Genetics exposes yet again, what has been known for some time now. That the Aryan invasion/migration theory[1] is at best a questionable hypothesis and at worst a consummate mendacity. In the past, an article was published in this blog which emphatically proved[2] that modern genetics goes against the colonial concoction of the Aryan invasion theory and its later euphemistic version the Aryan migration theory[3]. Recently, Open Magazine carried a series of articles exploring the genetic origins of Indians[4][5][6][7][8][9][10], where results and inferences presented refute the Aryan invasion/migration theory.
To get a clearer picture of our origins, Open sent DNA samples of a couple of celebrities, John Abraham and Baichung Bhutia, alongwith those of four magazine staffers to the National Geographic Deep Ancestry Project. Based on the genetic markers thus identified and other research conducted by scientists, we present a plausible map of our origins.
To interprete and present their results they collaborated with Ramasamy Pitchappan, principal investigator, India, of the National Geographic Project (NGP), and a leading Indian geneticist, RNK Bamezai, director of the National Centre of Applied Human Genetics (NCAHG) at Jawaharlal Nehru University and vice-chancellor of Jammu University.
Excerpts from the results are provided here. Emphasis added.
In fact, much of the genetic evidence seems to suggest a South Asian origin for the F haplogroup. This haplogroup and its lines of descent account for perhaps 90 per cent of the male population in the world. Contrary to received wisdom, this would imply that much of the globe outside Africa was settled by outward migrations from South Asia dating back to over 50,000 years ago. Certainly, the distant origins of the modern European population seem to lie in South Asia, emphasising the crucial importance of this region in understanding the peopling of the globe.
…the antiquity of both the L and H haplogroups in India suggests that a majority of the Indian male population can trace its presence in the Subcontinent back at least 20,000 years if not earlier.
Geneticist Bamezai says,
…I feel R1a1 originated here and contributed to Central Asia rather than the other way around.
A research paper published by Bamezai, et. al in the Journal of Human Genetics in 2009, further says,
Many major rival models of the origin of the Hindu caste system co-exist despite extensive studies, each with associated genetic evidences. One of the major factors that has still kept the origin of the Indian caste system obscure is the unresolved question of the origin of Y-haplogroup R1a1, at times associated with a male-mediated major genetic influx from Central Asia or Eurasia, which has contributed to the higher castes in India. Y-haplogroup R1a1 has a widespread distribution and high frequency across Eurasia, Central Asia and the Indian subcontinent… To resolve these issues, we screened 621 Y-chromosomes (of Brahmins occupying the upper-most caste position and schedule castes/tribals occupying the lower-most positions)… for conclusions. A peculiar observation of the highest frequency (up to 72.22%) of Y-haplogroup R1a1 in Brahmins hinted at its presence as a founder lineage for this caste group. Further, observation of R1a1 in different tribal population groups, existence of Y-haplogroup R1a in ancestors, and extended phylogenetic analyses of the pooled dataset of 530 Indians, 224 Pakistanis and 276 Central Asians and Eurasians bearing the R1a1 haplogroup supported the autochthonous [indigenous] origin of R1a1 lineage in India and a tribal link to Indian Brahmins.
Interestingly, Bamazai, et. al. 2009 agrees with the authors of Reich, et. al. 2009[11][12] who have said that as per genetic studies, castes grew directly out of tribe-like organizations during the formation of the Indian society. Reich at. al 2009 further say that current Indian society is an admixture of groups of human settlement in the Indian sub-continent which can be traced back from 65,000 to 40,000 years.
The Open Magazine genetics tests results further state,
…the evidence suggests is that the origins of Hartosh’s R1a1 haplogroup lie in India. Thus, a large part of Central Asia, Southern Russia, Ukraine onwards to the Czech Republic may well be populated by a 15,000-year-old migration from India.
…the proportion of R1a1 in some Brahmin groups such as those of West Bengal is as high as 72 per cent. This indicates that the origins of Brahmins as a caste may well lie in the R1a1 haplogroup. But since the antiquity of the Ra1a haplogroup in tribals such as Central India’s Sahariyas is older than it is among Brahmins, it is reasonable to believe that Brahmins may not be entrants from outside but may have originated as a caste from the tribal population of this country.
