Bharatpedia

South Asian ethnic groups

Information red.svg
Scan the QR code to donate via UPI
Dear reader, We need your support to keep the flame of knowledge burning bright! Our hosting server bill is due on June 1st, and without your help, Bharatpedia faces the risk of shutdown. We've come a long way together in exploring and celebrating our rich heritage. Now, let's unite to ensure Bharatpedia continues to be a beacon of knowledge for generations to come. Every contribution, big or small, makes a difference. Together, let's preserve and share the essence of Bharat.

Thank you for being part of the Bharatpedia family!
Please scan the QR code on the right click here to donate.

0%

   

transparency: ₹0 raised out of ₹100,000 (0 supporter)




South Asian ethnic groups are an ethnolinguistic grouping of the diverse populations of South Asia, including the nations of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, the Maldives and Sri Lanka.[1] Afghanistan, which is usually considered to be in Central Asia, is sometimes grouped with South Asia, but Afghans are generally not included among South Asian ethnic groups.[2][3][4][5][6]

The majority of the population fall within three large linguistic groups: Indo-Aryan, Dravidian and Iranic. The Indian, Nepalese and Sri Lankan societies are traditionally divided into castes or clans, which are based primarily on labour divisions; these categories have had no official status in India since independence in 1947, except for the scheduled castes and tribes, which remain registered for the purpose of affirmative action. In today's India, the population is categorised in terms of the 1,652 mother tongues spoken.

These groups are also further subdivided into numerous sub-groups, castes and tribes. Indo-Aryans form the predominant ethno-linguistic group in India (North India, East India, West India, Central India), Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka and the Maldives. Dravidians form the predominant ethno-linguistic group in southern India, the northern and eastern regions of Sri Lanka and a small pocket of Pakistan. The Iranic peoples also have a significant presence in South Asia, the large majority of whom are located in Pakistan, with heavy concentrations in Balochistan and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. Dardic peoples are classified as belonging to the Indo-Aryan language group,[7] forming a minority among the Indo-Aryans, though they are also sometimes classified as external to the Indo-Aryan branch.[8] They are found in northern Pakistan (Gilgit-Baltistan and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa) and in Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, India.

Minority groups not falling within either large group mostly speak languages belonging to the Austroasiatic and Tibeto-Burman language families, and largely live around Ladakh and Northeast India, Nepal, Bhutan and the Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh. The Andamanese (Sentinel, Onge, Jarawa, Great Andamanese) live in some of the Andaman Islands and speak a language isolate, as do the Kusunda in central Nepal,[9] the Vedda in Sri Lanka, and the Nihali of central India, who number about 5,000 people. The people of the Hunza valley in Pakistan are another distinct population; they speak Burushaski, a language isolate.

The traditions of different ethnic groups in South Asia have diverged, influenced by external cultures, especially in the northwestern parts of South Asia and also in the border regions and busy ports, where there are greater levels of contact with external cultures. There is also a lot of genetic diversity within the region. For example, most of the ethnic groups of the northeastern parts of South Asia are genetically related to peoples of East or Southeast Asia. There are also genetically isolated groups who have not been genetically influenced by other groups, such as the Jarawa people of the Andaman Islands. The largest ethno-linguistic group in South Asia are the Indo-Aryans, numbering around 1 billion, and the largest sub-group are the native speakers of Hindi languages, numbering more than 470 million.

These groups are based solely on a linguistic basis and not on a genetic basis.

List of ethnic groups on the basis of languageEdit

 
South Asian language families

Indo-Aryan peopleEdit

 
The extent of Indo-Aryan languages in South Asia

Dardic peopleEdit

The Dardic languages are largely seen as Indo-Aryan, but are sometimes seen as a separate Indo-Iranian branch.

Iranic peopleEdit

Nuristani peopleEdit

Dravidian peopleEdit

Austroasiatic peopleEdit

Tibeto-Burmese peopleEdit

Andamanese and Nicobarese groupsEdit

Semitic peopleEdit

Tai peopleEdit

Turkic peoplesEdit

Afro-Asian groupsEdit

European and Eurasian peopleEdit

Austronesian peopleEdit

East Asian peopleEdit

ChineseEdit

Linguistically isolate groupsEdit

DiasporaEdit

Many South Asian ethnic groups and nationalities have substantial diasporas outside of South Asia.

See also Bangladeshi diaspora, Indian diaspora, Nepalese diaspora, Pakistani diaspora, Punjabi diaspora, Sri Lankan Tamil diaspora, Tamil diaspora.

Two (or possibly three) other people groups have ethnic and linguistic ties with the region:

See alsoEdit

National demographics:

ReferencesEdit

  1. ↑ "UN Geoscheme".
  2. ↑ Danico, Mary Yu (2014). Asian American Society: An Encyclopedia. SAGE Publications. p. 838. ISBN 978-1-4522-8189-6.
  3. ↑ Bhopal, Raj (2004). "Glossary of terms relating to ethnicity and race: for reflection and debate". Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health. 58 (6): 441–445. doi:10.1136/jech.2003.013466. PMC 1732794. PMID 15143107.
  4. ↑ "Language and the BSA: Ethnicity & Race". British Sociological Association. March 2005. Archived from the original on 27 April 2015. Retrieved 27 April 2015.
  5. ↑ Sarwal, Amit (2012). Bridging Imaginations: South Asian Diaspora in Australia. Readworthy Publications. ISBN 978-81-935345-4-0.
  6. ↑ Lindsay, olin (2001). "The South Asian Community" (PDF). Profiles of Ethnic Communities in Canada. Ottawa: Statistics Canada. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 June 2013. Retrieved 9 November 2014.
  7. ↑ G. Morgenstierne Irano-Dardica. Wiesbaden 1973; Morgenstierne, G. Indo-Iranian frontier languages. (Instituttet for Sammenlignende Kulturforskning. Publ. Ser. B: Skrifter, no. 11, 35, 40) Oslo: H. Aschehoug, 1929 sqq, reprint Oslo 1973, C. Masica The Indo-Aryan languages, New York 1991, p. 21; R.L. Trail and G.R. Cooper, Kalasha Dictionary, Islamabad & High Wycombe 1999 p. xi; The Indo-Aryan languages, edited by George Cardona and Dhanesh Jain. London, New York: Routledge, 2003
  8. ↑ G.A. Grierson, The Pisaca Languages of North-Western India, Asiatic Society, London, 1906, repr. Delhi 1969, p. 4-6; still repeated in: History of Civilizations of Central Asia, Ahmad Hasan Dani, Vadim Mikhaĭlovich Masson, János Harmatta, Boris Abramovich Litvinovskiĭ, Clifford, 1999
  9. ↑ D.E. Watters, Notes on Kusunda (a language isolate of Nepal), Kathmandu 2005
  10. ↑ Yasmin Saikia (9 November 2004). Fragmented Memories. ISBN 0822333732.

External linksEdit

Template:Ethnicity

Retrieved from "https://en.bharatpedia.org/index.php?title=South_Asian_ethnic_groups&oldid=359131"