Two recent studies on ancient DNA and migrations into South Asia appeared at the same time in two of the most prestigious journals of their disciplines, one in Science, and one in Cell. 30 Sep 2019. the rakhigarhi dna project debunks aryan invasion theory proving that indus-saraswati civilisation was developed by indigenous people of south asia. In this study, Reich, post-doctoral scientist Vagheesh Narasimhan, and Niraj Rai, who established a new ancient DNA laboratory at the Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeosciences in … Abc Large. The Fertile Crescent had two places in which agriculture developed independently; there were. One, the Indus Valley people had trading outposts in Gonur and Sahr-i-Shokta, but did not intermarry with the local population. The other striking find is that the Indus Valley people—the single Rakhigarhi skeleton and the other 11 in Gonur and Sahr-i-Shokta—though closely related to the Zagros mountains hunter gatherer population, had split from them about 12,000 years back. A new DNA study has led to a lot of claims and counterclaims By Rajalakshmi Karakulam September 09, 2019 20:41 IST (Left) Geographic location of the archaeological site of Rakhigarhi and other significant Harappan sites, and (right) photograph of the burial and associated typical IVC grave goods | Image courtesy: cell.com The former Chairman of Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR), Prof. YS Rao even went to the extent of saying our, PSL Statement: Biden in office, capitalists in power, China urges US to rejoin Iran nuclear deal, Steve Bannon and corrupt officials given last-minute pardon by Trump, Indian farmers have not forgotten govt.’s betrayals of past six years, New study says Indus Valley Civilization people ate meat, were especially fond of beef, “Indian farmers will resist until govt repeals all three agriculture laws”. The Rig Vedic Aryans would, instead, be only one among the many other invaders who have come into India. Abc Medium. Font Size. He is one of the lead authors of the Rakhigarhi paper. New research has debunked purist far-right wing arguments about the settling of the Indian subcontinent and proved the role of migration and cross-cultural exchange in the growth of civilization. Both share a number of common authors and have used Harvard’s genetics laboratory resources. These 11 skeletons have no relation to the DNA recovered from other skeletons recovered from the same sites, but are genetically very close to the Rakhigarhi DNA. While the Cell paper reports only one such sample, it is the only sample till date from anywhere in south Asia, from an Indus Valley site in the heyday of the Indus Valley Civilization. Second, the skeletons in Rakhigarhi, Gonur and Sahr-i-Shokta do not show steppes signature in this period, but the steppes signature shows up in later periods and in the current populations of the area. As one of the authors commented, ancient DNA is better done in climates that are cold and dry, both of which India is not, leading to very few skeletons providing ancient DNA. This area has been under occupation from 5500 BCE which is the Early Harappan phase till 1900 BCE which is the Mature Harappan phase. Even more striking is the finding regarding 11 skeletons in two sites, Sahr-i-Shokta in Eastern Iran, and in Gonur in modern Turkmenistan, a part of the Bactria-Margiana Archaeological Complex (BMAC). This is unlike the genetic composition of people in the same region today, or that of “upper” caste men in South Asia today. In other countries, such studies of ancient DNA and their findings are of interest only to scholars. He is a known associate of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) [an far-right Hindu socio-political and paramilitary organization which is the ideological parent of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party) and very much a part of their science organization Vijnana Bharati’s activities. The study — titled ‘An ancient Harappan genome lacks ancestry … The new study suggests the Iranian-related DNA in both the Indus individuals and modern Indians actually predates the rise of agriculture in Iran by some 2000 years. Ancient DNA from India’s Rakhigarhi archaeological site is telling volumes about the destiny of the mysterious Indus Valley Civilization. The Rakhigarhi ancient DNA shows the absence of any steppes signature, and therefore strengthens the archaeological and other evidence that the Indus Valley Civilization was built by people who do not have the steppes signature. Rakhigarhi DNA study questions Aryan invasion theory, claims author The findings are based on the study of the ancient genome in the skeletons excavated from Rakhigarhi. Original & Indigenous . First DNA From This Ancient Civilization Reveals Ancestry of Modern South Asians . Two recent studies on ancient DNA and migrations into South Asia appeared at the same time in two of the most prestigious journals of their disciplines. 