Department of Anthropology

Permanent URI for this communityhttps://ir.nbu.ac.in/handle/123456789/5274

The Department of Anthropology offers M. Sc. and Ph.D. programmes in different fields of Anthropology. It was established under the faculty of Science in the year 2001. The academic programmes are so designed as to enable the students and scholars to acquire a good understanding of people, society and culture at the micro level. The special focus of the department is to examine and analyze the regional and local issues of greater anthropological significance. The department has an innovative plan to develop interdisciplinary interaction for strengthening its teaching and research programmes. Participatory approach and Lab to Land method has been adopted to develop the teaching and research activities of the department. The thrust areas of the department are human nutrition, forensic anthropology, ethnomedicine, medical anthropology, developmental anthropology and tribal development.

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Open Access
Incidence of Colour Blindness among the Santals of East Singhbhum, Jharkhand
(University of North Bengal, 2015) Karmakar, Sarnendu; Biswas, Subir
Open Access
Forms and Applications of Folk media in West Bengal: Notes from Empirical Observations
(University of North Bengal, 2015) Bandyopadhyay, Sumahan
Folk media are a part of traditional media that do a great deal of communication in our society particular in the areas where the reach of conventional media is limited or discouraging. There are a number of folk media traditionally present in predominantly rural West Bengal. An attempt has made in this paper to classify these folk media and to know the current state of their applications. Here evolution of folk media vis-à-vis folk journalism has been discussed. The examples of various forms of folk media have been presented to show that it basically rooted in the particular socio-economic context. Thus one cannot deny the relevance of folk media even today.
Open Access
Issues of Child Rights: A Case Study
(University of North Bengal, 2015) Biswas, Samar Kumar; Gan, Biswanath
Children are the building blocks of a nation. If they are provided the appropriate kind of development, they contribute to the nation’s growth in a big way, when they grow old. However, today the violation of child rights is widely rampant and it is a crucial issues overall the world. They are child, therefore, they cannot protest against it. They are not able to demand, they have no capacity to form a union, and probably incapable of seeking, and therefore public opinion about the rights of the child is not supposed to be claimed by the child itself. It is necessary to be done by those who are responsible for taking care of the child. The children have no right to demand in the sense they have not the capacity to demand but the child has accepted rights as given in the convention. In this context, the present study has been done on the child workers in Balasan River Basin of Darjeeling district, West Bengal, India, where most of the people are engaged in stone based economy and earned very little, which is not sufficient for maintaining their daily livelihood. Most in cases, the parents of these children are unable to provide the necessary requirements to their children; and thus, from the very beginning, most of the children are bound to engage in this work to support their families. Due to this fact, most of the child workers are deprived of their basic rights like food, shelter, proper education, health; and leisure and recreation, intellectual development, growth, freedom and so on. There are so many factors responsible for it. In this concern, in the light of child rights violation- how the children are being exploited in the economic field; and how their education, health, and development as well are being affected have been discussed in this article.
Open Access
Anoxia Nervosa: A Brief Introduction
(University of North Bengal, 2015) Tigga, Pushpa Lata
Anoxia Nervosa Eating disorders are relatively rare among the general population. This review discusses the literature on the incidence, prevalence and mortality rates of eating disorders. Study searched online Medline/Pubmed, Embase and PsycINFO databases for articles published in English using several key terms relating to Anoxia Nervosa an eating disorders and epidemiology. Anorexia nervosa is relatively common among young women. While the overall incidence rate remained stable over the past decades, there has been an increase in the high risk-group of 15–19 year old girls. It is unclear whether this reflects earlier detection of anorexia nervosa cases or an earlier age at onset. All eating disorders have an elevated mortality risk; anorexia nervosa the most striking. Compared with the other eating disorders, binge eating disorder is more common among males and older individuals.
