DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.16243#0076
42
PEOPLE OF INDIA
and measured the Kochh both in North-Eastern Bengal and in
Assam, denies their Dravidian origin, and describes them as
" distinctly Mongoloid though somewhat heterogeneous." For
purposes of comparison I have included both his measurements
and my own in the same diagram. As regards the head-form
and the stature, the two sets of observations are practically
identical. In the case of the nose, Colonel Waddell's data
show a far higher proportion of broad noses than mine, and
clearly point to a strong Dravidian element. On the other
hand, the orbito-nasal index exhibits, though in a less degree,
some distinctive Mongoloid characteristics. One can ask for
no better illustration of the efficacy of the method of anthro-
pometry in its application to a mixed or transitional type than
the fact that, while two independent observers have formed
different opinions as to the relative preponderance of its com-
ponent elements, the data obtained by them from two distinct
series of individuals correspond to the remarkable extent
indicated by the Kochh diagram. There is, of course, no real
conflict of opinion between Colonel Waddell and myself. The
whole question turns upon the point of view of the observer.
Take the Kochh in Dinajpur and Rangpur, and they strike you
as in the main Dravidian ; travel further east, and include in
your survey the cognate Kachari of Assam, and there is no
mistaking the fact that Mongoloid characteristics predominate.
The same may be said of the Bengali type as a whole. In
Western Bengal the Dravidian element is prominent; in Dacca
and Mymensingh the type has undergone a change, which
scientific methods enable us to assign to the effect of inter-
course with a Mongolian race.
On its northern and eastern frontier India marches with the
Mongoloid type. §'reat Mongolian region of the earth. The
effect of this contact with an almost exclu-
sively broad-headed population is indicated in yellow on the
map, and a glance will show how the area within which this
particular foreign influence has impressed itself upon India
widens gradually from west to east. The Punjab and Hindu-
stan are left virtually untouched; the Bengalis exhibit a type
sensibly modified in the direction of Mongolian characters;
the Assamese are unmistakably Mongoloid, and in Burma the
only non-Mongolian elements are the result of recent immigra-
tion from India. This condition of things is of course mainly
due to the intervention of the great physical barrier of the
Himalayas, "the human equator of the earth," as an American
PEOPLE OF INDIA
and measured the Kochh both in North-Eastern Bengal and in
Assam, denies their Dravidian origin, and describes them as
" distinctly Mongoloid though somewhat heterogeneous." For
purposes of comparison I have included both his measurements
and my own in the same diagram. As regards the head-form
and the stature, the two sets of observations are practically
identical. In the case of the nose, Colonel Waddell's data
show a far higher proportion of broad noses than mine, and
clearly point to a strong Dravidian element. On the other
hand, the orbito-nasal index exhibits, though in a less degree,
some distinctive Mongoloid characteristics. One can ask for
no better illustration of the efficacy of the method of anthro-
pometry in its application to a mixed or transitional type than
the fact that, while two independent observers have formed
different opinions as to the relative preponderance of its com-
ponent elements, the data obtained by them from two distinct
series of individuals correspond to the remarkable extent
indicated by the Kochh diagram. There is, of course, no real
conflict of opinion between Colonel Waddell and myself. The
whole question turns upon the point of view of the observer.
Take the Kochh in Dinajpur and Rangpur, and they strike you
as in the main Dravidian ; travel further east, and include in
your survey the cognate Kachari of Assam, and there is no
mistaking the fact that Mongoloid characteristics predominate.
The same may be said of the Bengali type as a whole. In
Western Bengal the Dravidian element is prominent; in Dacca
and Mymensingh the type has undergone a change, which
scientific methods enable us to assign to the effect of inter-
course with a Mongolian race.
On its northern and eastern frontier India marches with the
Mongoloid type. §'reat Mongolian region of the earth. The
effect of this contact with an almost exclu-
sively broad-headed population is indicated in yellow on the
map, and a glance will show how the area within which this
particular foreign influence has impressed itself upon India
widens gradually from west to east. The Punjab and Hindu-
stan are left virtually untouched; the Bengalis exhibit a type
sensibly modified in the direction of Mongolian characters;
the Assamese are unmistakably Mongoloid, and in Burma the
only non-Mongolian elements are the result of recent immigra-
tion from India. This condition of things is of course mainly
due to the intervention of the great physical barrier of the
Himalayas, "the human equator of the earth," as an American