The Anthropological Survey of India (AnSI) is a premier government research institution and a subordinate office under the Ministry of Culture, Government of India. It is a unique governmental entity dedicated to advancing anthropological studies on India's vast bio-cultural diversity, encompassing social, cultural, physical, and biological dimensions of human populations.
AnSI was established on December 1, 1945, in Varanasi (then Benares). Its origin traces back to the Anthropology Section of the Indian Museum, which had been part of the Zoological Survey of India since 1916. The institution was created to systematically document India's immense ethnic, tribal, and bio-cultural diversity, promoting scientific knowledge for national welfare and tribal development in the post-independence era. Its headquarters shifted to Kolkata in 1948.
AnSI works by employing a holistic, multidisciplinary approach, conducting research in physical, social-cultural, and linguistic anthropology. Its key functions include extensive fieldwork, bio-anthropological studies on population diversity, documentation of endangered communities and cultures, and the maintenance of anthropological museums. A major mechanism for its work was the landmark "People of India" project (1985–1992), which documented 4,635 communities across the country.
AnSI connects to other scientific survey institutions like the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), the Zoological Survey of India, and the Botanical Survey of India. A recent development involves a strengthening of collaboration with the ASI through a signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). Under this MoU, the ASI formally handed over human skeletal remains excavated from the Rakhigarhi site in Haryana to AnSI for detailed scientific investigation, particularly for ancient DNA analysis. This transfer expands AnSI's research capabilities, while its core mandate as a research body under the Ministry of Culture remains the same.