into existence recently.Now Bihar has been divided into Bihar andJharkhanda; from Madhya Pradesh have resultedthe states of Madhya Pradesh and Chattisgarh; theearlier state of Uttar Pradesh is now divided intoUttar Pradesh and Uttaranchal. The states in italicsare newer ones. India at present comprises 28 states.

2. The frequency distributions for the State of Goa andUnion Territory of Daman and Diu have been listedunder Goa, Daman and Diu.

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Genetics of Castes and Tribes of India: Somatometry