Indigenous to the large subcontinent of India are several races and ethnicities. With 1000 million people, India has the second largest country population in the world, surpassed only by China.
Among the many ethnic and racial groups, the two major divisions in India are the Indo-Aryans in the north and the Dravidians in the south.
Languages in India
The ethnic groups of India speak more than 1500 languages and dialects. The major regional languages recognized by the constitution are Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Kashmiri, Malayalam, Marathi, Oriya, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Sindhi, Tamil, Telugu, and Urdu. Some of the states of India are formed along linguistic lines.
The two major linguistic groups are Indo-European, spoken in the north and central regions and Dravidian, spoken in the southern region.
Other major linguistic groups are Austroasiatic (Austric) languages spoken in the eastern areas and Sino-Tibetan spoken in the Himalayan region near the Burmese border.
By far, the language spoken by the largest population is Hindi, which is spoken by 100 million people.
Religion in India
Approximately 80 percent of the population is Hindu, with the next largest group being Muslim at 14 percent. Other significant populations include Christians, Sikhs and Buddhists.
The Major Ethnic Divisions
The population of India is polygenetic, which is made up of several races and ethnicities with the six main ethnic groups being Negrito, Proto - Australoids or Austrics, Mongoloids, Mediterranean or Dravidian, Western Brachycephals, and Nordic Aryans.
The Negrito or Negroid, also the Brachycephalic (broad-headed) group, were the first to come to India, having arrived from Africa. Some of these peoples live in the southern part of India and in some of the neighboring islands.T
The Austrics followed the Negroids in populating parts of India. They cultivated rice, vegetables and sugar cane, and are credited with civilizing India. They are found today in central and eastern India, in Myanmar and in the islands of South East Asia.
The Mongoloid people are found in the northeastern part of India and in the northern parts of West Bengal.
The Dravidian people populate the south of India. They are thought to have arrived in India before the Aryans. A Mediterranean group, they seem to be related to the peoples of Asia Minor and Crete and the pre-Hellenic Aegean people of Greece. They are thought to have been the builders of the great cities of Mohenjo- daro and Harappa and other Indus valley cities.
The Western Bracycephals live mainly in the west in the Ganga Valley, in parts of Gujarat, Kashmir and Tamil Nadu.
The Indo-Aryans, also known as the Nordics, were the last to arrive in India, coming between 2000 and 1500 B.C.E. They can be found today mostly in the northern and central regions of India.
Sources
People of India. Webindia.
Encyclopedia-India. Infoplease.com.
Paula I. Nielson - Paula I. Nielson, Ph.D., holds credentials and interests in anthropology, archaeology, religion, the Middle East and Asia.
