INDIAN ANTHROPOLOGY- GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT
Introduction
Anthropology in India was introduced by anthropologists
from England who came to India and collected data on Indian
populations and prepared monographs on them. It was during the
second half of the nineteenth century when a number of
monographs on tribal and other communities were written by the British administrators
and anthropologists. A small number of Indian anthropologists who were being trained
by the British to assist them in their anthropological work began to appear on the scene.
By the beginning of the twentieth century, departments of Anthropology were set up in
various universities which in time produced large numbers of students. Since then,
Anthropology as an integrated science of man made a headway and today there are over
thirty departments of Anthropology across the country.
Anthropologists like W. H. R. Rivers, J. H. Hutton, A. R. Radcliffe-Brown and C.
G. Seligman who came to India influenced people like Paul Olaf Bodding, Hoffman,
Emelen, etc. to work on Indian communities. These anthropologists in turn influenced
others who were of Indian origin to work in anthropology. Such Indian anthropologists
wrote of the cultures that they knew best and among whom they had grown up. Thus,
some kind of ‘auto-ethnography’ was already being practiced in India by Indian
anthropologists long before it became a major issue in western anthropology.
The setting up of the Asiatic Society of Bengal in 1774 by Sir William Jones is a
landmark in the history of anthropology in India. Under this organization, a number of
anthropological works were conducted and many were printed in the journal of the
Society. Attempts have been made to review the growth of anthropology in India by
S.C. Roy, D.N. Majumdar, G.S. Ghurye, S.C. Dube, N.K. Bose, L.P. Vidyarthi and
Surjeet Sinha etc. In 1921 S.C. Roy presented a bibliography of the publications of
tribal and caste studies in India. Twentyfive years later, D.N. Majumdar reviewed the
development of anthropology in India. G.S. Ghurye reviewed the development of
anthropology in Bombay in a volume published by UNESCO in 1956. S.C. Dube
presented a review in the proceedings of the IV International Congress of Anthropology
, and Ethnological Sciences, in 1952 in Vienna. In 1962, he presented another one
entitled Anthropology in India, published in D.N. Majumdar commemoration volume.
N.K. Bose prepared a small booklet on this issue entitled Fifty Years of Science in
India, Progress of Anthropology and Archaeology, published by Indian Science
Congress Association, Calcutta in 1963. L.P. Vidyarthi reviewed the growth of social
anthropological research in India in his two papers published in 1966. He published a
thorough and comprehensive review of the growth of Indian anthropology in his books
entitled Rise of Anthropology in India, a social science orientation, Vol.I, The Tribal
Dimensions, and Rise of Anthropology in India, Vol II, The Rural, Urban and Other
Dimensions. published in 1978.
Phases of development
The growth of Indian anthropology has been divided into different periods by the
above mentioned and other notable anthropologists in various ways. S.C. Roy classified
the growth of anthropology in India in terms of the sources of
publications such as magazines, handbooks and monograms etc. and
also in terms of the nationality of the authors. According to S.C. Dube,
this growth can be classified in three phases: i. Compilation and
publication of volumes on tribes and castes, ii. Detailed monographic
studies of individual tribes mostly based upon personal observation
and iii. Quantitative advancement and qualitative achievement. N.K Bose divides the
growth of anthropology in India into three phases: i. Encyclopaedia of tribes and castes,
ii. Descriptive monographs and iii. Analytical studies of village, marriage and family,
caste and civilization etc. D. N. Majumdar divided the growth of anthropological
researches in India into three historical periods: i. Formulation phase (1774-1911), ii.
Constructive phase (1912-1937) and iii. Critical phase (1938-to present day).
According to L.P. Vidyarthi the constructive period started around 1920 with the
opening of the Department of anthropology in Calcutta with R. Chandra as its head and
the starting of Indian Journal of Anthropology by S.C. Roy in 1921. Indian and British
Anthropologists met on the occasion of Silver Jubilee of the Indian Science Congress at
Lahore and this meeting marked the Critical Period. D.N. Majumdar feels that the
Critical Period began with the publication of a problem-oriented monograph on the Ho
Introduction
Anthropology in India was introduced by anthropologists
from England who came to India and collected data on Indian
populations and prepared monographs on them. It was during the
second half of the nineteenth century when a number of
monographs on tribal and other communities were written by the British administrators
and anthropologists. A small number of Indian anthropologists who were being trained
by the British to assist them in their anthropological work began to appear on the scene.
