Herbert Hope Risley
British ethnographer and colonial administrator · Academics · Lived 1851 to 1911 · aged 60
Sir Herbert Hope Risley was a British ethnographer and colonial administrator, a member of the Indian Civil Service who conducted extensive studies on the tribes and castes of the Bengal Presidency.
Herbert Hope Risley is read about 31 times a day, in 5 languages.
A typical day, 30 days to 14 June 2026
The middle day of the days counted, so one week of news cannot move it. The line under it is the last 60 days, one point a day.
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Photos 3
c. 1907
The nasal index: a method of classifying ethnicity based on the ratio of the breadth of a nose to its height, Developed by Paul Topinard. "Narrow" noses (Types 1-5) indicate European origin; "medium" noses (Type 6) are the "yellow races"; and "broad" are either African (Type 7) or Melanesian and Australian aboriginal (Type 8).Awards
About this person
He is notable for the formal identification of the centuries old established caste system of the entire Hindu population of British India in the 1901 census, of which he was in charge. As an exponent of scientific racism, he used anthropometric data to divide Indians into seven races.