Open Access
The Jarawa (Ang) Territory: Historical Manifestations and Contextual Situations in Andaman Islands
(University of North Bengal, 2015) Ghosh, Amit Kumar; Biswas, Samar Kumar
This manuscript is an attempt to analyse different manifestations of Jarawa (Ang) territory in terms of historical context and present situations in Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The Jarawa (Ang) is one of the last remaining Negrito hunter-gatherer communities of Andaman and until recently they were living in complete isolation from so called civilized society. From different historical documents it is also evident that compared to the Great Andamanese tribe, the Jarawa (Ang) is the later immigrants at the Great Andaman Island and they were living in a continuous conflict and clash during pre- British colonization period also. Except few sporadic contact events, Jarawa (Ang) never came into a friendly relationship with the outsiders during about 150 years of British colonization and 50 years of post-independence period. Due to different historical specific and contextual specific reasons, the Jarawa (Ang) territory had never been a fixed geographical area. It was in continuous change and shift from coastal to the interior forest areas and from south to north direction. This change of Jarawa (Ang) territory is not merely the physical shifting of particular community from one place to another. It has many sociocultural and demographic implications and consequences. After independence a demarcated area has been declared as reserve forest for pursuing their livelihood. The present day Jarawa (Ang) territory (1028 sq. km) is surrounded by different dominant neighboring settler communities from three sides at South, East and North. The notionally and geographically demarcated boundary of Jarawa (Ang) territory is merely an administrative category; it does not make any sense for a nomadic hunter-gatherer community like Jarawa (Ang). A reciprocal relationship has already been established between Jarawa (Ang) and neighboring villager. Across the boundary this reciprocity is the prime source of many changes in Jarawa (Ang) society and culture.
Open Access
Growth of Megacities and Decline of Small Towns in India: Why it Demands Attention from Planners and Policy Makers
(University of North Bengal, 2015) Chaudhuri, Sumita
The slow growth of small towns and stagnation, decay and declassification of several such towns in a period of rapid urbanization in India is a phenomenon which have not received much attention from demographers or economic planners. The slow growth, stagnation or decay of a large number of small towns is a phenomenon which must be studied historically. The stagnation of small towns in the era of planned industrialization and urbanization deserves serious attention from planners and policy makers in India.
Open Access
Rhymes and Riddles in the Texts and Contexts of Folk-Games in West Bengal: An Ethnographic Study
(University of North Bengal, 2015) Das, Abhijit
Folk-games are one of the important indigenous elements of expressive folkculture of West Bengal till the advancement of culture under globalization. These games, being orally transmitted tradition, are part and parcel of the pastime recreation of the rural children. The variegated patterns of folk-games can be broadly categorized as chasing, rhyming, chance, jumping, counting and so on. Some game texts, consisting of rhymes, riddle, couplets, etc often express certain cognitive as well as historical aspects of age old Bengali culture of West Bengal. These may also be considered as the vital elements of folk-literature, too. Now-a-days due to the impact of urbanization, industrialization mass media influence as well as modernization, the folk as well as indigenous elements in the game texts are changing rapidly. A very time has come to let them survive and revive from their probable extinction in near future from the wider gamut of folk culture of the Bengali core. Folklorists, anthropologists and historians should have the responsibility to study those vital elements of folk culture of West Bengal in the era of globalization.
Open Access
Socio-Economic and Environmental Dimensions on Health: A Study on the Santals of West Midnapore and Bankura
(University of North Bengal, 2015) Roy, Samik
The most interesting feature of the tribal economy is that the majority of the tribals depend on agriculture, but they do not depend on it exclusively. Their economy is also based on forest collection and daily labour work; it is considered as a significant occupation among the tribals. Collection of forest products is a very common practice among the Santal tribes residing mostly in the eastern part of India. They not only collect different food items from the forest, but also earn through it when the surplus items are sold at the local markets. The tribal health is also connected directly or indirectly to their economic and socio-cultural conditions and environmental situation, particularly the forest ecology. This paper attempts to explore the implications of socio-economic factors and forest on health on the Santals of West Midnapore and Bankura Districts of West Bengal.
Open Access
Awareness of Education and Scheduled Caste: A Case Study
(University of North Bengal, 2015) Chowdhury, Madhurima
A trend has emerged of not defining education as a "human right" anymore, but of rather calling it a "human need". The Scheduled Castes are historically disadvantaged people who are given express recognition in the Constitution of India. During the period of British rule in the Indian sub-continent they were known as the Depressed Class. The caste system has created and sustained an unequal opportunity structure, which is anathema to the egalitarian principles which are the basis of a modern democratic society. What is worse, it intensifies and perpetuates the sufferings and servitude of disadvantaged caste class groups by reducing their access to development benefits vis-a-vis the higher caste class groups. The right to education originates from the apparent motion that it is obligatory for the state to provide education to its citizens. The Right to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2010 describes the modalities having the provision for free and compulsory education for children between 6 to 14 years under Article 21A of the Indian constitution. This Act makes education as fundamental right of every child enforceable by law. Education is empowerment for socio-economic mobility, an instrument for reducing socio-economic inequalities, and equipment to trigger growth and development. In India, the total literacy rate is 74.04%. The male literacy rate is 82.14% and the female literacy rate is 65.46%. The literacy rate of Scheduled Caste males is 73.0% and that of the female is 52.1%. The study was conducted at Ramchandrapur village of Bangaon Sub-Division of North 24 Parganas covering both the sexes of the Scheduled Castes to understand the gender disparity, if any, in the studied villages. The objective of the study is to understand Right to Education and Right to Equality of Scheduled Caste, to study the nature and level of education of Scheduled Caste, particularly examining the disparity of education, if any, and to study educational rights and awareness about the rights among the Scheduled Caste.