The results of the Haplogroup R1A1 tests[13] and the analysis of geneticists further reinforce the completely autochthonous origin and antiquity of the Indian population.
The diversity and antiquity of Haplogroup R1a1 in India suggests its origins lie in South Asia. The haplogroup has been found in substantial numbers among some tribes such as the Sahariyas of Central India and the Chenchus of Andhra where its age seems to be well over 15,000 years. This allows for just one possibility, a migration out of India to Southern Russia onward to the Czech Republic and even Scandinavia.
In summary, the crux of the resuts and analysis point to
- the origins of Indian subcontinental population being autochthonous, i.e., in the Indian subcontinent itself.
- the antiquity of Indian subcontinental population going back to around 50,000 years, and perhaps even more.
- Indian subcontinent being the origin of most of the current non-African population of the world.
- migration of population from Indian subcontinent to Central Asia, Southern Russia, etc.
These results are in agreement with the prevalent genetics research and inferences of geneticists previously presented in this blog[14]. In the face of incontrovertible archeological evidence contrary to any Aryan invasion, many “scholars” have moved to a euphemistic Aryan migration theory. In fact some even propound a ridiculous Aryan trickle-in theory. However, as genetics research of the last few years have shown, the migration that could have occurred is a migration out of the Indian subcontinent.
With genetics research only getting better and more cutting age, it is a matter of time before the Aryan invasion-turned-migration-turning-trickle-in theory is consigned to the funereal pyre of mendacious tripe. So far this theory has been kept alive only through the efforts of the Marxist history engineers of India and their Eurocentric associates in the west. The Indian Marxist history engineers have colored textbooks with their ideological biases to propound the Aryan invasion/migration theory for decades. Even though there exists no historical or archeological evidence for any invasion or migration of so-called Aryans into the Indian subcontinent. With genetics research vindicating this truth, one hopes, sooner rather than later, textbooks will be cleansed of Marxist-Eurocentric ideological tripe and Indian history is freed from the clutches of the professional Aryanists.
ENDNOTES
[1] ^ (tattvaanveShaNam. “Exploring the Aryan Myth”. June 15, 2010)
[2] ^ using results of genetics research and inferences, observations of geneticists.
[3] ^ (tattvaanveShaNam. “Genetics and the Aryan myth”. June 15, 2010)
[4] ^ (Bal. The Story of Our Origins. May 28, 2011)
[5] ^ (“The Science of DNA Testing”. Open Magazine. May 28, 2011)
[6] ^ (“Haplogroup M”. Open Magazine. May 28, 2011)
[7] ^ (“Haplogroup H”. Open Magazine. May 28, 2011)
[8] ^ (“Haplogroup L”. Open Magazine. May 28, 2011)
[9] ^ (“Haplogroup R1A1”. Open Magazine. May 28, 2011)
[10] ^ (“Haplogroup D”. Open Magazine. May 28, 2011)
[11] ^ (Reich et al. Print. 2009)
[12] ^ (Times News Network. Aryan-Dravidian divide a myth: Study. Sep 25, 2009)
[13] ^ (“Haplogroup R1A1”. Open Magazine. May 28, 2011)
[14] ^ (tattvaanveShaNam. “Genetics and the Aryan debate”. June 15, 2010)
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Bal, Hartosh Singh. May 28, 2011. “The Story of Our Origins.” Open Magazine. http://www.openthemagazine.com/article/living/the-story-of-our-origins (Accessed May 29, 2011).
“Haplogroup D.” May 28, 2011. Open Magazine. http://www.openthemagazine.com/article/living/haplogroup-d (Accessed May 29, 2011).
“Haplogroup H.” May 28, 2011. Open Magazine. http://www.openthemagazine.com/article/living/haplogroup-h (Accessed May 29, 2011).
“Haplogroup L.” May 28, 2011. Open Magazine. http://www.openthemagazine.com/article/living/haplogroup-l (Accessed May 29, 2011).
“Haplogroup M.” May 28, 2011. Open Magazine. http://www.openthemagazine.com/article/living/haplogroup-m (Accessed May 29, 2011).
