Greece to Cambodia: Our Neighbours

Map: Greece to Cambodia: Our Neighbours

Authorship and Copyright Notice: All Rights Reserved : Satya Sarada Kandula

https://ancientindians.in/maps/map-greece-to-thailand-our-neighbours/

First let us attempt to understand the European angle on Indian History.

Geography: In the map below, I want us to look at the land route from Greece to India, through Istanbul, Turkiye (Turkey), Persia (Iran, Iraq), Gandhar (Afganisthan), Kekeya (Pakisthan)., or Arabia and the Indian Ocean. The British could have heard about us only through the Europeans, who could have only heard of us through the Persians and the Arabians. They had no real direct idea about us. The Spanish being the ‘western most’ Europeans, hoped they could find a sea route to India via the Atlantic Ocean, because they underestimated the size of the earth and they wanted to be free of Arab control. The ‘Mediterranean Sea Religions’ Jews (Judaism – 1500 BC), Christianity (0 BC),  and the “Red Sea Religion” Islam (600 AD) are all from the west coast of ancient Arabia. (The Mediterranean coast belongs to Israel now, I want us to focus on geography for a bit and not the political boundaries.)

Why Europeans know Egypt:

• The Mediterranean sea closely connects the South of Europe (Spain, France, Italy, Greece etc) to the North of Africa (Morocco, Algeria, Libya and Egypt). It is no surprise that the Europeans are aware of Egypt and accept its antiquity.
• The Jews left Egypt around 1500 BC and Jesus is said to have lived there with his parents till King Herod died. So they were familiar with Egypt.

Alexander, Seleucus, Megasthanes : The first Greek Contact

• There is evidence from non Greek sources, that Alexander defeated a weakened Persia and Egypt. See Map: http://www.worldreligions.psu.edu/maps-alexander.htm
• Alexander the Greek did not cross The Sindhu River and the Hindu Kush mountain range in modern Pakisthan.
• Plutarch collected Oral Legends much after Alexander’s death and wrote the biography of Alexander.
• There are only legends concerning his battle with Porus (Puru) of Kekeya (Pakisthan) with both sides claiming victory. Whoever won, it is clear that Puru not only retained his kingdom but also got a piece of Taxila, which allied with Alexander. Is it because Alexander lost the battle OR because the man who slaughtered his own mercenaries after the battle was all of a sudden generous in victory, unlike in Persia and Egypt?
• Either way Alexander went back, and his general Seleucus lost another battle before concluding a treaty with Sandrokottus.
• Alexander tooks some Brahmans back with him and some account of these conversations you can find here.

The net effect of this is that to Europeans, India became “real” only after Alexander. Since they believe only their legends and not ours, they dismiss everything before Alexander as mythical with the single exception of Buddha’s birth. Which is a pity! Annoying but a pity nevertheless. The real pain is our Macaulay affected mainstream historians to whom anything that the Europeans say is gospel and anything that Indians say is a myth.  :(  :(

Now let us take a look at  Africa.

Somalia being the eastern-most African country and being closest to us is additionally interesting because Ravana’s maternal grandfather’s name was Sumali. The sea route from Somalia to Kerala and Sri Lanka is practically on the same latitude. The presence of Meru mountains in Africa as well as Murugan as a deity there are points of interest.

And now let us take a look at  Arabia.

Sur (Oman) is the closest point to India on almost the same latitude as a direct sea route toDwaraka from Arabia.

Let us come back to our eastern neighbours again at a later time.

For names of European seas http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Mediterranean_Sea_political_map-en.svg

https://ancientindians.in/maps/map-greece-to-thailand-our-neighbours/

Three year long botanical study confirms Ramayan is not a myth

Three year long botanical study confirms Ramayan is not a myth - Sanskriti - Indian Culture
By Sanskriti on May 23, 2015http://www.sanskritimagazine.com/indian-religions/hinduism/three-year-long-botanical-study-confirms-ramayan-is-not-a-myth/



People who belittle Ramayan as a mythology or a mere epic and Lord Ram as a fictitious character should be ready to give up their skepticism. Couple of years ago, two Chennai-based botanists came out with a three-year-long study which establishes that the Ramayan is a true life story authored by Valmiki, incorporating facts, figures, science and environment of the period.

All 182 plants (including flowers, trees, fruits) mentioned in the Ramayan have been found to be true. M Amrithalingam and P Sudhakar, the two botanists working with the CPR Environmental Education Centre, Chennai, said they could confirm the existence of the flora and fauna mentioned by Valmiki in the Ramayan.

“We tracked the route travelled by Lord Ram, Sita and Lakshman from Ayodhya in the north to south as part of their exile to the forest for 14 years. To our surprise, we could identify all the plant species in the Ramayan mentioned by Valmiki along this route,” Amrithalingam told The Pioneer. As a taxonomist, Sudhakar confirmed the plant variety with their Sanskrit and Latin names.

The duo commenced their journey from Ayodhya and reached Chitrakuta’s tropical and deciduous forest. “Valmiki knew his flora, fauna and the geography. What we found was that the same flora and fauna existed in the same places as written in the epic,” pointed out Nanditha Krishna, director, CPREEC, who supervised the project.

According to Krishna, the Ramayan is geographically very correct. “All sites in their route are still identifiable and has continuing traditions. It is not possible for a person to just write something out of his imagination and fit it into local folklore for greater credibility. Valmiki has not erred anywhere while specifying the plant species, flowers and wild animals,” she said.

Sudhakar pointed out that in the Ramayan, Ram, Sita and Lakshman were warned to be cautious while they entered Dandakaranya forests. “This forest had lions and tigers. Now there are no lions in the area. This is because they were killed by poachers over the centuries. But the rocks in the famous Bhimbetka has prehistoric paintings of lion and tigers together which confirm Valmiki’s observation,” he said.

Amrithalingam and Sudhakar journeyed from Dandakaranya to Panchavati and Kishkinda. “We found that Kishkinda has a dry and moist climate which synchronises with what Valmiki has authored,” said Amrithalingam.

Chitrakuta and Dandakaranya regions mentioned in the epic are spread across the modern day Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and Andhra Pradesh, according to Krishna. Panchavati, from where Sita was abducted by Ravan, is situated on the banks of River Godavari on modern Maharashtra. “Diverse types of animal and bird species of this region have been mentioned by Valmiki. These include hamsa (swan), karandava (coot), kraunca (pond heron), Mayura (peacock) and sarasa (crane). These are all visible in the region even today,” said Krishna.

Lord Ram in his conversation with Sita and Lakshman speaks about the significance of plants and trees which they come across during their journey. “Even today we have Sthala Vriksha (trees associated with each location) and plants which are worshipped. Tulsi, banyan, punnaga are some examples to substantiate the theory that Ramayana is not just a story but a chronicle,’ said Krishna.

The research took them to Sri Lanka where too they found the flora and fauna which are all mentioned in the Ramayan. Ravan’s botanical garden was known as Ashoka Vana because of the presence of Ashoka trees. “The evergreen Ashoka Vana could be described as a garden where nature is portrayed in all its glory,” said Amrithalingam.

According to Krishna, Valmiki knew what he was writing about. “Unless he was thorough about the topography, geography and ecology of the region, he could not have provided such sharp and precise observation of the time, place and location,” she said. The findings of Amrithalingam and Sudhakar has been published in the format of a book titled “Plant and Animal Diversity in Valmiki’s Ramayan”.
~ Kumar Chellappan

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Suppressed facts on Hindu Saints

Often Hinduism is presented as a construct of upper-caste Brahmins in our academic and popular discourse whereas nothing can be far from truth. 

Hinduism in its construct and popular practice remains a spiritual-system of the masses and people now called Dalits/Shudras have been the prominent upholder and proponents of the Dharma. 

Veda Vyas himself was son of a fisherwoman and Rishi Parashar. It is Veda Vyas who systematised the four Vedas, wrote Mahabharat, which contains one of the holiest texts of Hindus – Gita. Besides these, 18 Puranas and Brahma Sutras are also attributed to him. 

It will be no exaggeration to say that Veda Vyas is the strongest pillar of the classical Hinduism. Rishi Valmiki, a Dalit saint, wrote Ramayana, the text which captured the imagination of people not only in India but around the world. 

Not only him but Kamban who wrote Kamban Ramayana in Tamil was also a Shudra. And without Ramayana and Ram Bhakti, there can be no conception of Hinduism. 

Rishi Matang was the son a Shudra mother with a Vaishya father. He is one the highly revered figure in Hinduism who was visited by Ram and Sita. His ashram was a refugee of the unfortunate and hopeless. 

