杏吧原创

UPPER-CASTE Indians are genetically more like Europeans, while members of
India鈥檚 lower castes are more like other Asians, says an international team of
researchers.

鈥淚t seems to confirm much of the research that basically has drawn from
linguistic analysis and theories about the movements of people into South Asia,鈥�
says Robert Hardgrave of the University of Texas, Austin, who has written
extensively on India and its caste system. Based on such evidence, most
historians believe that waves of Indo-European-speaking people from eastern
Europe and the Caucasus set up the caste system as they moved into the Indian
subcontinent about 5000 years ago.

鈥淲hen the Aryans came in, they brought with them a social hierarchy,鈥� says
Hardgrave. 鈥淲e have some historical and archaeological evidence which suggests
that as the Aryans came in, they intermarried with indigenous people and also
absorbed many of them into their system of ranking.鈥�

Some people dismiss this theory as a myth, claiming it 鈥渄evalues鈥� India鈥檚
history. Now, however, genetic studies have produced strong evidence supporting
the theory. A team led by Michael Bamshad of the University of Utah in Salt Lake
City compared the DNA of 265 Indian men from different castes with DNA from
nearly 750 African, European, Asian and other Indian men.

First, they analysed mitochondrial DNA, which people only inherit from their
mothers. When the researchers looked at specific sets of genes that tend to be
inherited as a unit, they found about 20 to 30 per cent of the Indian sets
resembled those in Europeans. The percentage was highest in upper caste males.
Overall, though, each caste resembled other Asians most.

Next, the team studied genetic variations in the Y chromosome, which is
inherited from the father. 鈥淲e saw a strikingly different pattern,鈥� says
Bamshad. In this case, most castes resembled Europeans more closely than Asians.
鈥淭he upper castes were more similar to Europeans, the middle castes were
genetically equidistant from Europeans and Asians, and the lower castes were
more similar to Asians,鈥� he says.

The researchers got similar results when they examined 40 sets of genes on
other chromosomes. The findings support the theory that the Indo-European
immigrants appointed themselves to the higher castes, Bamshad says. The Y
chromosome evidence also supports the idea that the original immigrants were
mostly male.

The caste system was based on occupation and socioeconomic status. The upper
castes were the Brahmans (priests), the Kshatriyas (warriors) and the Vaisyas
(traders). The Sudras, who were the farmers and artisans, comprised the lower
caste. Later, a fifth caste鈥斺�漷he untouchables鈥濃�攚as established for
those who did menial tasks.

In modern India, the caste system is breaking down in some parts of society
but still going strong in others, as a look at matrimonial ads in Indian
newspapers reveals. While some expressly say that 鈥渃aste is no bar鈥�, others ask
for brides or bridegrooms not just of the same caste, but of the precise
sub-caste.