Census in British India refers to the census of India prior to independence which was conducted periodically from 1865 to 1941. The censuses were primarily concerned with administration and faced numerous problems in their … See more

The first modern census in the United Kingdom (of a much smaller population) had been in 1801, repeated every ten years thereafter, and … See more

Caste and religion still form the most significant social constructs in India and the former, in particular, has been influenced by the Raj census efforts. Although there were … See more

As with caste, recording age in the census amounted to a problematic attempt to impose Western values on the population. Most people in British India did not know their age anyway, … See more

Ram Bhagat points out that a demographic census is an exercise in the classification of a population and it is inherently constrained. For example, the questions required … See more

The significance of religion, as well as caste, was considerable. Hutton said in his census report for 1931 that
It is not in its devotional aspect that the census is concerned with religion.... [S]ocial conduct is much influenced by practices which … See more

The outcomes of the census exercise were sometimes startling. For example, the 1872 census in Bengal suggested that the population was considerably greater than had been believed. … See more