Son of Veda Vyas and a shudra maid, Vidur, was a authority on Dharma whose teachings on Niti & Dharma are preserved in Viduraprajāgara in Mahabharat. 

In Mahabharata itself, Dharmaraj Yudhistir would often visit Sage Kapinjalada, who was born a Chandala, for guidance. 

Thiruvalluvar , Tamil poet-saint, who wrote Thiru-Kural was a lower caste weaver.

Hindu history is full of saints belonging to the lower strata of the society and it was by them that the vitality of Hinduism was restored from time to time. 

Bhakti movement is an important case in the point. Bhakti movement was a popular reaction against the dry logic of atheists and Buddhists, which began in the South India. 

It was also the result of the discontent against social and caste hierarchies and later as a defence mechanism against forces of Islamic Imperialism. 

Bhakti movement threw up several Dalit saints whose contribution to the enrichment and shaping of Hinduism is immense. 

Saint Chokhamela, a Mahar,is a prominent 14th century figure in Marathi bhakti movement. He was the disciple of Sant Namdeo, himself a Shudra, and an ardent devotee of Vitthala. He wrote several famous Abhangas which are devotional poetry dedicated to the Vitthala. Kanhopatra was a female devotee of Vitthla. She was born in a brothel and was a courtesan & dancing girl before devoting herself to the worship of Vitthala. Like Chokhamela, she too belonged to the Varkari sect of Hinduism. 

She is the only women-saint of Varkari sect who is not associated with any male-figure and had no guru or belonged to any parampara. She attained sainthood purely on the basis of her devotion. Her abhangas are popular even today and the devotees worship the tree at her Samadhi in Pandharpur. 

Sant Nirmala was a Dalit Hindu women saint who was the sister of Chokhamela. She was entirely devoted to the Vitthala and wrote devotional poetry, which describes injustice of the prevalent social system. Her husband Sant Banka is a renowned figure in Hinduism whose poetry praises Vitthala in happiness and peace. 

Sant Soyarabai was wife of the Chokhamela and an important Bhakti saint. She produced a large devotional literature although only few of is survives today. Her poetry exudes intense devotion and advocacy of social reforms. Sant Janabai, in 13th century, was a Dalit Hindu woman Saint who is placed among most renowned saints of Vrakari sect like Dnyāneshwar, Tukaram etc. She is famous for her high-quality abhangas and almost 300 abhangas are attributed to her.

In 12th century, a remarkable socio-religious movement emerged in Karnataka in the form of Sharana movement, which challenged social hierarchy and advocated utmost devotion to Shiva. It produced a whole literally tradition known as Vachana Sahitya, which spans several centuries. 

Vachana is a form of Kannada devotional poetry, which narrates personal spiritual experiences. The movement emerged from the below with Madara Chennaiah considered to be founder of the Vachana Sahitya. 

Like him most of the poets of came form castes lower in social hierarchy like Revanasiddha (a shepherd), Marulasiddha (an untouchable), Madivala Machideva (a washerman), Madara Dhoolaiah (a cobbler), Medara Ketaiah (a basket-maker) etc. 

They expressed their devotion by deploying the imagery of their trade & profession which were often considered to be inferior or impure like leather making etc. The movement transformed the social and spiritual landscaper of the Kannada society. Later, its legacy was carried forward by the Virashaiva Shaivaite denomination founded by Basava in the 12th century.

The story of Manteswamy is immortalised in the popular oral Kannada epic Manteswamy Kavya. It talks about spiritual victory of a lowly person over those socially superior to him but insincere in their devotion. The epic is episodic and highly symbolic. 

Each episode represents a stage in evolution of civilisation and how ultimately technology has to be liberated from its hereditary practitioners i.e. caste system for the further progress of mankind. 

Another Kannada oral epic Male Madeshvara gives account of Madeshvara, a tribal hero who is considered to be an avatar of Shiva. 

Epic narrates the plight and struggle of the underprivileged for social upliftment and creation of an egalitarian society. It records how hill tribes of southern Karnataka were brought into the fold of the Hindu Dharma. The people coming from these families today are the hereditary ‘Archaks’ of the Mahadeshwara temple.

