The languages of northern India are Indo-European, related to the languages of Iran and Europe. This, plus the caste system and certain other details of ancient Indian society, have long led European scholars to imagine an invasion of India by Indo-European or Aryans around 3000 years ago. However, Indian nationalists hate this notion. They want Indian civilization to be wholly native-grown, and they want all Indians to more closely related to each other than they are to any outside growth. They especially hate the notion that the caste system is the remnant of an ancient conquest, since in their view it was an organic product of Indian religion.Now a genetic study of the Indian population by an international Indian and American team supports the invasion hypothesis:
The new research reveals that nearly all Indians carry genomic contributions from two distinct ancestral populations. Following this ancient mixture, many groups experienced periods of genetic isolation from each other for thousands of years. . . .All current genetic research should carry the label, "interesting if true," but this seems like a good study, and it confirms what I think is the obvious interpretation of Indian history.
These genomic analyses revealed two ancestral populations. "Different Indian groups have inherited forty to eighty percent of their ancestry from a population that we call the Ancestral North Indians who are related to western Eurasians, and the rest from the Ancestral South Indians, who are not related to any group outside India," said co-author David Reich.
6 comments:
You read that study in haste dear friend.
The study affirms the contrary!
The ANI(Ancestral North Indians) can be traced back to 40,000 years ago.
Aryan invasion myth says that the invasion(apologists call it migration/tourism) took place 4000 years ago
also, the researchers are keen to establish the direction of that migration 40000 years ago.
Ok, what I read first about this study said nothing about the timing of the arrival of "ancestral north Indians." And so far as I can tell the Nature piece says nothing definitive:
"The new study was not designed to explore how far back in time the distinct populations arrived, or when they began to mix."
The 40,000 - 45,000 year figure seems to come from one of the authors, Kumarasamy Thangaraj. since the study does not involve any comparison of ancestral north indians with, say, Iranians, I don't know how one could arrive at such a number.
And this datum seems to me to support the traditional Aryan invasion hypothesis:
"We analyse 25 diverse groups in India to provide strong evidence for two ancient populations, genetically divergent, that are ancestral to most Indians today. One, the 'Ancestral North Indians' (ANI), is genetically close to Middle Easterners, Central Asians, and Europeans, whereas the other, the 'Ancestral South Indians' (ASI), is as distinct from ANI and East Asians as they are from each other. By introducing methods that can estimate ancestry without accurate ancestral populations, we show that ANI ancestry ranges from 39–71% in most Indian groups, and is higher in traditionally upper caste and Indo-European speakers."
dear john.......
i appriciate your genetic study and ancestral studies of ASI and ANI is a really factual study..
but in india caste system has been prevalent since ages and even pre historic times, which makes endogamy(matrimony in caste, rather sub caste) a strong and mandatory practice till date. now if you look at this system, there has to be a minimum cross. so even if your genetic ratios are correct you can not date back the original 'invasion', as you say, on your european or american model so it has to be a long before what you interpreted.
and if you read the history of indus valley civilisation you will understand that both these races coexisted in india and are natively indian, and one thing more, research has shown that the the native race of indus valley civilisation had same genetic background of that of present inhabitants of those areas. please correct me if i am wrong and discuss........... i m not a history student, i am a medical student
dear john.......
i appriciate your genetic study and ancestral studies of ASI and ANI is a really factual study..
but in india caste system has been prevalent since ages and even pre historic times, which makes endogamy(matrimony in caste, rather sub caste) a strong and mandatory practice till date. now if you look at this system, there has to be a minimum cross. so even if your genetic ratios are correct you can not date back the original 'invasion', as you say, on your european or american model so it has to be a long before what you interpreted.
and if you read the history of indus valley civilisation you will understand that both these races coexisted in india and are natively indian, and one thing more, research has shown that the the native race of indus valley civilisation had same genetic background of that of present inhabitants of those areas. please correct me if i am wrong and discuss........... i m not a history student, i am a medical student
I have been talking this over with some knowledgeable friends, and I have modified my understanding of the issues. I think that the two populations have remained distinct, with the northern Indian element maintaining higher social status, because of continued gene flows between India and central Asia. Waves of invaders and peaceful immigrants have been the norm in historic times, so why not in prehistoric times as well? The invaders made alliances with the people most like themselves in language and appearance, helping to maintain the distinction and dominance of the northern Indian population.
thanx for ur comment........
but dont you think if these invaders who have actually had an caucasian or rather european background were culturally so different from their native race that none of their sagas even vedas have a single refrence of their homeland.
The Vedas esp. Rig Veda has mainly hymns which emphasise on better agricultural yeild rather than wars & battles, so how is it they could be barbaric invaders rather than farmers and noble people; which arya means.
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