Open Access
Advent of Vaishnavism in an Animistic Environ: The case of the Deoris of Assam
(University of North Bengal, 2015) Medhi, Birinchi K.; Bhuyan, Monimugdha
Animism is one of the oldest form of religion, which is professed by almost all the tribes of the world. Most of the tribes of North East India, both in the hills and plains, professed animism from time immemorial. The Deoris of Assam, a scheduled tribe principally concentrated in the Brahmaputra valley, are traditionally animist. The Deoris are a patriarchal tribe divided in to four sections. Agriculture is their mainstay and their material culture has been developed centring paddy cultivation. Traditionally they were the worshippers of natural objects. Data for this paper have been collected from Majar Chapari Village of Lakhimpur District, Assam. The village is surrounded by the Assamese Hindu villages and the inhabitants of those villages practised Vaishnavism – a form of Hinduism. Gradually good number of traits of this religious system percolated to the society and culture of the Deoris of Majar Chapari village. In this paper a modest attempt has been made to examine the Vaishnavism practised by the Deori inhabitants of Majar Chapari Village.
Open Access
Decision Making in Family Planning: A Human Rights Issue
(University of North Bengal, 2015) Biswas, Homprabha; Ray, Subha
A woman has the right to control over her own body and take decision regarding reproductive health free from any form of coercion, discrimination and violence. She further has the right to be informed and have access to safe, effective, affordable and acceptable methods of family planning. The present study was conducted on a group of married Muslim women of West Bengal with the objective to understand the role of these women in taking decision in adopting family planning practice and choosing contraceptive types. Data on socio-economic details, family planning practices and decision making ability were collected on 100 women, who were in wedlock and with at least one child. Results of the study reveal that 69 per cent of the study population was adopters of family planning, and in all the cases the husbands of these women took decision in choosing contraceptive types.
Open Access
HIV/AIDS Awareness among the Tribals of West Bengal and Consequent Challenges
(University of North Bengal, 2015) Chaudhuri, Buddhadeb
Open Access
Extremist Violence and Life of the Indigenous People inside Red Corridor in India
(University of North Bengal, 2015) Midya, Dipak K
India’s mineral-rich districts in and along the so-called Red Corridor are the abode of the country’s poorest of the poor indigenous people. It is no surprising that these people are mostly illiterates and have been suffering from severe malnutrition. For the last four decades or more, the region has been extremely affected by the extremist violence led by the Maoists vis-à-vis the counter-insurgency programme of the state. The people, mostly tribals, living in the midst of the two embattling forces operating across the region are now bewildered. They are losing many of their socio-cultural distinctiveness. The paradoxes between the Maoist ideology and acts made the indigenous groups worry of about the contradictions between the projected aspiration and apparent result of the extremist violence. In the course of time, they are found to distancing themselves from the movement and adopt a survival strategy based upon the revival of their ethnic consolidation. With a case study of Junglemahal in Southern Bengal, the present study observes that stronger the elements of ethnic consolidation, lesser the possibility of engaging with the extremist violence.
Open Access
Role of Satras in the Spread of Art and Culture with Special Reference to Barpeta Satra
(University of North Bengal, 2015) Goswami, Mridusmita
The most notable characteristic of the neo-Vaisnavite movement in Assam is the Satra institution through which the faith was propagated and established. It may be monastic as well as semi-monastic in form. The importance of this institution lies in the fact that it is intimately connected with the Assamese society and it has become a part and parcel of Assamese life. The history of Vaisnavism in Assam cannot be treated without reference to the Satra institution. For the Vaisnavite movement in Assam the Satra institution plays an important role in the spread of Assamese culture and acts as an aid in making the Assamese society united. The Satra has been working as a center of various art forms, such as Literature, Drama, Song and Dance, Craft and Painting etc. The objective that has been formulated for the study was to know about the role of Satra institution in Assam. The study also tried to study the role of Barpeta Satra in the spread of art and culture. The study was based on both primary and secondary sources of informations.
