The Western Brachycephals or The Broad-Headed

The Western Brachycephals or The Broad-Headed
Types These groups consist of the three main types:
(i) Alpinoids represented by Gujarati Banias, Kathis of
Kathiawar and Kayasthas of Bengal.
(ii) Dinaric represented 'by populations of Bengal,
Orissa and/Coorg (Karnataka).
(iii) Armenoids represented by Parsis, Bengali Vaidyas
and Kayasthas.
Members of this racial stock came to India along three
main routes, passing through­
(a) Baluchistan, Sind, Kathiawar, Gujarat, Maharashtra,
Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.
(b)The Ganga valley and the delta.
(c) Chitral, Gilgit, parts of Kashmir and Nepal.


The Nordics They were the last to migrate into India.
The Aryan speaking Nordics were long-headed and fair complexioned, with well developed noses and strongly built bodies. They entered India some time dudng the second millennium Be.
The main concentration of these people is in the north­western part of the country. They were a predominant type in the North-Western Frontier Province of Pakistan, Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan. They are mostly represented among the upper castes of northern India, particularly in Punjab.

The Mongoloids & The Mediterraneans

The Mongoloids The Mongoloid racial stock is mainly concentrated in the Himalayan borderland, partic­ularly in Laddakh, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh and other parts of north-eastern India. Their original homeland was China from where they were pushed southward into the Malaya peninsula and Indonesia and infiltrated into India through the passes in the northern or eastern mountains.

The Mongoloid racial stock in India is divided into two types-the Palaeo-Mongoloids and the Tibeto-Mongoloids. The Palaeo-Mongoloids are further differentiated into broad­headed and long-headed sub-types. They live mostly along the fringes of the Himalayas, being especially numerous among the tribal population of Assam and the Myanmar border. The Tibeto-Mongoloids, supposed to have come from Tibet, mostly live in Bhutan and Sikkim, as well as in the north-western Himalayan and Trans-Himalayan regions.

The Mediterraneans This racial stock in India has been drawn from south-west Asia. It is from this region that during the third and the second millennium BC the Mediterranean race gradually spread over the surrounding areas. Those who entered India belonged to different, though related, types of the Mediterranean stock. They fall into three distinct groups: Palaeo-Mediterranean, Mediter­ranean and the so-called Oriental type. They are all long­headed, and they came to India with a fairly high level of civilisation. They are also believed to be the bearers of the earliest form of Hinduism into India.
The first and the most ancient of these Mediterranean races entering India have been termed as the Palaeo­Mediterraneans. They were medium-statured, dark-skinned, slightly built and long-headed people. It seems probable that these people introduced early agriculture in north­western India. They were, however, dislodged from their original homelands by subsequent streams of migration and pushed into central and southern India. The Palaeo­Mediterranean stock, together with other sub-types, today forms the bulk of the population of southern India and a considerable portion of the population of northern India. This ethnic stock is represented by the Tamil and Telugu Brahmins and the Nairs of southern India.

The Mediterraneans, the mainstream of this racial stock, entered India a little later. They were the builders of the Indus Valley Civilisation along with the Proto­Australoids, and introduced the first metal or bronze cultures in India roughly between 2,500 and 1,500 Be. They were, however, pushed out of their homeland in the Indus Valley by fresh incursions from the north-west and were driven to the Ganga plain and perhaps even further south beyond the Vindhyas. Today, they constitute the bulk of the population of the lower castes throughout northern India, and are also represented by the Namboodiri brahmins and brahmins of Allahabad and Bengal.
The so-called Oriental sub-type came much later. They have a much restricted distribution than the other two sub­types. They are represented by Punjabi 'khatris' and Rajasthani 'banias' among others. Physically they are sim­ilar to the Mediterraneans, but are characterised by a long and convex nose.

RACIAL GROUPS OF INDIA

RACIAL GROUPS OF INDIA

Following Dr B.s. Guha's racial classification of the Indian population, six major types and nine sub­types can be identified.

