Mina: The Ruling Tribe Of Rajasthan (Social-Biological Appraisal)

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Mina, the largest tribe of Rajasthan, is little known in spite of the area's wide popularity for geopolitical reasons. The Minas are basically an agricultural community. They occupy one of the most fertile areas of Rajasthan. History reveals that the tribal people who ruled over fertile strips of arid Rajasthan were deprived of their land by invading groups. In spite of constant invasions, the Minas did not succumb to the relentless invasions of alien forces; they retained their individuality by confining themselves to interior areas. They thrived amidst all odds and the bio-cultural equation responsible for the survival of this community has been studied by the author from the anthropological perspective. He revives the accepted theory that the existence of man is directly related to his bio-cultural heritage. Through this exercise he also partly negates the demarcating characteristics that distinguish one anthropologist from the other and proves that for holistic understanding of human nature a balanced coordination between cultural and physical anthropology is a prerequisite of contemporary anthropological research.

S.H.M. Rizvi was associated with research projects financed by the Indian Council of Medical Research, New Delhi, and the Indian Institute of Mass Communication, New Delhi, before joining the Anthropological Survey of India. His research interests are population variation, human genetics and bio-cultural studies. His publications include Muslims: Biocultural Perspective, Dhodia Identity and Nicotine Water to Heroin.