2500 BC Rakhigarhi skeletons have no traces of ‘Aryan gene’, finds DNA study New Delhi: The study of DNA samples of the skeletons found in Rakhigarhi, an Indus Valley Civilisation site in Haryana, has found no traces of the R1a1 gene or Central Asian ‘steppe’ genes, loosely termed as the ‘Aryan gene’. Rakhigarhi is the largest Indus Valley site in India, even larger than Mohenjodaro in Sindh, Pakistan, and was ‘discovered’ by British archaeologists in the 1920s. Her genes point to an ancestry of ancient Iranians and Southeast Asian hunter-gatherers. The DNA belongs to a woman who was buried four to five millennia ago in Rakhigarhi, now part of Haryana in India. Comment. The Science paper reports ancient DNA … A woman’s skeleton from 2500 BC has finally spoken. Vagheesh Narasimbhan, … As one of the authors commented, ancient DNA is better preserved in climates that are cold and dry, both of which India is not. After screening more than 60 skeletal samples from the largest known town of the Indus Valley Civilization, called Rakhigarhi, the authors found one with a hint of ancient DNA. Of the 61 skeletons from the Rakhigarhi burial site, only one yielded enough ancient DNA that could be sequenced properly. Analysis of the latest paper on Rakhigarhi Ancient DNA. The authors worked on the skeletal remains for over three years, trying to extract and sequence the DNA. Prof. Shinde is an archaeologist, and asserting his belief on the basis of ancient DNA evidence is straying far outside his academic competence. It … In a big blow to the historians still reeling from a colonial hangover, a DNA study on skeletons found in Rakhigarhi has found no traces of the Aryan gene, wrecking the basis of the Aryan Invasion Theory. Rakhigarhi is the largest Harappan site in India | Aayush Goel In a major finding that could impact the understanding of Indian ancestry, the DNA study of a 4500-year-old skeleton found in Rakhigarhi, in Haryana, suggests that modern people in India are likely to have descended from the same population. The Hindutva [an extremist and fundamentalist interpretation of Hinduism] brigade, as a corner stone of their theory, have the belief that Sanskrit speakers and the Vedic texts are indigenous. This, for the scientific community, is indeed a major achievement by the group. Genetic scientists say this does not mean that … TESSA KOUMOUNDOUROS. The Rakhigarhi DNA project debunks Aryan Invasion theory proving that Indus-Saraswati civilisation was … 06 Sep, 2019, 08.25 AM IST Steppe migration to India was between 3500-4000 years ago: David Reich Results announced in September 2018, and a paper published in cell magazine in 2019, show that the dna did not include any traces of steppe ancestry, in line with the Aryan migration theory, which says that … Jabalpur: 2-year-old abandoned baby girl mauled by the dogs, cops launch search for parents. For the RSS and other Hindu supremacists, any evidence that Vedic Sanskrit speakers, who spoke an Indo-European language, came from outside, has to be rejected; not on the basis of evidence but on the basis of belief. Between 4500 and 2500 BC, the bodies of a couple, believed to be married, were placed carefully side by side in an ancient burial site of … NEW DELHI: A newly published archaeological study based on DNA analysis of skeletal remains at the Rakhigarhi site in Haryana has claimed that inhabitants of the Indus Valley Civilisation (IVC) were a distinct indigenous people and challenges the theory of an " Aryan invasion " ending Harrapan culture. By . Rakhigarhi reserach project finds that a genome from the Indus Valley Civilization is from a population that is the largest source for South Asians. Prof. Shinde, formerly the Vice chancellor of Deccan College, headed the Rakhigarhi digs and provided Pof. Each of the papers are important in their own right. Two papers were released on the same day, one in the Cell magazine and the other in the Science magazine. This break pre-dates the birth of agriculture in Zagros mountains and evidence that agriculture originated independently in the Indus Valley, as it did in Anatolia and in Zagros mountains. For reprint rights: Times Syndication Service, NEW DELHI: A newly published archaeological study based on, DNA analysis of Rakhigarhi remains challenges Aryan invasion theory, Amazon Republic Day Sale | Deals Revealed, Co-WIN buckles under pressure, faces glitches in use, Assam elections: ECI team reaches Guwahati to review poll preparedness, Talks between govt and farmer unions postponed to January 20. Synopsis. The Rakhigarhi report (Shinde et al) of the specimen from the eastern heartland of the Harappan area in the Harappan period, dated, as per newspaper reports, between 2800-2300 BCE, simply confirms what the earlier version of the Narasimhan et al report had told us last year in 2018 (on the basis of DNA analysis of Indus Periphery specimens from the north and east of … Clearly, all the three sites were yet to see a steppes migration in this period. Health Benefits of Cornflakes for diabetes, Five types of Ladoos you can make this Makar Sakranti, Bluetooth Speakers For Kids With Features That Are Ideal For Younger Users, Terms of Use and Grievance Redressal Policy. It is not Iranian farmers who had migrated to the Indus Valley bringing agriculture with them, but their forefathers, who were still hunter gatherers, entered South Asia from the Northwest, and then developed agriculture independently in the Indus Valley. Long before climate change drove them to abandon their thriving cities, a group of hunter-gatherers settled in the Indus River Valley as farmers, leading to the creation of one of the world's first large-scale urban societies, complete with … Anubhuti Vishnoi, ET Bureau Last Updated: Sep 06, 2019, 08:25 AM IST. In India, it is immediately a matter of controversy. After building a mitochondrial DNA consensus using damage-restricted sequences, we determined that its haplogroup was U2b2, which is absent in whole mitochondrial genomes sequences available from about 400 ancient Central Asians; today, this specific haplogroup is nearly exclusive to South Asia (Narasimhan et al., 2019 The real importance of the Science paper is reading it along with the Rakhigarhi paper in Cell. — Vagheesh Narasimhan (@vagheesh) September 5, 2019. The scientific paper on the DNA analysis of the Harappan skeleton from Rakhigarhi claims that there was no Aryan invasion and no Aryan migration and … In a press conference, he asserted that somehow the genetic evidence from Rakhigarhi shows that there was no Aryan invasion, and the Indus Valley people spoke Sanskrit. NEW DELHI: The first study of the DNA … (2019) have carried out DNA-tests on a single skeleton. Archelogical work has been continuing here for many years. Rakhigarhi encompasses a set of 11 mounds with a confirmed size in excess of 350 hectares, ... Shinde et al. Reich’s group with the Rakhigarhi skeletons. single sample yielded enough authentic ancient DNA for analysis: I6113, Rakhigarhi, Haryana, India (n = 1). Blue rice is the latest craze that is Insta worthy too! The Times of India News App for Latest India News, Copyright © 2021 Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. All rights reserved. DNA analysis of the female skeleton I6614 from Rakhigarhi (pictured left) reveals ancestry related to Andamanese tribes and ancient Iranians Rakhigarhi DNA closely matches 11 Indus Periphery’ skeletons found in ancient sites in Iran and Turkmenistan that traded with Indus Valley Rakhigarhi DNA study questions Aryan invasion theory, claims author. And all the 12—11 from Gonur and Sahr-i-Shokta and one from Rakhigarhi—show strong South Asian ancient population markers, apart from that of ancient Iranian hunter gatherers. Significantly, while Narasimhan and others predicted a model of the Harappan genome using samples of DNA from ancient skeletons of apparent Indus Valley 'visitors' found in sites that were in trading contact with the Harappans, as well as remains of post-Harappan (1200-BC-1 CE) individuals from Swat, the Rakhigarhi paper suggests that this model was accurate. The research authors also show that the population has no detectable ancestry from Steppe pastoralists or from Anatolian and Iranian farmers, suggesting that farming in South Asia arose from local foragers … The Archeological excavations were conducted jointly between Deccan College and … Rakhigarhi is the largest city of the Harappan civilization spread over 350 hectares located in the Saraswati basin, also known as the Ghaggar basin. Print. Abc Small. This would mean it predated the steppes migration into South Asia which takes place at least 600-1000 years after that. The genetic analysis of a 4,500 year old skeleton that belonged to a woman from Rakhigarhi, the largest town in the Indus Valley Civilisation, has punched another gaping hole in the contentious ‘Aryan Invasion Theory’ Rakhigarhi hit the headlines when the DNA extracted from a woman who lived in the village around 4,500 years ago yielded clues to the ancestry of ancient Indians. Offline vs online education: Can coaching institutes regain lost ground in post Covid scenario? (Strict embargo on the publication of the finds in any media until 11 pm, 5 September 2019) Rakhigarhi Project Of International significance was established in 2011-12. prehistoryofindia Uncategorized September 14, 2019 September 14, 2019 4 Minutes. Share. The Cell paper shows that the single skeleton that yielded ancient DNA was of a woman who was ceremonially buried roughly about 4,500-5,000 years ago. A team of Indian and international scientists and archaeologists — who conducted a genetic analysis of the remains of a woman buried in Rakhigarhi, a Harappan site in Haryana — have found no traces of the R1a1 gene, which is often loosely called the ‘Aryan gene’. The other lead authors including Niraj Rai from the Birbal Sahni Institute, Lucknow and Vagesh Narasimhan from Harvard, have “politely” pointed out, that the ancient DNA evidence from Rakhigarhi does not bear out Prof. Shinde’s contention. A skeleton found in Rakhigarhi during excavation . Save. With this, we can now make two statements. The findings are based on the study of the ancient genome in the skeletons excavated from Rakhigarhi. New Delhi: The study of DNA samples of the skeletons found in Rakhigarhi, an Indus Valley Civilisation site in Haryana, has found no traces of the R1a1 gene or Central Asian ‘steppe’ genes, loosely termed as the ‘Aryan gene’. 06-Sep-2019: Web Desk. For doing justice to both, this article will limit itself to the Cell paper and there will be another article on the Science … The absurdity of asserting what language the Indus Valley people spoke from ancient DNA is obvious. Use of the DNA profiles of the 11 as well as the one from Rakhigarhi gives us a better understanding of the Indus Valley Civilisation population. Rakhigarhi skeleton DNA: Indus Valley people not Rig-Vedic Aryans New research has debunked purist far-right wing arguments about the settling of the Indian subcontinent and proved the role of migration and cross-cultural exchange in the growth of civilization October 03, 2019by Prabir Purkayastha It was headed by Professor Vasant Shinde of Deccan College, Post-Graduate and Research Institute, Deemed University. No DNA from any human being is an indication of what language they spoke. If they are shown to have originated from outside India, then their communal agenda of India being the pitrubhumi (fatherland) and the punyabhumi (holy land) of the Hindus and therefore, Hindus having a higher claim to this land, would have to be discarded. 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