Note: There a total of 3 blog posts on Anthropology. This first article primarily talks about my book list and the basic approach I followed. The second and third articles deal with topic wise detailed plan for Paper I and II respectively.
Marksheet
Book List
These are the sources I referred to for my Anthropology optional. There is no need to read these books from end to end. You must go topic wise as per the syllabus and read these books to get a good grip over the subject. Apart from these, use online sources and newspapers to enrich your knowledge and answer content.
Paper I
- Braintree material
- Physical Anthropology – P Nath
- Anthropology Simplified – Vivek Bhasme (very good source for diagrams and answer structuring)
- Anthropology – Ember and Ember
Paper II
- Indian Anthropology -Nadeem Hasnain
- Tribal India – Nadeem Hasnain
- Anthropology Simplified- Vivek Bhasme
- The Tribal Culture of India – LP Vidyarthi
- Xaxa Report
- January 2014 edition of Yojana- Tribal and Marginalized Communities
Note on diagrams and answer writing
While preparing for CSE 2017, because of my hectic work schedule I was hard pressed to just finish the syllabus in the limited time I had. Because of this time crunch, I could neither make any topic-wise notes nor opt for any test series. I learnt how to write good answers from the book Anthropology Simplified by Vivek Bhasme. Most of the diagrams I practised too were from this book.
Online Resources for Paper I and II
- Khan Academy – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gUY5NoX1Lk
- Anthropological Theories: http://anthropology.ua.edu/cultures/cultures.php
- Genetics: http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/
- Anthropological Survey of India: https://ansi.gov.in/
- Ministry of Tribal Affairs: https://tribal.nic.in/
- Tribal faces of India- https://tribal.nic.in/DivisionsFiles/tribalFaces.pdf
- Govt. schemes and tribal related news reported in newspapers
- Diagrams related to anthropology: I practised many diagrams from the notes of Kirthi Chekuri (AIR 14, CSE 2015) published in this Insights article
- Physical Anthropology slides
Books for general reading
The following books have absolutely no bearing on Anthropology optional preparation. But for a curious student of this subject, these books are incredibly fascinating to read. Much ahead of me choosing Anthropology as my optional, it’s these books that got me deeply interested in the fields of evolutionary biology and genetics. Pick them up in your leisure time and I hope you enjoy reading them as much as I did.
- Sapiens – Yuval Noah Harari
- The Selfish Gene- Richard Dawkins
- The Blind Watchmaker- Richard Dawkins
- The Gene- Siddhartha Mukherjee
Anthropologist Jane Goodall with our Chimp cousin. This NatGeo film on her life is fantastic. Image credit: www.neverapart.com
Basic Plan
While you refer to the aforementioned booklist, these are some of the tips you should keep in mind.
- If you are a complete beginner in Anthropology, your focus must be on gaining conceptual clarity and not on quickly completing the syllabus. Always remember that on the final day, it’s your clear understanding of the subject that lets you write good answers.
- In the booklist I mentioned, there’s no need to read every book from cover to cover. When you are reading from a book, always have the relevant syllabus chapter/ topic and previous years’ questions in mind. They will help you to stay focussed and will give you an idea of how much to study from each book.
- For absolute beginners, Ember and Ember is a great book to start with. When I began preparing for Anthro in Jan 2017, I started with this book. I loved it so much that I read it cover to cover, even though such detailed reading is not at all needed from the exam point of view.
- If you are making notes, they must be rich and comprehensive in content. For this, start with one standard core book, make notes from it and then add relevant content from other books. I’ve dealt with this in detail in my subsequent posts to this article.
- For both the papers, wherever relevant, quoting examples and illustrating with diagrams is absolutely pivotal. Paper I must have tribes names from the rest of the world. Ember and Ember is rich resource for many such examples but the pity is that there’s no way to memorise them except by rote. Collect such examples in an A4 sheet and revise over and over.
- Attempt as many Physical Anthropology questions as possible. They are largely static with immense scope for diagrams. You shouldn’t go wrong on those.
- Use internet and YouTube extensively for understanding Physical Anthropology concepts (especially Genetics). You can find very good explainer videos and documentaries. In your answers, wherever relevant, you can also write about the latest findings in the field. For example, in a topic like genetic inheritance, briefly mention about current research in epigenome, DNA methylation and how it affects gene expression.
