Tuesday, September 20, 2016

Purna Swadeshi?


Our chromosomes are mostly shuffled versions of both of our parents' chromosomes. The two exceptions of unshuffled genes are those from the mitochondria, which are inherited from the mother only, and for men, the Y chromosome, that is from the father only.   Therefore, these two enable some tracing of deep ancestry, of my mother's mother's mother's ... and father's father's father's father's.... sometimes back to when homo sapiens first left Africa.

Note that my mother's father could have been from Mars, and my father's mother could have been from Venus, it won't show up in this particular set of DNA markers.

Per 23andme.com, a genetic testing company:
Paternal haplogroups are families of Y chromosomes that all trace back to a single mutation at a specific place and time. By looking at the geographic distribution of these related lineages, we learn how our ancient male ancestors migrated throughout the world.
My paternal haplogroup is H1a*.  Its estimated modern distribution is shown in the map below.
Origin: Haplogroup H arose in India between 30,000 and 40,000 years ago, likely in the eastern part of the subcontinent. Today it reaches levels of up to 90% among some isolated tribal populations on the subcontinent. H is also found in regions that have historical ties to India, such as Bali and Cambodia, and the Roma, or Gypsies.

Highlight: Today, haplogroup H is most common in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh.


My maternal haplogroup is M37e.
Origin: Haplogroup M is one of two branches on the mitochondrial DNA tree that arose about 60,000 years ago, soon after humans first expanded out of Africa. Because of its deep roots it is widespread in southern and eastern Asia, and its branches extend into North America as well.

Highlight: Haplogroup M spread from Africa to southeastern Asia in a few millennia.

The estimated modern distribution of haplogroup M is shown in the map below.



This map from the National Geographic,  shows roughly the route humans took out of Africa, of the order of 100,000 years ago.


This map, from Wiki, places haplogroup M in perspective.


I surmise from all this that my ultimate maternal grandmother as far as it can be traced, was in India some 60,000 years ago.

Keeping in mind what I wrote about possible ancestors from Venus and Mars above, do I qualify as purna swadeshi? If recombination analysis of the rest of my genes show an Indian origin in the deep past, does that qualify me as an Adivasi? Or does alleged Sanskritization in my deep past disqualify me?

(Wiki): Adivasi (Hindi: आदिवासी, IPA: [aːd̪ɪˈʋaːsi]) is an umbrella term for a heterogeneous set of ethnic and tribal groups considered the aboriginal population of South Asia.

 

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