European Aryan invasion theory- Genetic proof?

Topic started by Karup (@ cache-df03.proxy.aol.com) on Thu Mar 20 08:31:24 .
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Quote:
Written in blood New Scientist vol 170 issue 2291 - 19 May 2001, page 17

The origins of India's rigid caste system are confirmed by DNA tests

UPPER-CASTE Indians are genetically more like Europeans, while members of India's lower castes are more like other Asians, says an international team of researchers.

"It seems to confirm much of the research that basically has drawn from linguistic analysis and theories about the movements of people into South Asia," says Robert Hardgrave of the University of Texas, Austin, who has written extensively on India and its caste system. Based on such evidence, most historians believe that waves of Indo-European-speaking people from eastern Europe and the Caucasus set up the caste system as they moved into the Indian subcontinent about 5000 years ago.

"When the Aryans came in, they brought with them a social hierarchy," says Hardgrave. "We have some historical and archaeological evidence which suggests that as the Aryans came in, they intermarried with indigenous people and also absorbed many of them into their system of ranking."

Some people dismiss this theory as a myth, claiming it "devalues" India's history. Now, however, genetic studies have produced strong evidence supporting the theory. A team led by Michael Bamshad of the University of Utah in Salt Lake City compared the DNA of 265 Indian men from different castes with DNA from nearly 750 African, European, Asian and other Indian men.

First, they analysed mitochondrial DNA, which people only inherit from their mothers. When the researchers looked at specific sets of genes that tend to be inherited as a unit, they found about 20 to 30 per cent of the Indian sets resembled those in Europeans. The percentage was highest in upper caste males. Overall, though, each caste resembled other Asians most.

Next, the team studied genetic variations in the Y chromosome, which is inherited from the father. "We saw a strikingly different pattern," says Bamshad. In this case, most castes resembled Europeans more closely than Asians. "The upper castes were more similar to Europeans, the middle castes were genetically equidistant from Europeans and Asians, and the lower castes were more similar to Asians," he says.

The researchers got similar results when they examined 40 sets of genes on other chromosomes. The findings support the theory that the Indo-European immigrants appointed themselves to the higher castes, Bamshad says. The Y chromosome evidence also supports the idea that the original immigrants were mostly male.

The caste system was based on occupation and socioeconomic status. The upper castes were the Brahmans (priests), the Kshatriyas (warriors) and the Vaisyas (traders). The Sudras, who were the farmers and artisans, comprised the lower caste. Later, a fifth caste—"the untouchables"—was established for those who did menial tasks.

In modern India, the caste system is breaking down in some parts of society but still going strong in others, as a look at matrimonial ads in Indian newspapers reveals. While some expressly say that "caste is no bar", others ask for brides or bridegrooms not just of the same caste, but of the precise sub-caste.


Anil Ananthaswamy
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