The genetic makeup of the people of Rajasthan is linked far more closely to the populations of Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat, according to findings presented by Professor Gyaneshwar Chaubey, a geneticist at Banaras Hindu University.
Chaubey presented this conclusion during a research-based lecture at the international seminar titled ‘Rajasthan: Antiquity and Transformation,’ held at the Vedic Science Centre auditorium.
At the two-day seminar, organised by the Varanasi Institute of History in collaboration with the Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR), New Delhi, Chaubey presented findings from his long-term DNA study on various castes and tribes of Rajasthan. The data clearly indicate that the primary genetic makeup of most Rajasthani communities is linked to a broad Indian cline rather than a simple West-Pakistan continuum. During the seminar, Chaubey elaborated specifically on the study of the Bhil tribe. The Bhil is India’s second-largest tribe, distributed across Western-Central India, specifically Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, and Maharashtra.
A 2005 study by French scientist Lluis Quintana-Murci and international collaborators, based primarily on mitochondrial DNA and Y-chromosomes, had previously depicted the genetic landscape of the Indus Valley and surrounding areas in a way that suggested a close affinity between the populations of Rajasthan and present-day Pakistan. The findings of the 2005 study were interpreted as evidence of long-standing gene flow from west to east across the northwestern frontier. This genetic study incorporated data from 669 individuals belonging to the Meena and Gujjar communities and the general mixed population of Rajasthan.
Because earlier studies (such as one in 2005) examined only small segments of DNA, whereas the current study sequenced the entire genome, this discrepancy arises.
Their genome-wide study indicates that Bhil groups from various regions share a common “Pan-Bhil” ancestry.
However, subsequent genome-wide research conducted by Chaubey and his colleagues has now challenged and effectively negated that earlier interpretation, presenting a different picture of the genetic relationship of Rajasthan’s population.
