ABSTRACT
The tribal peoples of the north are essentially dissimilar, and, as might be expected, show marked Mongoloid characters. That the diversity of the peoples of India baffles description is a commonplace. Of earlier peoples, almost the only known skeletal remains of much significance are those of the Indus Valley civilization: these show very close affinities with those of pre-Sargonic Mesopotamia. The populations of the sub-continent exhibit in varying degree characteristics from the four major stocks of mankind: Negroid, Australoid, Mongoloid and Caucasoid. They occupy a broad band of Himalayan and sub-Himalayan country from Kashmir to Bhutan; in the hills on either side of the Assam valley a long-headed Mongoloid type is dominant; the Burmese are more brachycephalic. The ethnic history of India is thus complicated, in keeping with the general diversity of the sub-continent. Naturally the success sparred on other claimants, and the entire political map of India has been reorganized.
