This paper rewrites history... there is no north-south divide

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Aryan-Dravidian divide a myth: Study

 

TNN 25 September 2009

 

http://timesofindia .indiatimes. com/news/ india/Aryan- Dravidian- divide-a- myth-Study/ articleshow/ 5053274.cms

 

HYDERABAD: The great Indian divide along north-south lines now stands

blurred. A path breaking study by Harvard and indigenous researchers on

ancestral Indian populations says there is a genetic relationship

between all Indians and more importantly, the hitherto believed

``fact'' that Aryans and Dravidians signify the ancestry of north and

south Indians might after all, be a myth.

 

``This paper rewrites history... there is no north-south divide,''

Lalji Singh, former director of the Centre for Cellular and Molecular

Biology (CCMB) and a co-author of the study, said at a press

conference here on Thursday.

 

Senior CCMB scientist Kumarasamy Thangarajan said there was no truth

to the Aryan-Dravidian theory as they came hundreds or thousands of

years after the ancestral north and south Indians had settled in India.

 

The study analysed 500,000 genetic markers across the genomes of 132

individuals from 25 diverse groups from 13 states. All the individuals

were from six-language families and traditionally ``upper'' and

``lower'' castes and tribal groups. ``The genetics proves that castes

grew directly out of tribe-like organizations during the formation of

the Indian society,'' the study said. Thangarajan noted that it was

impossible to distinguish between castes and tribes since their

genetics proved they were not systematically different.

 

The study was conducted by CCMB scientists in collaboration with

researchers at Harvard Medical School,

Harvard School of Public Health and the Broad Institute of Harvard and

MIT. It reveals that the present-day Indian population is a mix of

ancient north and south bearing the genomic contributions from two

distinct ancestral populations - the Ancestral North Indian (ANI) and

the Ancestral South Indian (ASI).

 

``The initial settlement took place 65,000 years ago in the Andamans

and in ancient south India around the same time, which led to

population growth in this part,'' said Thangarajan. He added, ``At a

later stage, 40,000 years ago, the ancient north Indians emerged which

in turn led to rise in numbers here. But at some point of time, the

ancient north and the ancient south mixed, giving birth to a different

set of population. And that is the population which exists now and

there is a genetic relationship between the population within India.''

 

The study also helps understand why the incidence of genetic diseases

among Indians is different from the rest of the world. Singh said that

70% of Indians were burdened with genetic disorders and the study

could help answer why certain conditions restricted themselves to one

population. For instance, breast cancer among Parsi women, motor

neuron diseases among residents of Tirupati and Chittoor, or sickle

cell anaemia among certain tribes in central India and the North-East

can now be understood better, said researchers.

 

The researchers, who are now keen on exploring whether Eurasians

descended from ANI, find in their study that ANIs are related to

western Eurasians, while the ASIs do not share any similarity with any

other population across the world. However, researchers said there was

no scientific proof of whether Indians went to Europe first or the

other way round.

 

Migratory route of Africans

 

Between 135,000 and 75,000 years ago, the East-African droughts shrunk

the water volume of the lake Malawi by at least 95%, causing migration

out of Africa. Which route did they take? Researchers say their study

of the tribes of Andaman and Nicobar islands using complete

mitochondrial DNA sequences and its comparison those of world

populations has led to the theory of a ``southern coastal route'' of

migration from East Africa through India.

 

This finding is against the prevailing view of a northern route of

migration via Middle East, Europe, south-east Asia, Australia and then to India.

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