- Answer like a specialist. Definitions, introductions, criticisms must be scholarly. That is, you must mention Anthropologists’ name, their work (year of publication too, if you can), its criticism by other thinkers. Examples: a. Bronislaw Malinowski in his work “Argonauts of the Western Pacific (1922)” describes the importance of Kula Ring in the economic systems of Trobriand Islanders b. Franz Boas in his article “The Limitation of the Comparative Method of Anthropology (1896)” criticized the evolutionary approach and laid the foundations of Historical Particularism.
- For a particular concept, apart from the main thinker, try and quote works of other Anthropologists as well. For example: In Tribe-Caste Continuum of Paper II, everyone writes about Bailey, but if you can also substantiate your answer with works of Surajit Sinha on Maria Gonds, this will give your answer an edge.
- Use internet and newspapers to collect good case studies to illustrate Tribal problems. Cram latest statistics pertaining to them. A thorough reading of Xaxa report is an absolute must for Tribal related portions of the syllabus.
- Keep tabs on the latest news pertaining to Anthropology. It can be a new fossil discovery, launch of a new govt scheme for PVTGs, or a new finding in genetic research etc. When you read papers, have an eye out for such news and collect them in a separate notebook so that you can revise them before the exam.
- Apart from reading books, dedicate adequate time to practise diagrams and label them correctly. Consistent practice helps you draw fast and draw neat.
Anthropology is a terrific subject to learn. If you put your heart into it, you can easily ace this optional. My best wishes.
Note: My book, Fundamentals of Essay and Answer Writing is an Amazon bestseller. Since its release, the book helped countless candidates master the art of crafting exceptional essays and answers and elevate their performance in the UPSC Mains Exam. You can know about the book here.
The link for 3rd part is opening the 1st page only.
I’ve updated.
Hello Sir,
Congratulations on your achievement.
I would like to know, can a non science student opt for anthropology as an optional?
Considering, I do have some interest in this subject.
Yes, anyone with an interest in the subject can take it up.
Sir book list for anthropology ???
Thank you!so much our excellency ANUDEEP sir for sharing this information with us ,hopefully we wish your guidence will stay everlasting..
which edition of Physical anthropology P Nath you followed?
The latest.
Thanky you sir , can I ask for your anthropology notes ,plZ
Thank you so much Anudeep anna for sharing the valuable information.
Can you please tell me where did u find the braintree material. i tried searching in net but couldn’t find any.
I bought it at Vikas book store in Ashok Nagar, Hyderabad
You can buy the material from amazon too. I did it. The print is good.
https://www.amazon.in/gp/product/B07CMWN65J/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Thank you so much sir!!…. I have anthropology as optional….. I’ve completed coaching 5 months ago …. now I’m confused about should I join test series and prepare or should I first study and then join test series…… thank you in advance for your input!!
If you had read the entire syllabus at least once, you can join a test series.
How you managed without test series , sir
Sir I did coaching for paper 2 anrhro last year should take coaching this year or after prelims plss help me out am really confused.
Sir, I am going to choose Botany as optional but I am not getting right guidance like this one. I have googled about toppers but not getting it. Please suggest another blog like this for Botany.
Thank you!
I’m really sorry, I have no one in my close circle who cleared CSE with Botany.
Congratulations Anudeep 🙂
your article was quite interesting and covered a lot of my doubts \ questions, esp where should i start reading from.
This will be my first attempt. I just started preparation without coaching. so, i don’t really know about how good are coaching materials. I am assuming they would cover everything in the syllabus as they are specifically designed for UPSC. A lot of toppers refer to various institutes coaching material
Why would one need different coaching materials [Various Books are fine but materials!!]
So, can you please let me know if its just to clear concepts or for case studies or is there any other reason? i want to buy Brain tree material
i am a science student fascinated by Anthropology. Still thought Pub ad will help me [without really looking at anthro.. Was only driven by which optional will help me cover considerable mains syllabus]
i even bought all the pub ad books :-D. could not figure out what was bothering me after reading
a little.
Your blog answered what was putting me off about pub ad
Hi Anudeep,
I read your other articles on Anthropology. Your articles are amazing. Simple and detailed coverage. I wonder how long you took 🙂 thank you very much.
I have a few more questions today.