“Haplogroup R1A1.” May 28, 2011. Open Magazine. http://www.openthemagazine.com/article/living/haplogroup-r1a1 (Accessed May 29, 2011).
Reich, David et al. print. “Reconstructing Indian population history.” Nature 461(7263): 489-494. http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nature08365.
tattvaanveShaNam. June 15, 2010. “Genetics and the Aryan debate.” http://www.tattvaanveshanam.org/2010/06/15/genetics-and-the-aryan-myth/ (Accessed June 20, 2010).
tattvaanveShaNam. June 15, 2010. “Exploring the Aryan myth.” http://www.tattvaanveshanam.org/2010/06/15/exploring-the-aryan-myth/ (Accessed June 20, 2010).
“The Science of DNA Testing.” 2011. Open Magazine. http://www.openthemagazine.com/article/living/the-science-of-dna-testing (Accessed May 29, 2011).
Times News Network. Sep 25, 2009. “Aryan-Dravidian divide a myth: Study.” The Times of India. http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2009-09-25/india/28107253_1_incidence-of-genetic-diseases-indians-tribes (Accessed September 26, 2009).
tattvaanveShaNam 
Good one. well compiled. I like the appellation “marxist history engineers”…they should be proud of their grand achievements…what’s a trivial mountain of evidence anyway…
These fact findings surely disprove the AIT/AMT. But these debunking fact findings need to be put in place where it matters most – Mainstream Indian Academic, beginning from the school level as may be appropriate. This calls for a complete re-writing of our education system, that is still influenced by Macaulayism. Else all these scientific fact findings will remain within the realm of few people, gathering dust, with things going as usual. The only thing that can snub the ego of money power is true, genuine, unbiased sharing of knowledge like these genetic findings. Hari Om.
Stop fantasizing about an indigenous origin. Why do you even need to defend it so intensely? See for example http://manasataramgini.wordpress.com/2009/10/05/a-note-on-some-recent-work-on-india-genetics/
@Psureshpsi, there is neither offence nor defense. Merely, the results and inferences from Open’s genetic tests have been presented.
“Indigeneity” is a relative concept. If you think about it, since (as per most genetic studies) modern humans originated from Africa, all non-African countries are populated by non-indigenous people. An African invasion theory perhaps.
As far as the Aryan question is concerned, I think it is undeniable that there is genetic affinity between what Reich, et. al. 2009 call Ancestral North Indian, and Europeans/West-Eurasians. Now, whether this affinity is due to the hypothesized Aryan invasion-turned-migration-turning-trickle-in theory, or due to an “ancient” migration out of the Indian subcontinent (attested by genetic studies) is yet to be nailed down with any modicum of consensus between professional Aryanists and geneticists.
I have read that well written article from mAnasa-taraMgiNI. The editor of that blog is very knowledgeable and has my respect and agreement on many things. But not all in this case. There is no archeological evidence for any invasion or migration or even trickle-in of any Aryans into the Indian subcontinent. If I am wrong, I will be happy to stand corrected. There are simply linguistic theories. If we go by genetic studies you will find that most studies state a continuity of the genetic population of the subcontinent with very minor outside contribution of genes. In fact geneticists postulate that the Indian subcontinent is the origin of the haplogroup R1a1, which is associated with the hypothesized Aryan “influx”. I have discussed comments from geneticists and their published research here as well as in an earlier post. You are welcome to present your arguments and inferences if you find yourself disagreeing.
In any case, as of now, it is my belief that this whole Aryan debate is not going to be finally settled any time soon, genetic studies notwithstanding. In fact, I think it is important to not associate dharma with the Aryan debate, as many well-meaning dhArmika-s are wont to do. It is really immaterial whether the origins of dharma are autochthonous or not. What really matters is that dharma is the common thread that has held and continues to hold the Indic civilization together. And only this dhArmika soul can ensure its continuity.