1. The Negritos
2. The Proto-Australoids
3. The Mongoloids
(i) Palaeo-Mongoloids
(a) long-headed type
(b) broad-headed type
(ii) Tibeto-Mongoloids
4. The Mediterraneans
(i) Palaeo-Mediterraneans
(ii) Mediterraneans
(iii) Orientals
5. The Western broad-headed people or
Brachycephals
(i) Alpinoids
(ii) Dinarics
(iii) Armenoids
6. The Nordics

These racial divisions are identified on the basis of the superficial physical and biological differences among human beings, such as the colour of skin, stature and build of the body, the form of the head and the face, the formation of nose, lips and the forehead and the colour and form of eyes and hair. These physical differences between racial stocks are not in any way indicators of mental and physical potentialities and owe their origin to variations in environ­mental factors in which early evolution took place.
The main physical characteristics of different ethnic groups are briefly discussed below:

1. The Negritos They are probably the earliest arrivals into India, but later incursions of a more numerous group of the Proto-Australoids completely wiped out the evidence of their presence in any region of India today. Some tribal groups such as Kadars, Poligars, Irulas and some of the tribes from Rajmahal hills and Andamans reveal some affinity with the Negrito stock.

The members of this ethnic stock are characterif~'-> by short stature, dark skin colour, bulbous forehead, broav. flat nose, slightly everted and thick lips and frizzly hair.

2. The Proto-Australoids They are the second oldest racial group in India and probably came soon after' the Negritos. They, along with the Mediterraneans, are be­lieved to be the builders of the Indus Valley Civilisation as their skeletons have been discoverfld' from the burial grounds both at Mohenjodaro and Harappa. This racial stock in India is represented by tribal groups such as Oraons, Mundas, Santhals, Chenchus, Kurumbas, Bhils and Kols.
The members of this racial stock physically differ from the Negritos mainly in the absence of woolly hair.

CULTURAL COMPOSITION: HUMAN DIVERSITY

CULTURAL COMPOSITION: HUMAN DIVERSITY
Human diversity comes out through racial, cultural, linguistic and religious differences. India especially enjoys a great diversity in social and cultural features.

RACE Races are distinguished on the basis of inherited physical characteristics. However, it is rather difficult to draw a clear line between thi! '.races. Many consider skin colour to be a major differentiating factor but this is erroneous. There is a wide. difference in colour within each major racial group; the same skin colour is also found in more than one group. FatiaHeatures and hair-type are now taken to be the best guides tp race. Hair differ in colour and can be straight, wavy or crinkly. The shapes of the eyes, the nose and the overall shape of the head are also significant factors. A number of other invisible charaGter­istics, ,such as blood group, are also considered to define the three major racial groups-the Caucasoid, Negroid and Mongoloid. The Australoid is a minor group; its members \ combine the facial.characteristics of the Negroid group with wavy hair.

Caucasoids include the European, the Semitic (Arabs and Jews) and the Indo-Aryan peoples. Skin colour varies from very fair, as in the north European peoples, to brown in India and south-west Asia. The hair is straight or wavy (or sometimes frizzy) and may be blonde, brown or black. The nose is generally long and narrow. Sub-groups include the Nordics, the Alpine people and the Mediterraneans.

Negroids chiefly inhabit Africa, south of the Sahara. They include many sub-groups such as the Nilotic and Hamitic peoples of eastern Africa, the Bantus of central and southern Africa and the various groups of West Africa. Other minor groups in this category are the Bushmen, the Pygmies and the Negrito peoples of India and South-East Asia, as well as the Melanesians of the South-West Pacific. These peoples have broad, rather flat noses and crinkly or frizzy hair. Their heads are longer than they are broad, and their skin colour ranges from black to brown or yellowish. Their stature too varies: if the Pygmies of central Africa are the shortest people in the world, the Negroes of Sudan and central Africa are among the tallest people of the world.

Mongoloids are inhabitants of northern, eastern and south-eastern Asia. They were the original inhabitants of the Americas. Their eye has a characteristic fold of
skin on the upper lid, and the hair is lank and straight. But there are many minor differences between sub-groups. Short stature cannot be con­sidered a common factor. The name comes from the Mongols of Central Asia. The group also in­cludes the Chinese, Japanese, Burmese, Thais, Viet­namese, Kampucheans and Malays, besides the Eskimos and similar people of northern Siberia such as the Yakuts and Samoyeds, the Red Indians of North Africa and the Amerindians of South America.
Racial characteristics probably developed under the influence of climatic factors, and it is absurd to attribute intellectual qualities on the basis of race.

