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The ground stones of anthropology were thus laid in an orderly way in the form of
ethnographical mapping. Hence the phase is considered as the formative phase in the
Shrichakradhar.com
history of Indian anthropology. The administrators like Campbell, Latham and Risley
published a few general books on ethnology while they were on duty.
Several missionaries including Hoffman and Bodding undertook linguistic studies along
with ethnographic search. The inspiration was drawn from British anthropologists who
came to work in India. For example, W.H.R. Riverse put his attention on the Todas of
Nilgiri Hills (present day Tamil Nadu); A.R. Radcliffe-Brown dealt with the Andaman
Islanders, G.H- Seligman and B.G. Seligman concentrated on the Vedas of Ceylon, etc.
Extensive monographs were prepared on Lushaikukis by J. Shakespeare. P.R.T. Gurdon
wrote a monograph on Khasis, J.R. Mills on LothaNagas, N.E. Perry on Lakhers and T.
V. Grigson on Maria Gonds of Easter. Among the Indian scholars, Hiralal and L.K.
9958947060
AnanthakrishnaIyer though did some independent work, first credit crowned on Rai
Bahadur Sarat Chandra Roy who was basically a lawyer. He used to live in Ranchi and
their tribal people were his clients.
Coming in contact with several tribes S.C. Roy became interested in knowing them. He
was the first Indian who was able to put Indian anthropology on the world map. He
wrote exhaustive monographs on different tribes of Chotonagpur like Munda, Oraon,
Ho, Birhor, Hill Bhuiya and Kharia.
British anthropologists of his time appreciated his work. Hutton in 1938 designated him
as the Father of Indian Ethnology S.C. Roy maintained contacts with many leading
western anthropologists namely J.G. Frazer, R.R. Marett and R.B. Dixon.
Next to S.C. Roy we can recall the name of R.P. Chanda who published a book on Indo-
Aryan race in 1916. The book provides invaluable information on the cultural history of
India. British Governor of Bihar, Sir Edward Gait also deserves mention for his
outstanding works in Bihar.
(ii) The Constructive Phase (1920-1949): The ‘Formative phase’ predominated by
ethnographic studies took a new turn when social anthropology was included in the
Post-graduate curriculum of the University of Calcutta in 1920. No discipline is
supposed to be established unless it is recognized as a subject of study and research at
the University level.
Although anthropology found a berth in the University of Calcutta in 1918 as a
subsidiary subject, it required two more years to get proper recognition. An independent
Anthropology department came out in 1920 which was a great achievement for the
subject itself Except a few Universities in the world (Cambridge, Oxford, London
Universities in the U.K. and a few other Universities in the U.S.A.) nowhere
anthropology got such recognition at that time.
However, K.P. Chattopadhaya was the first Professor in Anthropology at Calcutta who
was trained at Cambridge by W.H.R, Rivers and A.C. Haddon. R.P. Chanda became the
first lecturer there. He was famous for his hypothesis, Brachycephalizatilon in Eastern
India. L.K. AnanthakrishnaIyer also came more or less at the same time.

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