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Indo-Aryan migration theory rejected

Critics say that the propagation of the Indo-Aryan theory is a “saffronisation” of history

Hyderabad: Research on three ancient tribal populations of the Indian subcontinent has once again brought to fore the Indo-Aryan migration debate. The study has rejected any migration into the Indian subcontinent in the last 12,000 years, thereby rejecting the Aryan invasion theory.

Anthropological scientists said there has been continuity in lineage since the Neolithic period, rejecting the conventional theory of the influx of the Indo-Aryan populations. The research study, carried out by Estonian Biocentre and University of Delhi, concluded: “Our high-resolution analysis portraying the three ancient tribal populations strongly rejects any incoming genetic signal of large-scale, recent (during the post-Neolithic) migration either of the present Dravidian or the Indo-European speaking populations to the subcontinent.”

Dr Vadlamudi Raghavendra Rao, one of the authors of the study, said, “DNA evidence is direct evidence and DNA dating is also possible in studies. Our results show continuity in the lineages and we would like to say there is a lot of sharing and the genetic footprint of these tribal groups is being shared by other ethnic populations.”

Scientists claimed that absence of any migration into the Indian subcontinent shows the flaws in the Indo-Aryan theory, which suggests that humans migrated from Africa to the Mediterranean region and then to the Indian subcontinent through the northwestern part of the present day country.

This latest study, however, claims migration occurred from the Indian subcontinent to the European region. Other scientists have also corroborated this theory that has come up in recent times. Critics say that the propagation of the Indo-Aryan theory is a “saffronisation” of history.

( Source : deccan chronicle )
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