DEPENDENCY RATIO

DEPENDENCY RATIO The dependency ratio is computed by dividing the number of children plus old people by the number of adults and m' ltiplying it by hundred. It is mainly governed by the age structure of the population. The Oxford Dictionary of Geography defines dependency ratio as the ratio between the number of people in a population between the ages of 15 and 64 and the dependent population: children (0-14) and elderly people (65 and over). Dependency ratio quantifies the ratio be­tween the economically active population and the depen­dent population. The age-limits for dependency ratio are arbitrary in different countries of the world. Generally developing countries are characterised by higher depen­dency ratios owing to higher population growth and;~ck of employment opportunities, mainly.

As per the 2001 census, the total number of persons' in age group 0-14 and 60+ were about 443 million. Such a huge population is dependent on 586 million people of
India. The national average of dependency ratio is 755 persons. Taking the overall scenario into consideration, the North Indian states reveal a very high dependency ratio compared to the states of South India. The lower Ganga plains of Uttar Pradesh and adjoining Bihar have extremely high dependency ratios. The lowest range of dependency ratio is found in Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

WORK PARTICIPATION RATE

WORK PARTICIPATION RATE

Work participation rate (WPR) or percentage of workers to total population for all religion is 39.3 per cent in the 2001 Census. The group of 'Other Religions and Persuasions' have recorded the higher WPR of 48.4 per cent followed by the Buddhist at 40.6 per cent. Hindus 40.4 per cent and Christians at 39.7 per cent. The lowest WPR of 31.3 per cent at the national level are seen for the Muslim population, preceded by Jains at 32.9 per cent and Sikhs at 37.7 per cent. The proportion of urban population, female work participation rates and proportion of workers in nonagricultural activity directly influences low WPRs among other factors.

LITERACY in 2001

LITERACY The significant facts emerging from a study of the 2001 census data are as follows.

. For the first time since independence, there is a decline in the absolute number of illiterates during a decad~ (1991-2001). This is a major shift in improving the status of literacy in the country.
. The major contribution to the decrease in the number of illiterates came from Andhra Pradesh, followed by Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. These six states together account for three­fourths of the percentage decrease in the total number of illiterates in the country while they share half the cow1try's. population.
. In eight States and Union Territories, the number of illiterates grew in the decade.
. In case of male illiterates, there was a decline in the absolute numbers from 1991 to 2001. Kerala, which ranks first in male literacy, has also added to the number of male illiterates.
. In case of female illiterates too there was a decline
in absolute numbers.
. The crude literacy rates starting from 1901 show a
consistent increase for both males and females.
. The increase in literacy rates observed during 1991­2001 in respect of all persons, males and females, has been the highest recorded in comparison to earlier decades since 1951, except in case of males during 1951-1961.
. The gap in male-female literacy rates was reduced in 1991, and was furilier reduced in 2001. (These declines are bound to be slow initially due to the large legacy in the numbers of adult illiterate women.)
. Among States and Union Territories, Kerala, with a literacy rate of 90.92 per cent holds first rank in the country. Following closely are Mizoram and Lakshadweep. Bihar with a literacy rate of 47.0 ranks last in the country.
. Kerala occupies the top position in both male and female literacy rates. Bihar has recorded the lowest literacy rates for both males and females.

Religion-wise as compared to the literacy rate for India of 64 per cent, the literacy rate among the Jains is the highest at 94.1 per cent followed by Christians 80.3 per cent and Buddhists 72.7 per cent. Hindus and Sikhs have returned a marginally higher literacy rate than the national average. The lowest literacy has been recorded for 'Other Religions and Persuasions' at 47.0 per cent. Muslims are the other religious community returning lower than the national average literacy rate at 59.1 per cent.

The Hindus have returned an average national literacy rate of 65.1 per cent. There are seven states/union terri­tories, which have returned a literacy rate of over 80 per cent among the Hindus. Lakshadweep stands out with the highest Hindu literacy at 96.4 per cent.

Both males and females among the Jain population have very high literacy rate of 97.4 per cent and 90.1 per cent respectively at the national level followed by Chris­tians at 84.4 per cent for males and 76.2 per cent for females. Thus ilie gender gap in male female literacy for these two religions is less than ten percentage points. Female literacy rates among those recorded as 'Other Religion and Persuasion' are very low at 33 per cent. Incidentally, the gap between the male and female literacy at the- national level is also maximum in this religious community. It may be seen that among the six major religions at the nation~l level the maximum gap between the male and female literacy is in Hindus 23 percentage points followed by uddhists 21.4 percentage points and Muslims 17.5 percentage points. It is interesting to note here that Muslims have the lowest level of overall literacy rate while both Hindus and Buddhists have much higher overall literacy rate.