As India prepares to conduct the mammoth 2027 Census, it is worth noting that the country successfully undertook this massive exercise even under the British Raj. Despite the absence of digital tools and the fact that traditional communication was, at best, rudimentary, India managed to execute its first census with remarkable success.
The 1881 Census
According to the People’s Archive of Rural India (PARI), the Report on the Census of British India taken on February 17, 1881 represents the first truly synchronous enumeration of the Indian population. It provides a definitive statistical foundation for the British Indian Empire.
Covering the vast majority of the subcontinent, excluding only Kashmir and French and Portuguese enclaves, the census recorded a total population of 253,891,821 people. This demographic snapshot revealed a male-dominated population of roughly 129.9 million males to 123.9 million females. The average population density was 184 persons per square mile. However, the actual figures on the ground varied on the ground with Bengal being densely populated while the deserts of Rajputana were sparsely populated.
The methodology of the 1881 Census attempted to capture a precise snapshot of the population at a single moment in time to prevent double-counting. The process was executed in two distinct phases – a preliminary enumeration conducted weeks in advance to create a draft record of habitual residents, followed by a final, rapid verification on the night of February 17, 1881.
Despite its massive scale, on this night, enumerators revisited every household to account for births, deaths and travellers to ensure the data reflected the exact state of the empire at that hour. This massive operation was supported by the Census Act of 1880, which provided the legal mandate for officials to collect personal information while offering a guarantee of secrecy to help pacify a suspicious public.
The 1881 report is particularly noted for its attempt to scientifically classify the social and economic structures of rural and urban India. According to the archive, the census utilised a 12-column “Census Schedule” that introduced standardised inquiries into marital status, mother tongue and literacy.
The data highlighted a profound educational divide, with an overall literacy rate of just 6.3% and a stark gender gap where less than 0.5% of females were recorded as able to read and write.
Religiously, the census quantified a population that was 74.3% Hindu (188.7 million) and 19.7% Muslim (50.1 million), while also attempting to catalogue the complex web of thousands of castes and sects.
Economically, the report said that over 70% of the population relied directly on agriculture for their “means of subsistence.” The report also provided a mapping of public health through its count of “infirmities,” recording over 526,000 blind persons, 197,000 deaf-mutes, 131,000 lepers and 81,000 persons of unsound mind.
The archive highlights that this administrative feat faced immense cultural and logistical challenges. The primary obstacle was widespread public suspicion. Many thought it was an exercise to raise more taxes or conduct or forced labour. Another rumour was that people thought the government was identifying men for military conscription for the Afghan War.
Conducting such an exercise in the rural parts was an impossible feat to accomplish as infrastructure was either non-existent or bare minimum. Then there were social and linguistic barriers to further complicate matters.
In contrast to the manual colonial records, the Census of India 2027, the first decadal exercise in 16 years, marks a paradigmatic shift toward a fully digital, real-time methodology.
As per a notification issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs on January 22, 2026, this will be the country’s first digital census utilising mobile applications on Android and iOS platforms to be deployed by approximately 30 lakh enumerators.
A major methodological evolution is the introduction of self-enumeration, allowing citizens to submit their own details through a dedicated portal during a 15-day window before house-to-house visits begin. This modern exercise is structured in two phases – the Houselisting and Housing Census, scheduled between April 1 and September 30, 2026, followed by the Population Enumeration in February 2027.
While the 1881 Census focused on physical “infirmities” like blindness and leprosy to map health, the 2027 questionnaire reflects 21st-century living standards. The current schedule includes 33 notified parameters for Phase I, capturing data on internet connectivity, laptop or smartphone ownership and the specific type of cereal consumed in the household.
A significant return to historical roots is the inclusion of a comprehensive caste count for all communities—not just Scheduled Castes and Tribes—a practice that was a hallmark of the 1881-1931 colonial censuses but had been largely excluded post-Independence.
Unlike the 19th-century reliance on village headmen and manual tallies, the 2027 Census will use advanced features like GPS tagging and geofencing to ensure enumerators are physically present at the locations they record.
The purpose of the data has also shifted.
While 1881 served to make a colony “legible” for imperial taxation and control, the 2027 data will provide the foundational evidence for delimitation and the implementation of the Women’s Reservation Bill. By utilising digital entry, the government expects to process data much faster than the years-long manual compilation required for the three volumes of the 1881 report.
