Biraja Sankar Guha was an Indian physical anthropologist, who classified Indian people into races around the early part of the 20th century. He was the first Director of the Anthropological Survey of India (ASI) . Guha is best known for his work on classification of the Indian people into racial groups. Although the concept of race has been rejected by the evolutionary scientists, Guha’s theories are of historical interest. Apart from Indian tribes, he also did some research on North American Indians

Dr. B. S. Guha’s racial classification is based on anthropometric measurements, which were collected during his investigations from 1930 to 1933. Guha traced six major racial strains and nine sub-types among the modem Indian population.

1. The Negrito
2. The Proto-Australoid
3. The Mongoloid

a) Palaeo-Mongoloid
i) Long-headed
ii) Broad-headed
b) Tibeto-Mongoloid

4. The Mediterranean

a) Palae-Mediterranean
b) Mediterranean
c) Oriental

5. The Western Brachycephals

a) Alpinoid
b) Armenoid
c) Dinaric

6. The Nordics