Status of Austro-Asiatic groups in the peopling of India: An
exploratory study based on the available prehistoric, linguistic and
biological evidences.

Kumar V, Reddy BM.

Anthropology and Human Genetics Unit, Indian Statistical Institute,
Kolkata 700 108, India.

Among the most contentious currently debated issues is about the
people who had settled first in the Indian subcontinent. It has been
suggested that the communities affiliated to the Austro-Asiatic
linguistic family are perhaps the first to settle in India and the
palaeoanthropological evidences suggest the earliest settlement
probably around 60,000 years BP. Recent speculations, based on both
traditional genetic markers and DNA markers, seem to corroborate the
aforesaid view. However, these studies are inadequate both in terms
of the representation of the constituent groups within this broad
linguistic category as well as the number of samples that represent
each of them. We strongly feel that, before making any formidable
conclusions on the peopling of India and/or the history of
settlement, it is necessary to ascertain that the Austro-Asiatic
speakers, represented by over 30 different tribal groups, either
genetically constitute a homogenous single entity or are a
heterogeneous conglomeration, derived from different sources. As a
first step towards this we tried to collate and analyse the existing
information geographic, ethno-historic, cultural and biological. The
results of the analyses of anthropometric and genetic marker data
indicate that the Austro-Asiatic groups, particularly the Mundari
speakers, with certain exceptions, show greater homogeneity among
them when compared to the other linguistic groups, although certain
groups show as outliers. However, traditional genetic markers show
lower within population heterozygosity compared to Dravidian and
other Indian populations. This is contrary to what has been claimed
in case of certain DNA markers. Given that relatively greater
heterozygosity among the Austro-Asiatic populations has been taken
as one of the important evidences supporting greater antiquity of
these populations one should await results of detailed DNA studies
being currently undertaken by us, involving a number of Austro-
Asiatic and other ethnic populations of India to resolve the issue
unequivocally.