”I think it is undeniable that there is genetic afinity”
This is the colonial Christian intolerance thats in-bedded in the colonial education system of india. Its no wonder that you would come to that conclusion. Do you understand that the genome component that present in Europeans and indian originated in south asia. So that logically leads most to the conclusion that they are indian correct?. You talk of ancestral south and north, do you understand that ancestral north DERIVED from ancestral south. And that indo european component in north indian is over 40,000years old, in reality indo-european should be renamed purely indo. Countless countless research articles PROVE europeans, central asain, west asian derived from the populations of north india. All cow lineage go back to india, all rice cultivation goes back to india. Conclusive proof of the domestication of cows, bulls, goats, pigs, chicken, the first cultivation of barley, rice, wheat, PRIOR to that of anything in the so called fertile crescent. Even the genome mapping of mice has been done, mice have followed the spread of farming for the past 10000years, mice have for a long time resorted to remains and leftovers from farming from surplus crops. The spread of mice has followed the spread of farming with humans. Mice originated in north india.Their is conclusive data that the Ganges has one the first centers of farming and agriculture predating anything anywhere else, including the oldest evidence of pottery in the world. Conclusive data on the indepedant origin of iron working in india predate anything in central asia. We have conclusive proof that sanskrit derives from dravidian and munda speakers, early racist colonialist in their zeal identified words that where similar to north european languages and took a negative aspects towards dravian and munda. Their is greater uniformity between sanskrt and dracidan and munda langages, sansrkit could only have existed in an area that had farming, sanskrit contains farming terms from dravidian and munda and that could only happen if sansrkit or prakrit before was formed in and around the ganges.
SO the pro colonial education that forced on to india to push a pro western stance has not only corrupted history but also corrupted young indian minds. Young indian minds are put through this colonial education craeted by racist and colonialists, and from birth to graduation are told lies, and pro christian colonial version of history a complete distortion of facts. Then these gradutes carry on the lies and distortion but they see as fact as it been taught to them….
which is most certainly the case for you!
science disproves aryan theory, on every level, in human genetics, animal genetics, crop genetics, linguistic analysis, now take the other side in consideration the onset of the christian taliban colonialist, in europe the caste system was so oppressive and rigid that europe suffered from peasant revolts for hundreds of years, the church layed genocide on non believers, the burnign of women as devils, or witches, the creation of the slave trade promoted by the bible, and by many popes, the enslavement of african men women children for 600years, and then racism at every level, with many white colonies having signs such has no dogs no blacks. The racist Christian ideology that backed and promoted the genocide of non believers and non whites, the complete belief for 600years that just like the islamic taliban the christian taliban was seeking to convert the world at any cost and occupy all lands. The christian genocide of native americas, the absolute torture of innocent. In india the mass famines and genocide for over 200years. The goa inquisition the most horrid in human history. The plunder of india, with a loss of 87% of wealth taken to europe. Every person every caste every home plundered this is the india we are left with!!…..the colonial christian looted india, enslaved india, destroyed society, native schools, services, left it in disrepair until the new generation where no longer able to remember the rich india that every indian saw before that, and those christians created congress party, the colonial education and the colonial media, as a way of converting and manipulating the indian people more but acting and representing themselves as indian, but in reality acting as the long arm of the british christian empire, the british never left they morphed into the congress party and then carried the pro Christian syllabus to every school.Its under that backdrop that we get comments like ”Their is genetic afinity implying an aryan invasion of sorts”. A negative outlook on the data thats been created by a colonial education from birth, that educates to question and openly reject the truth that reveals the lies of christian colonialists.
Their is no GENETIC affinity that says indians are mixed with europeans, IT STATES THAT EUROPEANS are derived from north indians. Not the other way round!!!.
”Why can’t we get our act together rather than going on about how we have been tortured throughout the ages? ”’
When that torture that pain has been erased from history, the importance denied or history distorted that grief never passes, it can pass through several generation over and over, that hurt pain morping into something else. You say why cant you get over it, FIRST you need to identify, research and then promote the events the facst as history, the TRUTH, not a colonial version of events, that negates the pain and suffering so it doesnt reach the indian people who then will openly object to the way the colonialist are still in control. The colonial christian seeked to erase such events, YOU CAN NEVER GET OVER IT WHEN ITS BEING DENIED AND SUPRESSED TO SAVE THE DIGNITY OF THE CHRISTIAN FAITH WHO WHERE RESPONSIBLE FOR CARRYING IT OUT.Again the colonial education seeks to erase and avoid those dark chapters of human genocide in india.
