Classification of Types.
An attempt to analyse the complicated ethnic elements contained in the vast area of India was made by H. H. Risley[1331], who recognised seven types, his classification being based on theories of origin.
1. The Turko-Iranian type, including the Baloch, Brahui, and Afghans of Baluchistan and the North-West Frontier Provinces, all Muhammadans, with broad head, long prominent nose, abundant hair, fair complexion and tall stature.
2. Indo-Aryan type in the Punjab, Rajputana and Kashmir, with its most conspicuous members the Rájputs, Khatri and Játs in all but colour closely resembling the European type and showing little difference between upper and lower social strata. Their characteristics are tall stature, fair complexion, plentiful hair on face, long head, and narrow prominent nose.
3. Aryo-Dravidian or Hindustani type in the United Provinces, parts of Rajputana, Bihar, and Ceylon, with lower stature, variable complexion, longish head, and a nose index exactly corresponding to social station.
4. Scytho-Dravidian of Western India, including the Maratha Brahmans, Kunbi, and Coorgs, of medium stature, fair complexion, broad head with scanty hair on the face, and a fine nose.
5. Dravidian, generally regarded as representing the indigenous element. The characteristics are fairly uniform from Ceylon to the Ganges valley throughout Madras, Hyderabad, the Central Provinces, Central India and Chota Nagpur, and the name is now used to include the mass of the population unaffected by foreign (Aryan, Scythian, Mongoloid) immigration. The Nairs of Malabar and the Santal of Chota Nagpur are typical representatives. The stature is short, complexion very dark, almost black, hair plentiful with a tendency to curl, head long and nose very broad[1332].
6. Mongolo-Dravidian or Bengali type of Bengal and Orissa, showing fusion with Tibeto-Burman elements. The stature is medium, complexion dark, and head conspicuously broad, nose variable.
7. Mongoloid of the Himalayas, Nepal, Assam, and Burma, represented by the Kanet of Lahoul and Kulu, the Lepcha of Darjiling, the Limbu, Murmi and Gurung of Nepal, the Bodo of Assam and the Burmese. The stature is short, the complexion dark with a yellowish tinge, the hair on the face scanty. The head is broad with characteristic flat face and frequently oblique eyes.
This classification while more or less generally adopted in outline is not allowed to pass unchallenged, especially with regard to the theories of origin implied. Concerning the brachycephalic element of Western India Risley's belief that it was the result of so-called "Scythian" invasions is not supported by sufficient evidence. "The foreign element is certainly Alpine, not Mongolian, and it may be due to a migration of which the history has not been written[1333]." Ramaprasad Chanda[1334] goes further and traces the broad-headed elements in both "Scytho-Dravidians" (Gujaratis, Marathas and Coorgs) and "Mongolo-Dravidians" (Bengalis and Oriyas) to one common source, "the Homo alpinus of the Pamirs and Chinese Turkestan," and attempts to reconstruct the history of the migration of the Alpine invaders from Central Asia over Gujarat, Deccan, Bihar and Bengal. His conclusions are supported by the reports of Sir Aurel Stein of the Homo Alpinus type discovered in the region of Lob Nor, dating from the first centuries A.D. This type "still supplies the prevalent element in the racial constitution of the indigenous population of Chinese Turkestan, and is seen in its purest form in the Iranian-speaking tribes near the Pamirs[1335]."