The Cambridge History of India, Vol. I: Ancient India v1.c15.164

v1.c15.164

The seven geographical regions thus indicated form the basis for the ethnographical classification of the peoples of India which is now generally accepted. The scheme was propounded by the late Sir Herbert Risley in the *Census Report for 1901*. Its details are the result of careful measurements and observations extending over many years. It is conveniently summarised in the *Imperial Gazetteer* (new edition, vol. I, pp. 292 ff.) from which the descriptions in the following account are quoted. The physical types are here enumerated in an order beginning from the south, instead of from the north-west as in the original scheme: