Contribution of L. K. Ananthakrishna Iyer in Anthropology. (Answer in 150 words)

- Contribution of L. K. Ananthakrishna Iyer in Anthropology. (Answer in 150 words)
Introduction
L. K. Ananthakrishna Iyer is commonly called the father of Indian anthropology, less for theory than for being the first Indian to conduct systematic ethnographic survey.

Body
1. The surveys: a Cochin college teacher deputed by the Diwan in 1902 to survey the state ethnographically, he extended the work to Travancore and later to Mysore, covering the Kadar, the Nayar and Namboodiri, the Izhava, the matrilineal marumakkathayam system, and the Cochin Jews and Syrian Christians.
2. The writings and method: The Cochin Tribes and Castes, The Travancore Tribes and Castes and, with Nanjundayya, The Mysore Tribes and Castes. His method was the colonial survey format — origin, occupation, marriage, inheritance and religion described community by community, with anthropometry in the manner of Thurston.
3. Teaching and institutions: he began anthropology teaching at Calcutta University from 1920, the first such department in India, and was honoured by the Royal Anthropological Institute.

Conclusion
The encyclopaedic detail remains a source, but the racial and caste-listing frame must be discounted. He was an insider describing his own society within a colonial format.