Ethnic groups in the Indian subcontinent

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Ethnic groups of the Indian subcontinent represent an ethnolinguistic classification of the diverse populations within the Indian subcontinent, encompassing the countries of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, the Maldives, and Sri Lanka. While Afghanistan is typically categorised as part of Central Asia, it is occasionally associated with the Indian subcontinent; however, Afghans are generally not considered to be part of ethnic groups of the Indian subcontinent.

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,[1] forming a minority among the Indo-Aryans, though they are also sometimes classified as external to the Indo-Aryan branch.[2] 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,[3] 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 language[edit]

South Asian language families

Indo-Aryan people[edit]

The extent of Indo-Aryan languages in South Asia

Dardic people[edit]

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

Iranic people[edit]

Nuristani people[edit]

Dravidian people[edit]

Austroasiatic people[edit]

Tibeto-Burmese people[edit]

Andamanese and Nicobarese groups[edit]

Semitic people[edit]

Tai people[edit]

Turkic peoples[edit]

Afro-Asian groups[edit]

European and Eurasian people[edit]

Austronesian people[edit]

East Asian people[edit]

Chinese[edit]

Linguistically isolate groups[edit]

Diaspora[edit]

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 also[edit]

National demographics:

References[edit]

  1. ↑ 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
  2. ↑ 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
  3. ↑ D.E. Watters, Notes on Kusunda (a language isolate of Nepal), Kathmandu 2005
  4. ↑ Yasmin Saikia (9 November 2004). Fragmented Memories. ISBN 0822333732.

External links[edit]

Template:Ethnicity

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