Open Access
Deforestation: Issues and Impacts on Agriculture- an Ethnographic Study in the village Chirudih, Purulia, West Bengal
(University of North Bengal, 2015) Ray, Bedprakash
Open Access
Mahali Culture and Social Change in West Bengal
(University of North Bengal, 2016) Soni, Amit
Ethnographic study and analysis in Anthropology is the very base of anthropological researches in India and abroad. Mahali or Mahli is an artisan community involved in traditional bamboo craft. The present paper is outcome of ethnographic study and situational analysis of the Mahali tribe of West Bengal. An attempt has been made to present the indigenous Mahali Culture along with the socio-cultural changes in the changing modern scenario. Mahali people are master craftsmen and produce fine basketry along with doing labor work. Lots of changes are coming in the Mahali society and culture due to the impact of migration, acculturation and modernization. Their living standard is little bit uplifted by various tribal developmental programs and facilities provided in the Mahali areas, but still they are living in low socio-economic condition.
Open Access
Impact of Heavy Metal Exposure on Women and Human Reproductive Health
(University of North Bengal, 2016) Tigga, Pushpa Lata
Quality of the environment plays a significant role in human health. It was estimated that one-quarter of the global disease burden and more than one-third of the burden among children was due to modifiable environmental factors. The group of heavy metals represents pollutants that are concerned with serious health problems connected with a high global annual emission rate. The toxic effects of the heavy metals are often expressed differently on the outcome of human reproduction. Recommended medical surveillance for all heavy metals requires emergency departmental care. Literature study explored that there is a gap of knowledge in the proper toxicity survey.
Open Access
Prevalence of Anaemia and Age Related Changes in Haemoglobin Level of the Santal Labourers of Birbhum district, West Bengal, India
(University of North Bengal, 2016) Malakar, Biswanath; Roy, Subrata K.
Background: Haemoglobin level changes with sex, altitude, physiological condition, socio-economic condition, nutrition and so on. However, age related changes in haemoglobin level have not been well demonstrated. Objective: The study tries to find out (1) the prevalence of anaemia of the Santal labourers (indigenous and endogamous group) of Birbhum district, West Bengal and (2) also to find out age related changes in haemoglobin level of the Santal labourers. Material and methods: Cross sectional data have been collected on age and haemoglobin level from 697 adult (male = 301 and female = 396) Santal labourers of both sexes of Birbhum district, West Bengal. The data have been classified into five age groups (<30, 30-39, 40-49, 50-59 and 60+). Descriptive statistics and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) used separately for males and females. Results: Mean haemoglobin level of the study participants were 12.60±1.88 and 10.86±1.34 for males and females respectively. Around 60 per cent males and 80 per cent females were classified as anaemic. ANOVA depicts significant difference in haemoglobin level between/ among age groups for males but not in females. A gradual decline in haemoglobin levels observed with increment of age only in males. Discussion: Present study indicates that haemoglobin level gradually declines with progression of age in males but such consistent pattern was not observed in females. However, it is difficult to conclude with this small sample size and a particular population. Further, studies in different populations with large sample sizes are needed considering concomitant factor affecting haemoglobin level to make a generalized statement.
Open Access
Mahisasurmardini Radio Broadcast and Relevance in the Service for Mass Communication
(University of North Bengal, 2016) Ghoshal, Subhas C.
MahisasurMardini from All India Radio: Kolkata is the oldest programme in Indian broadcast scenario. The content is based on MarkandeyaPuran and the broadcast delineates arriving of goddess Durga from Himgiri (hilly tract) to this world and her historical association in kicking out the evils for restoring peace and happiness among the humankind. It acts as an errand of durgapuja centric durgotsab, one of the largest festivals in the world where there live a large group of Bengali speaking people. Study on the segments of broadcast content and co-relational listeners‘opinion thereupon has proved a very constructive feeling towards devotion. Listener audience supports to call it ever new because it recreates in their minds the sights and sounds of epic culture every year.
Open Access
Utility of Human Scalp Hair as Biomarker
(University of North Bengal, 2016) Dorjee, Binu
Human biomonitoring (HBM) is a scientific technique that allows us to assess whether and to what extent environmental pollutants enter humans (Alves 2014). The technique relied on the various biomarkers like blood, urine, nails and hair. The blood is invasive biomarker while hair is emerging non-invasive biomarkers. Hair is unique character found on all mammals but not on other animals. Hairs may be defined as slender filamentous outgrowths of the skin and are primarily composed of keratin. The present paper highlights the various features of hair which makes it a reliable biomarker such as it is non-invasive, easy to transfer and store, free of contamination, easy sampling and non expensive. It has time detection window of 1 month to a year. However, there are areas of hair research which need further attention.