Synopsis Accounts on history of development of anthropology are few. Proportionately fewer are those that have been attempted by the scholars from India, even during the post-independence decades. Despite the fact that a few among them referred to the traditional literatures of India that had important anthropological bearings, they never found mention in the syllabus of anthropology followed by any of the universities over hear. As a result, anthropology remains an uneasy transplant, not to be able to reflect Indian society and culture in their true perspectives. The omission, as it appears, is not as much by any option as it is due to certain inherent compulsions. Why such compulsions and what are their roots? Foundations of Anthropology : India discusses in some detail how despite decolonisation, scholars in India failed to respond appropriately to the spirit of emancipation.