Guru Ghasi Das (1756–1850CE) was born in low-caste family in Raipur, Chattisgarh.dalit saints pic He preached Satnami sect of Hinduism to the masses and established Satnami communities in Chattisgarh. His work resulted in social and religious upliftment of the several Dalit & outcaste communities in the state. 

In 18th century, Balarama Hadi, founded the Balahadi/Balarami sect in Nadia region of Bengal. He belonged to the Hadi (scavenger) caste. In his lifetime itself, he was considered as an avatar of Ram. Dharma he preached was for the householders and gained tremendous following among Dalit communities like Hadi, Dom, Bagdi, Muchi, Bede, Namashudra and even among Muslims. It rejected castes or any other social hierarchy and advocated path of devotion and ascetic to attain liberation. 

In 19th century, Sri Sri Harichand Thakur founded the Matua-Mahasangha, which is a reformative Hindu movement popular among the outcaste Namshudra community of Bengal. He is considered to be an avatar of Krishna. The movement rejected social hierarchy and advocated simple devotion and social harmony.

It can be noticed that major feature of the teachings of these saints is creation of an egalitarian society, sagun bhakti & devotion to a personal benevolent deity and living a moral and ethical life. They are also rooted into the daily life of the people and have been the strength of the popular Hinduism over ages to reinvigorating it from time to time.

-Abhinav Prakash
Research Scholar, School of Social Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi

Original post - https://www.facebook.com/HINDUZ/posts/1138511629499562:0

20 Incredible Facts About Indian Railways

20 Incredible Facts About Indian Railways That You Probably Did Not KnowSurabhi Katyal August 21, 2015

Do you know everything about the next train you will catch? Or the next station you will visit? Here are 20 facts about the Indian Railways you might not be aware of.

Indian Railways – the lifeline of transport system in our country, is evidently a huge setup, and an organization with numerous branches. With a dedicated ministry and budget in its name, railways help large portions of the country’s population in running their daily businesses successfully. 

However, there are a few things you probably don’t know about our trains and how the entire system works. Read on, and maybe you can remember them; or simply be awed every-time you pass by something even remotely related to the railways.

1. Indian Railways is the largest railways network to be operated by a single government and is the world’s third largest network with a total length of 127,760 kms.

Photo Source: able2know

The annual tally is 8421 million passengers on 9991 trains connecting 7,172 stations across the country. The number of daily passengers on the railways is said to be larger than the population of some countries. It also carries 1014.15 million tons of freight annually.

2. Indian Railways owned the longest railway platform in the world at Kharagpur with a length of 2,733 feet. Now, breaking the record, Gorakhpur station has recently taken its place with a span of 4,430 feet.



Photo Source: indiarailinfo

3. Two historical railway elements are included in the UNESCO’ World Heritage site list – the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, and the Indian Mountain Railways.


Photo Source: Wikipedia

The Indian Mountain Railways includes three railways – the Darjeeling Himalayan Railways, Nilgiri Mountain Railways and Kalka Shimla Railway. All three trains have been functional for some 100 years. The Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus is a classic fusion of Gothic art with Indian architecture.

4. Indian Railways has five luxury trains.




Photo Source: Indian Transport Portal

These are:
Royal Rajasthan on Wheels,
Palace on Wheels (Rajasthan),
The Golden Chariot (Karnataka and Goa),
The Maharajas’ Express (begins in Delhi but the itinerary differs) and
The Deccan Odyssey (begins in Maharashtra but itinerary differs).

They are the pride of Indian Railways as they hold an eminent position among the luxury trains of the world. Palace on Wheels is the oldest one of them.

5. The Vivek Express (Dibrugarh to Kanyakumari) travels a distance of 4273 km, which is the longest run in the railways. The shortest run is taken by a few scheduled services between Nagpur and Ajni – a total of 3 kms.



Photo Source: kochigallan

6. Srirampur and Belapur are two different stations in Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra. They are both situated at the same point on the railway route, but are located on opposite sides of the track.



Source: Indiarailinfo

7. Mathura junction has the maximum number of routes emerging from it.



Photo Source: snipview

7 of them include – Broad Gauge (BG) line to Agra Cantt, BG line to Bharatpur, BG line to Alwar, BG line to Delhi, Metre Gauge (MG) line to Achnera, MG line to Vrindavan and MG line to Hathras.

8. The resonance frequency of the suspension for the coaches is kept as close as possible to 72 bpm or 1.2 Hz while designing.