1. Did you buy the brain tree material from Amazon? They don’t have it on their website [which is unlikely though]
2. Brain tree is a coaching material – Anthropology simplified is a “For UPSC in Q & A format”. From you articles what i understood is Brain tree is for concepts in paper II. Anthropology Simplified is for diagrams in Paper I and a few concepts in paper II. please correct me if there is more to it.
3. i was always a text book reader, no question banks – that’s the reason behind these similar kind of questions. – Do you suggest reading relevant topics from a book and building on it from other books during second revision\ answer writing Or Read each topic from all the books – make your own notes and revise!!
Sir I have given some anthropology tests but not able to decipher issues in my answer writing though the content is fine… How did you improve upon it by yourself ?
Congratulations sir, as a graduate in medical science but no idea of anthropology at all… Do I hav the time to manage it if I take it as an optional for the 2019 exams?
Sir, may I know why did you want to become an IAS officer? Which inspired you to work as so..?
Hi sir,,,
What should be the order ( section-wise) for traversing through the whole syllabus ?
Especially for Paper-1 where UPSC mandated syllabus has Physical anthropology split in silos sec.1.4-1.7 & 9.1-12….is it ok to read similar sections at one go ?
Hello Sir.
I am doing my Master;s in Zoology but still find it enormous to complete. I am thinking of switching to Anthropology for my maiden attempt in 2020, because of slight overlap with Zoology (evolution, genetics, etc.) and also because of my genuine interest in the subject.. Can you please tell me if it is able to completely and conceptually understand this subject with only self study? I can manage 4 hours per day for optional, how much time will it take to complete the syllabus?
Thanks. 🙂
Yes, you can manage the entire subject on your own.
Thanks Anudeep. Do you think it is feasible for a law grad (with humanities in 10+2) to take up anthropology as an optional? I want to know the extent of “sciencey” i.e. biology knowledge required, and can keeping an open mind and regular effort make up for the (thus far) lack of it? Thanks!
Pick up Ember and Ember and read it for a week. You will be able to tell if you like the subject and whether you can take it up as optional.
Anthropology need only absolute basics in biology. You need not fear it. In fact vast portion of the subject has little to do with biology. So do the exercise I suggested for a week. If your gut feeling says you can do it, then go ahead.
Sir, Can you please share a link for Ember and Ember book in Amazon or flipkart I can’t get that book..
sir any coaching classes for anthropology you please suggest me sir..
i am confused which one to join..
some is saying vijetha others saying sapiens.. some saying vaid sir..???
Have you joined Vijetha ? If yes then whats your review ? I am also thinking to join .
Thanks
TQ bro I have texted u abt this so many time but I didn’t get replay from so I quit texting u but thanks for all information abt ALLL abt exam TQ TQ
Sir, don’t think me as wrong. If u can do, please give the syllabus micro topics. Thank you Sir
sir,u mentioned about standard core book for note making… kindly mention which book did u have as the core one ??
Sir ,
As someone who cannot afford coaching and preparing on own in this subject,how should one approach the answer writing part …. When and how?
Thanks.
Hi Christy,
You can go for Mrunal.org or Learning Space … they are good..
Sir I heard during UPSC preparation guidance play major role. What type of guidance an aspirant should have?Guide the fellow aspirants..HAPPY TEACHER’S DAY SIR. .
Thank you soooooooooo much Sir .
We are really grateful to find such an Industrious and guiding IAS like you….
…. Keep guiding your Juniors sir …..
You are an inspiration and an idol for us
THANK YOU SIR FOR SUCH GOOD INSIGHT
bro should i go with ember and ember 14E or 12E ?
12e is available in India. 14e hasn’t yet been published for the Indian subcontinent, if you can get it from amazon.com with the expensive shipping then do that. But it’s not necessary, e&e 12e is good enough as a primer and explainer. A few new discoveries or theories are lacking which you will anyway study from other books on this booklist.
thanks a lot bro 😀 ill do that.
Sir can you please upload your anthropology notes too for both paper 1 and paper 2. So that i can get idea how to prepare notes for anthro just like you polity notes.
sir ,how to prepare paper 2 of anthropolgy..details plz.
Hi Sir,
Im taking coaching for anthropology, im pretty clear about subject and attending classes regularly, after class can i directly study from Anthropology Simplified through question and answers or do i need to study first P Nath and brain tree material then Simplified Anthropology ? Im confused …can you please clarify me on this …thank you