Genetic affinity of the Bhil, Kol and Gond mentioned in epic Ramayana

Genetic study of Ramayana tribes rejects Aryan invasion theory and supports indigenous common ancestry of Indian populations

An international team of researchers consisting of geneticists, anthropologists and Research Scholars have found that Ramayana, composed around 7,100 years ago, is a chronicle of events and characters recorded by Sage Valmiki and is not a work of fiction. They also found that North Indians & Dravidians share their genetic profile; they have lived in India for more than 12000 years and there is no evidence of any Gene –inflow.

Normally it is being taught in schools and colleges in India that Aryans immigrated into Indian Subcontinent from Central Asia around 1500 BC and that the aboriginal Indians who were uncivilised at that time were defeated and pushed towards south & they became Dravidians whereas invading Aryans occupied North India and are settled there till date. This view was based on linguistic guess work but many scientific researches like astronomy, archaeology, paleobotany, and space imagery have been providing evidence that this Aryan Invasion theory is incorrect, having no scientific basis.

Institute of Scientific Research on Vedas had earlier reported that skyviews of planetary references in Ramayana could be seen sequentially 7100 ago and that several archaeological and paleobotanical evidences had supported these dates for Ramayana era Latest in the series are the genetic studies. A paper published in the internationally reputed journal PLOS ONE has thrown light on this issue by utilizing the data obtained from Valmiki Ramayan and testing this with the genetic studies carried out by using advanced genetic research and tools. The research team comprised of:

1. Geneticist, Dr Gyaneshwer Chaubey, from Estonian Biocentre, Tartu

2. Traditional Anthropologist, Prof. V.R. Rao, Anthropology Department, Delhi University

3. Ramayana Scholar, Mrs. Saroj Bala, Director of the Institute of Scientific Research on Vedas

4.  IITian from Delhi, Mr. Anurag Kadiyan,

The team extracted detailed information about Indian tribal populations from the oldest epic Valmiki Ramayana and tested their concordance and discordance with the high resolution genetic data. This was an interdisciplinary project between the scientists and scholars from India and from Estonia. It took around three years to complete this research project.

To begin with, the team selected three main tribal populations, namely: Kol (e.g. Guh Nishad), Bhil (e.g. Bhilni) and Gond (from Dandakvan area), and extracted references to these tribes from different chapters of Ramayana, along with their geographic locations. Then they, particularly Dr. Gyaneshwar Chaubey, scanned hundreds of thousands of single nucleotide polymorphisms among these three ancient tribes, and also compared the results with their neighboring populations and other world populations.

        

The analysis, conducted using various statistical methods/tools, suggested that:

·  These tribes have been living in India for last more than 12000 years and there are no evidences of any gene inflow.

·  The genetic structuring of these ancient tribes is largely similar to their contemporary tribal and caste populations, suggesting genetic continuity of Indian population for more than 10000 years.

·  Further, extent of genetic component sharing among different populations reflected their similarity with other Indian populations establishing that these were primarily founded over indigenous component, having continuity since last over ten thousand years.

The team has also concluded that all Indians from North or from South, irrespective of their caste and tribal affiliations, share a common genetic ancestry, which is undoubtedly founded over the indigenous ASI component.

Title: Genetic affinity of the Bhil, Kol and Gond mentioned in epic Ramayana

http://dx.plos.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0127655,