Photo Source: rcf.indiangovernment

The human body is most comfortable at 1.2 Hz frequency as it’s one of the most fundamental frequencies of our bodies (normal heartbeat) – which is why people sleep soundly in trains.

9. The railways functions on an operating ratio of 94%, that is, it spends 94 paisa on every rupee that it earns.


Photo Source: asianeer

The amount of Rs. 4 saved from every Rs. 100 earned is minuscule and the revenues of the railways have been suffering because of the negligible revision of prices.

10. The diamond crossing (dubbed so by railways themselves), in Nagpur, is one-of-its-kind, from where trains go East, West, North and South.


Photo Source: IRFCA

11. The Indian Railways is constructing the world’s highest rail bridge over Chenab.



Source: consumersprotection

The bridge will be 1,315 meters long and will use up to 25,000 tonnes of steel. The idea was initially conceived in 2008 but the project was paused due to safety concerns. The work, however, began in 2010 and it is expected to be completed this year.

12. The longest tunnel in the country is Pir Panjal Railway tunnel in Jammu and Kashmir which is 11.25 kms long.



Photo Source: Kashmirlife

13. The busiest junction in the country is Howrah junction in Kolkata with as many as 974 trains stopping there daily.


Photo Source: trekearth

14. All the electric appliances (fans, lights) in rail coaches function at 110 volts instead of the Indian standard 220 volts. It is a very effective counter-measure against thieves!
Photo Source: noisypilgrims

15. The mascot for Indian Railways is Bholu, or Bholu the guard elephant, which was designed by National Institute of Design. It was unveiled on 16th April 2002.


16. The oldest working Indian locomotive still in use is the Fairy Queen, which worked with a steam engine.



Photo Source: plustoursIndia

It was built in 1855. After retiring in 1909, it was relaunched in 1997 and operates as a tourist train between Delhi and Alwar. It travels at a speed 40 km/h.

17. The Indian Railways is the world’s eighth largest employer with a total of 1.4 million employees.
Photo Source: Flickr
18. Computerized reservations began in New Delhi in 1986.



Photo Source: Blogspot
19. Indian Railways launched an awareness campaign train on World AIDS Day, December 1, 2007, called the Red Ribbon Express.



Source: Kochiservnet

20. India has eight Railway Museums – in Delhi, Pune, Kanpur, Mysore, Kolkata, Chennai, Ghum and Tiruchirappalli. Out of these, the National Railway Museum in Delhi is the largest rail museum in Asia.


Photo Source: dadstheway.wordpress.com

ARYANS, DRAVIDIANS AND, NOW, TWO MORE

ARYANS, DRAVIDIANS AND, NOW, TWO MOREBangalore Mirror Bureau | Jan 26, 2016, 04.00 AM IST

By: Mihika Basu
A new study has found that Indians also descended from Tibeto-Burman (North-East) and Austro-Asiatic (East and Central India). It has also identified a fifth ancestral lineage dominant among Negrito tribals of Andaman and Nicobar Islands

Contrary to the current understanding that India's population has descended from two ethno-linguistic groups, a new study has discovered that there were actually four. The study, which has been published in the prestigious Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) after over 20 years of research work, explores the genetic history of present-day Indians and the peopling of the Indian subcontinent. 

Researchers previously suggested that mainland India's current population largely descended from Indo-European or Aryans (North India) and Dravidians (South India) groups. The two additional groups now are Tibeto-Burman (North-East India) and Austro-Asiatic (fragmented in East and Central India).

"India, with more than one-sixth of the world population, has been under-represented in genome-wide studies of variation," director of the West-Bengal based National Institute of Biomedical Genomics (NIBMG), Prof Partha P Majumder, told Bangalore Mirror.

"The present study, using judiciously selected populations who provide a more complete representation of Indians resident in diverse geo-cultural ecosystems of the country, and also using about double the number of DNA variants per individual than a previous major study, has been able to provide robust evidence that four — not two — ancestral stocks contributed to the genetic diversity of present-day Indians. 

These ancestral stocks are roughly identifiable with the four language families in India - Indo-European (North India), Dravidian (South India), Tibeto-Burman (north-east India) and Austro-Asiatic (fragmented in east and central India, spoken exclusively by the tribals)."

The NIBMG is an autonomous institution under the Union department of biotechnology.

