By TELEGRAPH.CO.UK
Added: Fri, 25 Sep 2009 23:00:00 UTC

Thanks to Bala for the link.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/india/6224560/Indias-caste-system-is-thousands-of-years-old-DNA-shows.html

Researchers analysed the DNA of 132 individuals with wide-ranging backgrounds from 25 diverse groups around India.

They found evidence of strong inbreeding leading to genetic groups that had been isolated from each other for thousands of years.

Most people had a mixture of genes from two ancient populations representing traditionally upper-caste individuals and everyone else.

The first was genetically close to people from the Middle East, Central Asia and Europe, while the second had an 'Ancestral South Indian' lineage confined to the subcontinent.

The research challenges the notion that India's notorious rigid caste system, with its priestly Brahmans and low-status 'untouchables', was largely manufactured by the British.
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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/india/6224560/Indias-caste-system-is-thousands-of-years-old-DNA-shows.html

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