Risley, Herbert H.; Crooke, William [Hrsg.]: The people of India: being an attempt to trace the progress of the national mind in its various aspects, as reflected in the nation’s literature from the earliest times to the present day ; with copious extracts from the best writers (Calcutta [u.a.], 1915)

PHYSICAL TYPES 39

and the lowest minimum (103) is considerable and points to
some mixture of blood.

(iv) The mean stature varies from 160 in the case of the
Kunbis in 1687 in the Coorgs, and an examination of the figures
will show that it is, on the whole, lower than among the Turko-
Iranians.

The type is clearly distinguished from the Turko-Iranian
by a lower stature, a greater length of head, a higher nasal
index, a shorter nose and a lower orbito-nasal index. All of
these characters, except perhaps the last, may be due to a
varying degree of intermixture with the Dravidians. In the
higher types the amount of crossing seems to have been
slight; in the lower the Dravidian elements are more pro-
nounced, while in the Katkari the long head and wide nose are
conspicuous.

The Aryo-DravidiaH or Hindustani type extends from the
eastern frontier of the Punjab to the southern extremity of
Bihar, from which point onwards it melts into the Mongolo-
Dravidian type of Bengal Proper. It occupies the valleys of
the Ganges and Jumna, and runs up into the

1 , , r 1 it- 1 lu n, Aryo-Dravidian

lower levels of the Himalayas on the north type.

and the slopes of the Central Indian plateau

on the south. Its higher representatives approach the Indo-

Aryan type, while the lower members of the group are

in many respects not very far removed from the Dravidians.

The type is essentially a mixed one, yet its characteristics are

readily definable, and no one would take even an upper class

Hindustani for a pure Indo-Aryan, or a Chamar for a genuine

Dravidian. Turning now to details, we find the following

results : —

(i) The head-form is long, with a tendency towards medium.
The average index varies from 72-1 in the Kachhi and Koiri of
Hindustan to 76^8 in the Dosiidh of Bihar and 767 in the
Babhan. The highest individual index (90) occurs among the
Babhans of Bihar, and the lowest (62) among the Bhars of
Hindustan. But the head-form throws little light upon the
origin and affinities of the type, and would of itself barely
serve to distinguish the Aryo-Dravidian from the Indo-Aryan.
Nor, indeed, would one expect it to do so, for the pure Dra-
vidians are themselves a long-headed race, and the Hindustani
people might well have derived this character from the Dra-
vidian element in their parentage.

(ii) The distinctive feature of the type, the character which