Majumder and his colleagues explored DNA variation in about 400 unrelated Indians belonging to 20 ethnic groups. Two of these groups are Negrito tribals who reside in the Andaman & Nicobar Islands. The remaining 18 groups - both tribal and caste groups - are from mainland India.

They also reviewed data from the Human Genome Diversity Panel (HGDP), a repository of genomic data representing hundreds of people worldwide.

While studies have been conducted in the past by various researchers, including the authors of this article, this is the largest DNA variation study conducted in India, taking into account both the number of ethnic groups (20 groups) and the number of DNA variants (over one million variants) examined on each individual. "It is a significant finding and a much more complete profile of the ancestral lineage. 

Suitable technology was not available earlier, so getting a foolproof answer was difficult. But the technology currently available have enabled is to assess a large number of markers in human genome," said Majumder.

The authors also said they have shown there is a distinctive ancestry of the Andaman & Nicobar Islands populations. Accordingly, the Andaman archipelago (island group or chain) was peopled by members of a distinct, fifth ancestry, says the paper titled "Genomic reconstruction of the history of extant populations of India reveals five distinct ancestral components and a complex structure".

"A fifth ancestral lineage that is dominant among the Negrito tribals (Jarawa and Onge) of Andaman & Nicobar Islands was also identified. 

Using publicly-available HGDP data, we found evidence that this lineage is also ancestral to the present-day Pacific Islanders. 

Although present-day Indians largely group themselves in relatively-isolated social groups, with negligible proportion of marriages taking place between individuals belonging to different social groups, this situation did not prevail in the past. 

Gene exchange was widespread among the four ancestral groups of the present-day Indians, our study has revealed. That is, difference in social position was not a major bar to marriage," he said.

WHEN MARRIAGE RESTRICTIONS CAME

The paper says inter-marriage, without major restriction, was replaced by the formulation and declaration of social norms, leading to the formation of endogamous groups - groups whose members married only within their groups and not outside.

"This study, using DNA data, estimated that the transition in India from free intermarriage to endogamy took place about 70 generations ago; that is, about 1,600 years ago. 

Leafing through the pages of Indian history, one finds that during this time the Gupta empire, founded by Maharaja Sri Gupta, covered much of the Indian sub-continent, with Pataliputra (near Patna) as the capital of the empire. A lot of social transformation took place during the Gupta period. 

Notable among these was the enforcement of social strictures against marriage between castes, as enshrined in the Dharmasastra. 

This reveals that some social norms leave imprints on the DNA of people, which can be reconstructed by careful genetic studies," the finding reveals.

EARLIER STUDIES PLAYED DOWN

The researchers have argued in their paper that previous studies on the number of ancestral components in the populations of India may have been underestimated because of lack of inclusion of tribal populations, inadequate representation of the geo-cultural diversity of India in the set of sampled populations, and selective removal of some populations based on deviance of their genomic profiles.

The path-breaking study further said: "Our study has corrected this deficiency and has provided a more robust explanation of the genomic diversities and affinities among extant populations of the Indian subcontinent, elucidating in finer detail the peopling of the region."



Map of India showing approximate locations of sampling of the populations included in this study. Populations shown in 'grey' are populations from the Andaman and Nicober archipelago. Populations shown in 'red' are Dravidian speaking tribal populations from the Nilgiri Hills in Southern India. Populations shown in 'cyan' are Austro-Asiatic speaking tribal populations from the East and Central India. Populations shown in 'green' are caste populations primarily speaking the Indo-European language. Populations shown in 'blue' are Tibeto-Burman speaking populations of North-East India and are predominantly tribes, except the Manipuri Brahmins.

National Institute of Biomedical Genomics (NIBMG)

* The conclusion of an earlier major study that sought to reconstruct population history of India using DNA data was that the present-day Indians are derived from two ancestral stocks of people, one of whom is ancestral to all north Indians and the other ancestral to all south Indians. That study was published in 2009 in Nature journal, jointly by scientists of the Broad Institute in the USA and the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Hyderabad.

* In the current study, the authors have inferred that at least four distinct ancestral components—not two, as estimated earlier—have contributed to the gene pools of existing populations of mainland India. The authors have also shown there is a distinctive ancestry of the Andaman & Nicobar Islands populations, which is likely ancestral also to Oceanic populations.