Wikipedia / Ethnic groups in South Asia
Wikipedia / Ethnic groups in South Asia
Ethnic groups in South Asia are ethnolinguistic groupings within the diverse populations of South Asia, including the countries of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. Afghanistan is variously considered to be a part of both Central Asia and South Asia, which means Afghans are not always included among South Asians, but when they are, South Asia has a total population of about 2.04 billion.
The majority of the population fall within three large linguistic groups: Indo-Aryan, Dravidian, and Iranic. These groups are also further subdivided into numerous sub-groups, castes and tribes. Indo-Aryans form the predominant ethnolinguistic group in India (North India, East India, West India, and Central India), Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and the Maldives. Dravidians form the predominant ethnolinguistic group in southern India, the northern and eastern regions of Sri Lanka and a small pocket of Pakistan. The Iranic peoples also have a significant presence in South Asia, the large majority of whom are located in Afghanistan and the northwestern and western parts of Pakistan.
Minority groups not falling within either large group mostly speak languages belonging to the Austroasiatic and Tibeto-Burman language families, and largely live around Ladakh and Northeast India, Nepal, Bhutan, and the Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh. The Andamanese (Sentinel, Onge, Jarawa, and Great Andamanese) live in some of the Andaman Islands and speak a language isolate, as do the Kusunda in central Nepal, the Vedda in Sri Lanka, and the Nihali of Central India, who number about 5,000 people. The people of the Hunza Valley in Pakistan are another distinct population; they speak Burushaski, a language isolate.
The traditions of different ethnic groups in South Asia have diverged, influenced by external cultures, especially in the northwestern parts of South Asia and also in the border regions and busy ports, where there are greater levels of contact with external cultures. There is also a lot of genetic diversity within the region. For example, most of the ethnic groups of the northeastern parts of South Asia are genetically related to peoples of East or Southeast Asia. There are also genetically isolated groups who have not been genetically influenced by other groups, such as the Jarawa people of the Andaman Islands. The largest ethnolinguistic group in South Asia are the Indo-Aryans, numbering around 1 billion, and the largest subgroup are the native speakers of Hindi languages, numbering more than 470 million.
These groups are based solely on a linguistic basis and not on a genetic basis.
List of ethnic groups on the basis of language
Andamanese groups
Austroasiatic people
Austronesian people
Dravidian people
Indo-Aryan people
Iranic people
Nuristani people
Semitic people
Sri Lankan Moors (trace ancestry to Arab traders who settled in Sri Lanka and native Tamil women)
Iraqi biradri - a community of Muslims in north India (trace ancestry from Arab tribe of Bani Tamim)
Labbay Arab traders who settled in South India
Konkani Muslims trace their ancestry to Arab traders.
Mappila Muslims trace their ancestry to Arab traders.
Nasrani Mapilla who trace their origins to Jewish traders
Knanaya Syriac Christians who trace their origins to Mesopotamia
Cochin Jews (Malayali Jews)
Bene Israel (Marathi Jews)
Baghdadi Jews (Arab Jews in Bengal)
Bnei Menashe (Mizo and Kuki Jews)
Bene Ephraim (Telugu Jews)
Paradesi Jews (European Jews in India)
Tai people
Tai Phake or Tai Phakial
Tibeto-Burman people
Tibetans and Tibetan-speaking peoples
Turkic people
Rowther are descendants of Seljuk Turks in Turko-Persian tradition. They have since become the tradition of Turko-Indian in 11th Century.
Mughal (Moghul) (A Sunni Islamic dynasty of Asia which originated in Central Asia)
Chughtai Tartars (Those people who originated in Uzbekistan and fought for Chagatai Khan who was son of Genghis Khan).
Changezi (Those who were in army of Hulagu Khan)
Linguistic isolate groups
Afro-Asian groups
Sheedis/Siddis, an ethnic community of Black African descent, found primarily in Pakistan, Gujarat, and Karnataka.
European and Eurasian people
East Asian people
Chinese diaspora in South Asia
Diaspora
Many South Asian ethnic groups and nationalities have substantial diasporas.
Indians in South America
Indian diaspora in Southeast Africa
See also Bangladeshi diaspora, Indian diaspora, Nepalese diaspora, Pakistani diaspora, Afghan diaspora, and .
Ethnolinguistic diasporas
Other diasporas
Two (or possibly three) other people groups have ethnic and linguistic ties with the region:
Lom people (who speak a language both related to Indo-Aryan and Armenian)
See also
National demographics:
References
16. Vij SB, Webb ML. Culturally competent occupational therapy practice for South Asians in the United States of America: A narrative review. Indian J Occup Ther 2022;54:4-9.
External links