Sir Herbert Hope Risley (1851–1911)

Sir Herbert Hope Risley was a British colonial administrator and anthropologist who made significant contributions to the early development of Indian anthropology. He is best known for his studies on Indian races, castes, and tribes, combining colonial administrative data with anthropometric research methods.

Academic Background

Risley studied Natural Sciences at Trinity College, Cambridge, before joining the Indian Civil Service (ICS). His administrative roles in Bengal, Assam, and Burma exposed him to India’s ethnic and cultural diversity, sparking his interest in anthropology and ethnography. Later, as Census Commissioner of India (1901), he employed anthropological principles in census classification and data collection.

Publications and Fieldwork

Risley was among the first to apply anthropology to the study of Indian society. His major publications include:

The Tribes and Castes of Bengal (1891)
Notes on the Census of Assam (1902)
On the Relations between Social Organization and Physical Type in India (1903)
The People of India (1908)

In The People of India (1908), based on data from the 1901 Census, Risley proposed a racial classification of Indian populations using anthropometric measurements such as nasal index, skull shape, and skin tone. He identified seven major racial types in India and argued that caste hierarchy correlated with racial hierarchy. His theory reflected the colonial attempt to biologize Indian social stratification.

Criticisms

Risley’s work has been heavily criticized for reinforcing racial determinism and colonial stereotypes. Modern anthropologists reject his biological interpretation of caste as unscientific and reductionist. His emphasis on physical traits overlooked the cultural, historical, and linguistic dimensions of Indian society. Critics like A. R. Radcliffe-Brown and Risley’s contemporaries in the Ethnographic Survey later advocated for a more sociological understanding of social organization.

Legacy and Relevance

Despite its flaws, Risley’s documentation of caste and tribe remains a reference point in the history of Indian anthropology. His work influenced the early ethnographic surveys and laid the groundwork for later institutional studies by the Anthropological Survey of India. Today, his writings are studied not for their conclusions, but as examples of how colonial anthropology shaped the discourse on race and society in India.