What you are sayin is that Jews should forget isreal , the nazi genocide, that africans should forget about 600years of slavery and humilation and oppression, your sayin that china should forget about the opium wars, or that india should forget about the islamic persecution and the christian genocide.WHY?…….why when in europe they mark the events of the jewish genocide, why when the africans have got recognition about the christian evils of slavery, IF YOU DONT KNOW THE TRUTH, then you will NEVER know the solutions!!..never! Truth creates change , if the education you are receiving is not the truth THEN THE COLONIAL EDUCAITON IS NOT AN EDUCTION IS ALLLL POLITICAL…an agenda set in place by the british christian colonialist talibans.
To get change you need learn the past 200years of colonial deceit. To get over past events of torture, we must first offical recognise the suffering, pay tribute even after 200years to the fallen, then we must educate on the truth even if slanders the christians or the muslims OF THAT ERA..not todays, truth is truth. Then we educate the children so they learn the human sacrifice to peace and justice, with this the message is taken and heard, then knowing the events the issues that caused such torture we can KNOW AND UNDERSTAND THE SOLUTIONS……
If you dont know history, then history repeats itself, if you dont know history then those distorting history carry on enriching themselves at your cost. And all the while marxist, secularist, etc etc play the game of the colonialists, who behind the scenes continue to loote, corrupt and convert.
Manas,
Thank you for your kind reply! I agree with you and it is particularly pleasing to see you state that we should not confuse the dharma with these invasion theories, for our own dharma is of such a nature that it will not make a difference even if tomorrow we realise that yoga was entirely invented by the West (some nuts are on to actually trying to prove this).
I also suspect then the additional event of just a divergence between ANIs and WEs from within Africa itself. Now Manas, that brings me to a question — I am very curious to see what you have to say on this:
Why do we need to focus on blaming these secularists/Marxists/leftists for their all their misdeeds? Surely, they have made many confusions and continue to do so, but why the hate speech sort of tone? I have to admit that you are in fact the most reasonable Hindu voice I have heard in the domain of criticism of Marxist history, but still using words like ‘debunk’ gives me the feeling you’re out to prove something and will see through to the end of it regardless of the evidence (then again, maybe it’s just me).
The question really is: why do we need any more of this Other-bashing? The Other here is not just the standard issue Brahmin-born Marxist in Kolkata but also the Muslim, the Christian, the American, heck, even the Chinaman these days. I’ve seen this also on HinduCivilization where almost everything posted these days is hate mail to the Other. Does this not show a certain weakness on our part? Why can’t we get our act together rather than going on about how we have been tortured throughout the ages? Moreover, there is also this unreasonable emphasis on aspects of our tradition — Raj Thackeray being a case in point — that, in the Roman context, fits perfectly under the label of ‘superstition’.
What do you think
@32b5eb4efe0ffbef4b70e0cf588d078d:disqus You raise many important matters in your comment.
The focus needs to be multi-pronged.
Marxist-secularist concoctions have poisoned and deracinated generations of Indians. Even yours truly, at one point was taken in by Marxist authored textbooks, into falling for their hollow ideology and outright history engineering. It was only an exploration on my own part of Indian and dhArmika history, presented by historians of the pre-Marxist subversion era, that allowed me to find the truth, and free myself of Marxist shackles. How many people will take the time and effort to go through such a quest on their own? Which is why exposing and refuting the mendacity propounded by the secularists and Marxists is of utmost necessity. However any repudiation of the said mendacity needs to be done using veracious, pedantic means, backed by irrefutable evidence and bereft of any emotional nonsense or untenable arguments. I believe I have stuck to this rubric in my humble attempts in this blog. Which is why I am surprised by your feeling that I am “out to prove something and will see through to the end of it regardless of the evidence”. I welcome you to provide specific examples where you feel I have tried to prove something regardless of the evidence.
There also needs to be introspection and action on as you rightly say, getting our act together. There are quite a few issues within dhArmika society which need to be discussed and resolved. Unfortunately, many well-meaning folks are too focused on taking on the Marxist, secularist, Eurocentric brigade, and that too without any scholarly methods and by unnecessarily getting all emotional. Also most, if not all of dhArmika leaders have no vision are are only concerned with perpetuating their positions. While there are organizations, their priorities are mostly not in the right place.
