[2] The Small Indian civet occurs in most of India, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, south and central China, and Taiwan.

[3] In 2008, a small Indian civet was recorded for the first time in Dachigam National Park at an elevation of 1,770 m (5,810 ft) in a riverine forest.

[5] In Kalakkad Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve, it was recorded foremost in grassland, riverine areas and sighted near a tea plantation during surveys in 2002.

[6] In India's Western Ghats, small Indian civets were observed in Anamalai and Kalakkad Mundanthurai Tiger Reserves, and in Parambikulam and Chinnar Wildlife Sanctuaries during surveys in 2008.

[13] In Cambodia's Cardamom Mountains, small Indian civets were recorded in deciduous dipterocarp forests, often close to water bodies and in marshes during surveys conducted between 2000 and 2009.

[15][16] In China's Guangxi, Guangdong and Hainan provinces, it was recorded in subtropical forest patches during interview and camera-trapping surveys carried out between 1997 and 2005.

[23] The small Indian civets feed on rats, mice, birds, snakes, fruit, roots and carrion.

[2] Captive small Indian civets in Kerala were observed to mate in March to May and October to December.

[9] Civetta indica was the scientific name given to the species by Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire in 1803 when he described a small Indian civet skin from India in the collection of the French Museum d'Histoire Naturelle.

[26] Viverricula was the generic name introduced by Brian Houghton Hodgson in 1838 when he described new mammal genera and species collected in Nepal.

[27] In the 19th and 20th centuries, the following scientific names were proposed: Pocock subordinated them all as subspecies to Viverricula indica when he reviewed civet skins and skulls in the collection of the Natural History Museum, London.

[37] The following subspecies were considered valid taxa as of 2005:[38] A phylogenetic study showed that the small Indian civet is closely related to the genera Civettictis and Viverra.