Author:
Publication: University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, Center for Indic Studies
Date: July 3, 2006
Press Release
Comprehensive population genetics data along
with archeological and astronomical evidence presented at June 23-25, 2006
conference in Dartmouth, MA, overwhelmingly concluded that Indian civilization
and its human population is indigenous.
In fact, the original people and culture within
the Indian Subcontinent may even be a likely pool for the genetic, linguistic,
and cultural origin of the most rest of the world, particularly Europe and
Asia.
Leading evidences come from population genetics,
which were presented by two leading researchers in the field, Dr. V. K. Kashyap,
National Institute of Biologicals, India, and Dr. Peter Underhill of Stanford
University in California. Their results generally contradict the notion Aryan
invasion/migration theory for the origin of Indian civilization.
Underhill concluded "the spatial frequency
distributions of both L1 frequency and variance levels show a spreading pattern
emanating from India", referring to a Y chromosome marker. He, however,
put several caveats before interpreting genetic data, including "Y-ancestry
may not always reflect the ancestry of the rest of the genome"
Dr. Kashyap, on the other hand, with the most
comprehensive set of genetic data was quite emphatic in his assertion that
there is "no clear genetic evidence for an intrusion of Indo-Aryan people
into India, [and] establishment of caste system and gene flow."
Michael Witzel, a Harvard linguist, who is
known to lead the idea of Aryan invasion/migration/influx theory in more recent
times, continued to question genetic evidence on the basis that it does not
provide the time resolution to explain events that may have been involved
in Aryan presence in India.
Dr. Kashyap's reply was that even though the
time resolution needs further work, the fact that there are clear and distinct
differences in the gene pools of Indian population and those of Central Asian
and European groups, the evidence nevertheless negates any Aryan invasion
or migration into Indian Subcontinent.
Witzel though refused to present his own data
and evidence for his theories despite being invited to do so was nevertheless
present in the conference and raised many questions. Some of his commentaries
questioning the credibility of scholars evoked sharp responses from other
participants.
Rig Veda has been dated to 1,500 BC by those
who use linguistics to claim its origin Aryans coming out of Central Asia
and Europe. Archaeologist B.B. Lal and scientist and historian N.S. Rajaram
disagreed with the position of linguists, in particular Witzel who claimed
literary and linguistic evidence for the non-Indian origin of the Vedic civilization.
Dr. Narahari Achar, a physicist from University
of Memphis clearly showed with astronomical analysis that the Mahabharata
war in 3,067 BC, thus poking a major hole in the outside Aryan origin of Vedic
people.
Interestingly, Witzel stated, for the first
time to many in the audience, that he and his colleagues no longer subscribe
to Aryan invasion theory.
Dr. Bal Ram Singh, Director, Center for Indic
Studies at UMass Dartmouth, which organized the conference was appalled at
the level of visceral feelings Witzel holds against some of the scholars in
the field, but felt satisfied with the overall outcome of the conference.
"I am glad to see people who have been
scholarly shooting at each other for about a decade are finally in one room,
this is a progress", said Singh.
The conference was able to bring together
in one room for the first time experts from genetics, archeology, physics,
linguistics, anthropology, history, and philosophy. A proceedings of the conference
is expected to come out soon, detailing various arguments on the origin of
Indian civilization.