You give the example of the attempts made by certain entities to mendaciously decouple yoga from what is now known as Hinduism. Those entities are actually not “nuts” but intelligent people who have a very clear motive in mind. What most of them share is a visceral hatred for Hinduism and a zeal to prevent Hindus from taking pride in their heritage. The immense popularity of yoga in the west is actually disconcerting to many people. While some are apprehensive of thinning of the flock, some have business interests in mind and some are looking to use it in their inculturation projects for harvests. Even others see it as a danger to their Eurocentic world-view. And then there are those who would like to thwart the growth of dharma due to their ideological compulsions. If instead of yoga, another school from Hinduism say pUrva mImAMsA had been this popular, the same idiotic arguments and perfidious polemics would have been used to try and decouple pUrva mImAMsA from Hinduism.
The idea of us-vs-them is actually alien to many dhArmika teachings. dharma is inherently egalitarian and universal. The us-vs-them concept is very Abrahamic who clearly delineate human society into distinct groups of believes vs non-believers. Interestingly but not surprisingly, communism shares this us-vs-them concept with the Abrahamic ideologies. But dharma also teaches that when confronted by adharma one should not take it lying down. So, if some entities are working to destroy dharma and impose their beliefs, then yes we should take on those “other” entities. What form this “taking-on” takes is contingent on many factors. It is my opinion, educating dhArmika-s about dharma is the first step. And such education is incomplete without throwing light on our history and on factors which led to the loss of huge populations and territory to adharma. Which brings us back to the importance of exposing and refuting the mendacity propounded by the secularists and Marxists.
In my opinion, it is important to keep aspects of one’s tradition and culture that make sense and are applicable. In case of dharma traditions, there are many such aspects which are applicable even now, millennia after they came into being. While those aspects that are anachronistic or inapplicable should be discarded. The problem is that one one hand you have those who are unwilling to let go of any aspect including those which might actually be inimical to the survival and resurgence of dharma. On the other hand you have those, who in the name of modernity and so-called secularism-liberalism (specially of the Indian sort) seek to trash all aspects of dhArmika culture and tradition. There needs to be a balance between these two groups. Keep what is useful and discard what is not. While in days yore, there were people who did this balancing and guided society, current crop is hardly up to the task.
Something which i FIND really funny and i dont know if anyone else has noticed this. It was white Christian who formulated the aryan invasion, they claim they are decendants of them and priase them highly considering them their forefathers from europe, who went onto spread civlisation on to the world. SO to north indian they say you are from the great white aryans, they GAVE you vedic culture, the vedas and the CASTE system of course. Then to the south they say the WHITE aryans INVADED AND ENSLAVED YOU, the aryans are now called hindus they put you in the caste system so you MUST leave that faith and join christianity, and christian beleive they are aryans themselves and that christ was aryan, white, blond haired blue eyed, does anyone else notice the complete BLUNDER AND FLAW in the christian aryan theory. In order to convert they concucted a storey that THEY show them taking ownership of the aryan culture AT THE SAME TIME USING THE IGNORANCE of the indian people to PLAY NORTH AND SOUTH INDIA AGAINST EACH OTHER…..for the sole purpose of conversion.
Who in south india is going to know of aryan theory UNLESS its told to them through one of two ways, a CHRISTIAN MISSIONARY OR CONVERT or the pro COLONIAL CHRISTIAN education…
Its the christians who deny the truth and promote lies to make gains. They say to the south that aryans enslaved them into hinduism, and that you must free yourself into christianity, the christians BELEIVE they are aryan and that jesus christ was too, blonde haired, blue eyed white.
How does that logic exist!!…..it only exists when your trying to DUPE THE PEOPLE…
it can only stop with the TRUTH ABOUT THE HISTORY OF INDIA….If you dont tell the real history of india then missionaries are going to tell them their version and in doing so create hate, anger, resentment and in the end hypocrisy, as it was the christians who looted india, formulated and made rigid the caste system the destruction of indian industries, the famines that killed 50million plus, in 1700 indian gdp was 24% in 1954 it was 3%.