UPSC Anthropology optional tips by Ashish Kumar.

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Name : Ashish kumar
UPSC CSE 2013 Rank : Rank 697
Optional Subject : Anthropology
Marks Scored : 244 (125+119)
Background : Post-graduate in Zoology from University of Delhi
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Why I chose Anthropology as an optional?

Im a post-graduate in Zoology from University of Delhi. Because of Biology background it become

easy to understand one very important and marks fetching portion of Anthropology called as
Physical/Biological Anthropology which incidentally also make-up about 25% of the syllabus. So
those candidates who have read Biology as a subject in graduation or those who are doctors can
certainly consider Anthropology as an optional, although many engineers are doing reasonably well.
Further, I have a bit of interest in reading and learning about tribal issues (as Im from Jharkhand
which has a substantial tribal population) and the issues pertaining to Indian society (as
Anthropology is close to Sociology but more scientific in approach). Finally, I feel a good
understanding of Anthropology helps in Essay paper.
Recommended books or sources of study materials

Printed notes from Vaid sir as base and built upon that wherever it is necessary. For that matter, any
notes can be taken, for example, Braintree, Srinivas, Reddy etc.
Basic recommended books:
Books by Nadeem Hasnain on Indian Anthropology and Tribal India.
Ember and Ember for general understanding of Anthropology.
Nath for Physical Anthropology.

For both paper 1 and 2, I made short and crisp notes on areas like Archaeology and hominid fossils
which are very probable areas of asking questions, and you must have conceptual clarity here.

The Physical Anthropology of paper 1 is marks fetching, therefore questions from this area must be
attempted in examination. Make short notes on each sub-topics of this area.Paper 2 has become
dynamic for the last 2 years so keep watch on the current happenings in newspapers which are
related to the topics in syllabus.
I also took help of internet for making short notes on various topics.Annual reports published in the
Ministry of Tribal Affairs and other governmental reports concerning with the welfare of SC, ST and
minorities should be looked upon once.
Role of coaching

I had taken coaching at Vaids ICS by N.K. Vaid. But coaching has a limited role to play.
Anthropology can be done without coaching too.
Real hard work and smart study has to be done by the aspirant.
Some portions of the Anthropology syllabus can be left untouched as probability of asking questions
from them is very less. This saves your precious time and energy.
One should do answer writing practice. Some guidance by any teacher or expert can be helpful.

Answer writing in Anthropology

All answers must have introduction and conclusion. These two things make your answer different
from others. Conclusions should be something contemporary or optimistic.
Questions in Archaeology should be answered in four parts:
Time period, Tools and technology
Regional variation
Cultural advancements
Social life of humans living at that time period
Questions in human fossils should be answered in four parts:
Meaning, time period, species
Anatomical features
Cultural developments
Position in evolutionary line
Insert any current developments such as governmental programs or incidents into your answers if
question has been asked from related topic from Anthropology syllabus. This will give you edge over
others. This applies especially for paper 2

With the change in pattern for Mains from Civil Services Exams, 2013, the choice of optional has
become most crucial. Though it is being propagated that General Studies - as it carries more
weightage now - will be the decider now, the fact is that most of the aspirants are on almost equal
footing in GS. Therefore, an optional short in syllabus, easy to grasp and express as well as scoring
should be the right choice.
Experience shows that the candidates already preparing or have appeared in Mains previously, with
two optionals, have more command in one of them, and therefore, are likely to retain it hence forth
too. But freshers face a lot of confusion. Newspaper advertisements by coaching institutes promoting
certain optionals without verifiable facts further complicate the matter for them. I, therefore, advice
them to visit the UPSC website (www.upsc.gov.in), look at various syllabi and previous results,
identify a few optionals, visit the institutes to directly talk to the experts in those optionals, meet some
experienced candidates and then finalize. Here, with-out malaise towards others, I suggest you
Anthropology, the subject close to my heart and which I have been teaching for the- list 33 years.
What is Anthropology
Literally speaking, anthropology is the scientific study of man. It studies social-cultural as well as
biological aspects of man in terms of evolution and variation. The students with background in
biological sciences, history and sociology are somewhat familiar with its subject matter. Because of it
being social science of scientific nature, its approach is similar to that of geography and psychology.
For the same reason many more engineers are inclined towards anthropology.
The Syllabus
The syllabus of Anthropology, in Employment News is placed along with Botany and seems double
that of Botany. But any student of Botany will tell you that Botany is at least three times that of
Anthropology. The syllabus can be put as follows :
Paper i -Part 1
(Social-Cultural Anthropology)
1. Introduction
2. Basic Concepts
3. Institutions
4. Culture & Thought
5. Cultural Evolution
6. Epidemiology
7. Communication Anthropology
8. Research Methodology
Paper-ii is much smaller
Paper ii -Part 1
1. Cultural Evolution in India
2. Indian Population
3. Bases of Indian Social System
4.Growth of Anthropology in India
5. Indian Village & Basic Concepts
The whole syllabus of both the Papers can be converted into about one hundred and twenty
questions. You can not do so with any other subject.

Anthropology, the TINA Factor

There is no alternative (TINA) to anthropology for success in civil services examinations of Centre as
well as states. For one, the syllabus is small and its revision accordingly take lesser time compared
to other subjects. The time thus saved can be used to strengthen GS and Essay. In 2008 syllabus of
almost all subjects was revised upward but Anthropology witnessed a cut of six major topics.
Besides, Anthropology is the only subject that has consistently maintained above 10% results all
through the last decade. In nutshell, you too can taste success through this most humanist discipline.
This, however, is not an invitation to join Vaid's ICS.

Recommen
1. Vaid : Social-Cultural Anthropology
2. B.M. Das : Physical Anthropology
3. NCERT : a) Indian Society
b) Social Change
4. D. K. Bhattacharya : An Outline of Indian Prehistory
5. M.N. Srinivas: Caste in Modern India & Other Essays
6. Hasnain : a) Tribal India
b) Indian Anthropology
7. Vaid : Who Cares for Tribal Development
- See more at: http://www.erewise.com/current-affairs/anthropology-the-rightchoice_art536007d30d016.html#.Vgq5b-yqqko