The biological variation in Indian populations

The People of India project, a massive exercise carried out by the Anthropological Survey of India, has generated a wealth of information on the hundreds of communities, castes and tribes which exist in this country. The subjects covered include culture, society, location, language, script, biological variation, educational level, impact of devlopment, food habits, rituals, and work practices. The present volume comprises all the material which was collected on the existing biological information available for nearly 900 Indian communities. The material was gathered from the All India Anthropometric Survey and the All India Bio-Anthropological Surveys conducted by the Anthropological Survey of India. The larger set of quantitative data is contained in tables within this volume which deal with somatometry, dermatoglyphics, blood groups, serum proteins, biochemical variants and various genetic traits. A major finding of this exercise is the heterogeneity of biological traits, and the pattern of their distribution across social categories and territories. The data also suggests that much ground still remains to be covered vis-a-vis biological on India - in sharp contrast to the cultural and linguistic material that the Survey has now made available.