HISTORY OF CENSUS
There are evidences of conducting Census in several countries in ancient
times. But as the purpose of Census
in those days were for recruitment to the army
or for taxation it was not exhaustive
and elaborate as in modem times. Indications
are there of having conducted Census as
early as 3000 years BC in parts of Babylon,
China and Egypt. The importance of Census
has been mentioned in the Arthashastra
by Chanakya and the Bible.
Modem system of Census taking started in the 18th Century. The first such
Census was conducted in Sweden in 1749.
Decenmal Census started in 1790 in the
United States of America and in 1801 in
India is one of the few countries which had an unbroken series of
decennial Censuses spanning overa a hundred
years. India's history of conducting
Census dates back to 1865-75 when a systematic
Census was taken. The first
synchronous Census was taken in 1881 in
India and thereafter Census has been taken
every ten years without break.
After Independence, Census is conducted in India under the Census Act of
The present Census of 2001 is the fourteenth
in the regular series and the sixth
afterIndependence. It has the distinction
of being the first Census of the millennium
and twenty first century. It is also the
first census to be held after India crossed
the one billion mark as per population
More info on the History of Census is available on the Internet.
See British Census of India - Home page
for a fascinating account of 1891 Census of India and a memo on 1871 Census.
based on official hand outs.