Genetic affinities among the lower castes and tribal groups of India: inference from Y chromosome and mitochondrial DNA.

ABSTRACT:

Background

India is a country with enormous social and cultural diversity due to its positioning on the crossroads of many historic and pre-historic human migrations. The hierarchical caste system in the Hindu society dominates the social structure of the Indian populations. The origin of the caste system in India is a matter of debate with many linguists and anthropologists suggesting that it began with the arrival of Indo-European speakers from Central Asia about 3500 years ago. Previous genetic studies based on Indian populations failed to achieve a consensus in this regard. We analysed the Y-chromosome and mitochondrial DNA of three tribal populations of southern India, compared the results with available data from the Indian subcontinent and tried to reconstruct the evolutiona

SUBMITTER: Thanseem I 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1569435 | biostudies-literature | 2006 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature