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UPSC Prelims 1992 · Indian Geography · People and Settlements
The original inhabitants of India are believed to be of the ethnic type known as
- (a) Negrito
- (b) Proto-Australoids
- (c) Mongoloids
- (d) Dravidians
Show the answer and explanation
Answer: (a) Negrito
The Negritos are believed to be the earliest people of India.
The idea
This question reflects an older attempt to classify India’s inhabitants by physical appearance. Such labels do not establish a scientifically certain order of arrival. Read the historical terminology in its exam setting, while keeping ancestry, language and culture separate.
Why the others are wrong
(b) Proto-Australoids came next.
(c) Mongoloids arrived later from the north-east.
(d) Dravidian is a language family.
The trap
Dravidian is a language group, not a race.
Also know
Dravidian is a language family including Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam. Indo-Aryan and Austroasiatic are other language families represented in India. Language can spread without replacing a population, and people sharing a language can have diverse ancestry.
🔒 B.S. Guha: Negrito → Proto-Australoid → Mongoloid → Mediterranean → Nordic.
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