Palmar Dermatoglyphics of the Khatiks and Kumbhars of Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh Manjulika Gautam * and U.P. Singh ** Abstract This paper reports the findings of the palmar dermatoglyphic study conducted among the two lesser known Scheduled Castes of District Lucknow-the Khatiks and Kumbhars. The palmar dermatoglyphic traits analysed among the two populations are Main line Formula, endings of main lines D, C, B, A, Position of Axial triradius, angle atd, Main line Index, Palmar ridge Counts and patterns of the configurational areas. The most frequent main line formulae among Khatik and Kumbhar males and females is 11.9.7.5’ followed by 11.9.7.4. Termination of Main line D is most frequent at position 11 among both Khatiks and Kumbhars. Termination of main line C shows polymorphic nature of the line. Most frequent C line terminations among both the caste groups are type II higher among females. The termination of main line B is observed to be at 7 with higher frequencies among females of both groups. Line A terminates at position 5 in both the groups with higher frequencies among females. Main line index is observed to be high among both Khatiks and Kumbhars as 9.09 suggesting the transversality of the main lines. ∠atd is observed to be larger among both Khatik and Kumbhar females as compared to males; the range of ∠atd among males of both groups is 35.1-40 and 40.1-45 among females. Higher mean palmar ridge counts are observed among Khatik males and Kumbhar females. Khatiks have higher values of palmar ridge counts than Kumbhars. Palmar dermatoglyphic features among Khatiks and Kumbhars are found to be somewhat similar to each other. Both populations show affinities with Rastogis and Todas (Tharthars). KEYWORDS- Population variation, Palmar dermatoglyphics, Khatik, Kumbhar (Prajapati), Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh INTRODUCTION The branch of science which deals with the patterned traceries of fine ridges on fingers, palms, toes and soles is called “Dermatoglyphics”. These ridges begin to form at the foetal age of 10.5 mont hs are formed completely by the 24th week of gestation and remain unaffected from the inutero environment and developmental noise. (Alter, 1966) Being permanent, highly variable still quantifiable; the dermal ridges have proven to be of much significance in systematic population studies. (Cummins and Midlo, 1960) The minute carvings on the hands and feet have allured the human curiosity since ages as old as 618 AD from where the archaeological evidences have been discovered from the Tang Dynasty; but the systematic analysis began in 1823 when Joannes Evangelista Perkinje presented the thesis entitled * MANJULIKA GAUTAM, Junior Research Fellow and ** PROF. UDAI PRATAP SINGH are in Department of Anthropology, University of Lucknow, Lucknow.