Letter 8: "How Different Races Were Formed" (In English) | Letters From a Father to His Daughter

In this letter, Jawaharlal Nehru explains how different human races were formed and how their physical characteristics, especially skin color, evolved over time due to environmental factors. He begins by discussing the progress made by Neolithic people, from whom modern races may have descended. Nehru points out that, despite the common classifications of races—white, yellow, brown, and black—it's hard to clearly divide people into these categories because of intermixing.

Nehru then explores how differences in appearance arose, using examples such as the fair-skinned Germans and the dark-skinned Africans. He attributes these differences primarily to climate and adaptation, with people in cold regions developing fair skin and those in hot regions developing dark skin. He draws an analogy between sun exposure and tanning, noting that continuous exposure over generations leads to darker complexions.

Nehru emphasizes that these differences in complexion are based on climate, not on a person’s value or worth. He discusses how even people of the same origin, like Kashmiris, can change their complexion over time due to environmental factors. Finally, Nehru touches on how, in India, the climate is the main reason for color differences across regions, though he acknowledges that the mixing of different races throughout history has also played a role.