Natural Selection Intensity Analysis

Natural Selection Intensity among four Hindu Varna populations of Lucknow Disttict, Uttar Pradesh
Vibha Devi Bajpai and Dr. Udai Pratap Singh
Department of Anthropology, University of Lucknow, 226007, U.P. India
Abstract The selection intensity indices were calculated based one demographic information pertaining to fertility and mortality among the four Varnas of Lucknow population.The highest value of Crow’s index is observed in Kshartiya (0.494934) where as lowest in Brahmins (0.365809). Johnston and Kensinger index varies from 0.3866 among Brahmins to 0.5294 among Kshtiya. The total index of opportunity (Crow’s) is in the order Brahmin > Vaishya > Shudra > Kshtirya. However the mortality component is more in Kshtirya and Vaishyas reflecting
Imc is the index of total selection due to postnatal mortality, Pd is the proportion of deaths below 15 years of age, Ps is the proportion of children surviving from birth to reproductive age. If is the index of selection due to fertility component, Vf is the variance due to fertility and X is the mean number of live births per women who completed fertility. (N. Lakshmi, T. Venkateswara Rao, P. Veerraju, 2005).
Results and Discussion
The indices of intensity of selection and their components, based on the methods of Crow as well as Johnston and Kensinger are given in Table 1 and 2 respectively. Table 1 presents the mean number of live births is more in case of Kshatriya (3.5135) followed by Vaishya (3.3333), Brahmin (3.1967) and Shudras (2.8666). The proportion of prenatal deaths is highest in Kshatriya (0.0226) and least in Vaishyas (0.0105). Whereas the proportion of pre-reproductive deaths are highest in Kshatriya and least in Brahmins (Table