On Sunday 31 Aug 2008 7:10:54 am ss wrote: > India is a collection of tribes - essentially endogamous ethnic > "communities". I am a member of a tribe too as are many of the Indian > members of Silk. My tribe is called "hoysala karnataka". My father and > mother and my grandpatents were all hoysala karnatakas. But my wife is from > a different tribe (Madhwa). These "tribes" are otherwise known as "jatis".
Resurrecting this thread because of a report I saw in the paper - this quote above is from my own post. I was thrilled to have my hypothesis confirmed by genetic studies. http://www.deccanherald.com/content/27013/genetically-good-chalk-cheese.html Let me quote the relevant bit: > The finding that nearly all Indian groups descend from mixtures of two > ancestral populations applies to traditional “tribes” as well as “castes”. > The findings suggest castes are inseparable from tribes. Genetics proves > that they are not systematically different. Castes grew directly out of > tribal-like organisations during the formation of Indian society. > > Social practices like marriage within the same caste helped preserve unique > genetic signatures that aided the researchers in understanding India’s > population history. shiv
