Doyene of Indian Anthropology

About the Book The spine anthropology is Science of min. One has to understand man 417 human being through various dimensions viz, social-cultural attributes, through physical aspect of human being and its antecedents through palaeo-anthropological approach. The administrators of British India strongly felt that they could only smoothly rule this sub-continent if they were able to know the diverse religious beliefs, customs, customary laws and habits of Indian citizens. Because in this sub-continent diverse cultural attributes with diverse ethnic boundary are harmoniously maintained and well respected. Our cultural heritage is signature with diversity.

Under this backdrop how anthropological knowledge was helpful for the then administrators of British Government and accordingly the experts were inducted for good governance of the people under their administrative control.

The present treatise is a compilation of some western scholars who studied various Indian villages, which were helpful for the then British administrators. Following these trend there were a number of Indian scholars during this 100 years from 1920-2019, whose contributions in anthropological domain cannot be ignored. Lastly, the forthcoming vision of Anthropology in our country is also dealt. This book will not only helpful for the students but also it will give light to present administrators of various States of our country for understanding the society through anthropological knowledge for better execution of developmental work under their control.

About the Author Dr. Amitabha Sarkar (Born: 1952) is a M.Sc. Ph.D (Science) in Anthropology from the University of Calcutta and Specialized in advanced Social Cultural Anthropology His remarkable empirical contribution in anthropological research arena is on impact of industrialization, tribal ethnography, culture ecology, ethno-science, religious belief system being integrative process and culture change, management of environment with traditional knowledge. He has published about 19(nineteen) books and more than 115 research papers in reputed journals. He possesses 35 years research experience and carried out empirical study among tribal and weaker section of Rajasthan, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Odisha and West Bengal. He is the life member of INCAA, Indian Science Congress Association and Indian Anthropological Society. He was associated with Anthropological Survey of India from 1977 to 2012. He is also consultant researcher and involve in generating empirical data from tribal area of Odisha.

Dr. (Mrs.) Samira Dasgupta (Born: 1953) is a M.Sc., Ph.D (Science) in Anthropology from the University of Calcutta. She has specialized in Cultural Anthropology and has noteworthy contributions are on culture ecology, role and status of tribal women in unorganized sector, tribal ethnography, ethno-science, religious belief system, traditional knowledge system among the tribals and cultural tourism etc. deserve for praise in academic arena being a perceptive researcher. She has published 16 (sixteen) books and about 100 research papers in various reputed journals of the country. She possesses 35 years research experience and carried out intensive field work among various tribal communities and weaker section of Rajasthan, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, Odisha and Jharkhand. She is a life member of INCAA, Indian Science Congress Association. She was associated with Anthropological Survey of India from 1977 to 2013 and carried out several research projects for ASI where during Xlth Plan Period she was involved with the study of Tangible & Intangible Cultural Heritage Traditional Knowledge System: Ethno Medicine. She is also involved as consultant researcher and devoted in generating empirical data from tribal area of Odisha.

About the Author In India anthropology was introduced by British administrators for a suggestive measure for effectual governance. The diverse cultural attributes with diverse ethnic boundary could easily be understood with the feed-back of anthropological knowledge and accordingly it was possible for the then administrators of British to rule the People under their governance.

Under this backdrop numbers of experts were inducted by the Royal British Empire and the East India Company's official -in charge to know the diverse religious beliefs, customs, customary laws and habits of Indian people. The then British government undertook different steps to study the 'People of India' about their culture and traditional life.

There were some remarkable contributions in the field of anthropology by the western scholars who worked in this Indian sub continent; among which a few names are as Louis Dumont, Mckim Marriot, Milton Singer, Kathleen Gough, A.C. Mayer, M.E. Opler, T.S. Epstein, A.D. Ross, Grigson, Berreman, Neville Watts, Dalton, Risley, F.G. Bailey, Edward Jay, Haimendorf, Martin Orans, E.A. Gait and so on. Apart from these we cannot ignore the milestone contributions in the domain of anthropology by several Indian scholars.

Introduction The induction of anthropological knowledge in the Indian subcontinent was during British colonial administration. For the sake of administration the colonial government of India had to face a lot of troubles to establish their dictum among the Indian "natives' because of their diverse cultural activities. At the outset the British administrators, felt that they can only rule this subcontinent but for such activities they have to know the diverse religious beliefs, customs, customary laws and habits of the Indian 'natives' (native word was used by British administrators). The then British Government in India undertook different steps to study the people of India about their culture and traditional life.

Under this backdrop in 1774 the Royal Asiatic Society of Bengal at Calcutta was established under the President ship of the society by Sir William Jones. The main objective of the society was to study the Nature and Man in India. Accordingly a good number of scholars were appointed to conduct empirical study.

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