By the beginning of the twentieth century, departments of Anthropology were set up in
various universities which in time produced large numbers of students. Since then,
Anthropology as an integrated science of man made a headway and today there are over
thirty departments of Anthropology across the country.
Anthropologists like W. H. R. Rivers, J. H. Hutton, A. R. Radcliffe-Brown and C.
G. Seligman who came to India influenced people like Paul Olaf Bodding, Hoffman,
Emelen, etc. to work on Indian communities. These anthropologists in turn influenced
others who were of Indian origin to work in anthropology. Such Indian anthropologists
wrote of the cultures that they knew best and among whom they had grown up. Thus,
some kind of ‘auto-ethnography’ was already being practiced in India by Indian
anthropologists long before it became a major issue in western anthropology.
The setting up of the Asiatic Society of Bengal in 1774 by Sir William Jones is a
landmark in the history of anthropology in India. Under this organization, a number of
anthropological works were conducted and many were printed in the journal of the
Society. Attempts have been made to review the growth of anthropology in India by
S.C. Roy, D.N. Majumdar, G.S. Ghurye, S.C. Dube, N.K. Bose, L.P. Vidyarthi and
Surjeet Sinha etc. In 1921 S.C. Roy presented a bibliography of the publications of
tribal and caste studies in India. Twentyfive years later, D.N. Majumdar reviewed the
development of anthropology in India. G.S. Ghurye reviewed the development of
anthropology in Bombay in a volume published by UNESCO in 1956. S.C. Dube
presented a review in the proceedings of the IV International Congress of Anthropology
, and Ethnological Sciences, in 1952 in Vienna. In 1962, he presented another one
entitled Anthropology in India, published in D.N. Majumdar commemoration volume.
N.K. Bose prepared a small booklet on this issue entitled Fifty Years of Science in
India, Progress of Anthropology and Archaeology, published by Indian Science
Congress Association, Calcutta in 1963. L.P. Vidyarthi reviewed the growth of social
anthropological research in India in his two papers published in 1966. He published a
thorough and comprehensive review of the growth of Indian anthropology in his books
entitled Rise of Anthropology in India, a social science orientation, Vol.I, The Tribal
Dimensions, and Rise of Anthropology in India, Vol II, The Rural, Urban and Other
Dimensions. published in 1978.
Phases of development
The growth of Indian anthropology has been divided into different periods by the
above mentioned and other notable anthropologists in various ways. S.C. Roy classified
the growth of anthropology in India in terms of the sources of
publications such as magazines, handbooks and monograms etc. and
also in terms of the nationality of the authors. According to S.C. Dube,
this growth can be classified in three phases: i. Compilation and
publication of volumes on tribes and castes, ii. Detailed monographic
studies of individual tribes mostly based upon personal observation
and iii. Quantitative advancement and qualitative achievement. N.K Bose divides the
growth of anthropology in India into three phases: i. Encyclopaedia of tribes and castes,
ii. Descriptive monographs and iii. Analytical studies of village, marriage and family,
caste and civilization etc. D. N. Majumdar divided the growth of anthropological
researches in India into three historical periods: i. Formulation phase (1774-1911), ii.
Constructive phase (1912-1937) and iii. Critical phase (1938-to present day).
According to L.P. Vidyarthi the constructive period started around 1920 with the
opening of the Department of anthropology in Calcutta with R. Chandra as its head and
the starting of Indian Journal of Anthropology by S.C. Roy in 1921. Indian and British
Anthropologists met on the occasion of Silver Jubilee of the Indian Science Congress at
Lahore and this meeting marked the Critical Period. D.N. Majumdar feels that the
Critical Period began with the publication of a problem-oriented monograph on the Ho
