Brown Skins, White Coats: Race Science in India, 1920–66

367 Pages·2023·8.229 MB·English

by  Projit Bihari Mukharji

Brown Skins, White Coats

Brown Skins,
White Coats
Race Science in India,
1920– 66
Projit Bihari Mukharji
Th e University of Chicago Press Chicago and London
Th e University of Chicago Press, Chicago 60637
Th e University of Chicago Press, Ltd., London
© 2022 by Th e University of Chicago
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or
reproduced in any manner whatsoever without writt en
permission, except in the case of brief quotations in critical
articles and reviews. For more information, contact the University
of Chicago Press, 1427 E. 60th St., Chicago, IL 60637.
Published 2022
Printed in the United States of America
31 30 29 28 27 26 25 24 23 22 1 2 3 4 5
ISBN- 13: 978- 0- 226- 82299- 0 (cloth)
ISBN- 13: 978- 0- 226- 82301- 0 (paper)
ISBN- 13: 978- 0- 226- 82300- 3 (e- book)
DOI: htt ps:// doi .org/ 10 .7208/ chicago/ 9780226823003 .001 .0001
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Mukharji, Projit Bihari, author. |
Rāy˙a, Hemendra Kumāra, 1888–1963.
Title: Brown skins, white coats : race science
in India, 1920–66 / Projit Bihari Mukharji.
Other titles: Race science in India, 1920–66
Description: Chicago : Th e University of Chicago Press,
2022. | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifi ers: LCCN 2022021774 | ISBN 9780226822990 (cloth) |
ISBN 9780226823010 (paperback) | ISBN 9780226823003 (e-book)
Subjects: LCSH: Race—Research—India—History—
20th century. | Scientifi c racism—India—History—20th century. |
BISAC: SCIENCE / History | HISTORY / Asia / South / General
Classifi cation: LCC DS430.M79 2022 |
DDC 305.800954—dc23/eng/20220518
LC record available at htt ps://lccn.loc.gov/2022021774
Th is paper meets the requirements of
ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1 992 (Permanence of Paper).
For
David Arnold, Gautam Bhadra, and Majid Hayat Siddiqi
In gratitude and as gurudakshina

Contents
List of Illustrations ix
Parable of Brownness xi
An Advertisement for White Coats xiii
Acknowledgments xv
Introduction 1
Interchapter: Lett er 1 32
1: Seroanthropological Races 37
Interchapter: Lett er 2 65
2: Mendelizing Religion 69
Interchapter: Lett er 3 96
3: A Taste for Race 100
Interchapter: Lett er 4 126
4: Medicalizing Race 130
Interchapter: Lett er 5 157
5: Blood Multiple 160
Interchapter: Lett er 6 186
6: Refusing Race 190
Interchapter: Lett er 7 216
7: Racing the Future 219
Interchapter: Lett er 8 246
Conclusion 249
Notes 267
Sources for Interchapters 303
Bibliography 307
Index 337
Illustr ations
Fig. I.1. B. S. Guha’s Racial Map of India 18
Fig. I.2. Map of the “Frequency of the Aryan Gene,” published in a
leading Hindi news portal in 2017 19
Fig. 1.1. Hirszfeld and Hirszfeld’s Biochemical Race Index 38
Fig. 1.2. Eileen Macfarlane 43
Fig. 1.3. Blood grouping, described graphically in a Bengali popular
science book 49
Fig. 1.4. A picture plate comparing the diff erent races of India
in B. S. Guha’s Bengali pamphlet, India’s Racial Identity,
published by ASI in 1950 55
Fig. 2.1. Photograph comparing “White” and “Brown” Jews of
Cochin, published by Macfarlane 74
Fig. 2.2. Satyavati Sirsat 76
Fig. 3.1. Taste thresholds of Hindus and Muslims, calculated by
R. P. Srivastava 110
Fig. 3.2. Popular depiction of an infamous nineteenth- century
sex scandal showing the adulterous lovers exchanging
betel leaf 120
Fig. 4.1. J. B. Chatt erjea’s map showing the distribution of hemo-
globin variants in India 144
Fig. 5.1. Jarawa child born and raised in captivity, 1952 167
Fig. 5.2. Popular scientifi c depiction of cross- species blood
transfusion from a dog to a sheep 181
Fig. 6.1. Bla tshe leaving the body through the tip of the fi nger 194
Fig. 6.2. Th e grave on Guma Pahar with Sarkar’s guide standing
in front 199
Fig. 6.3. K. J.’s family tree with the unexplained arrow 205
Fig. 6.4. Mathias Hermanns’s Th e Evolution of Man 208