Genetics: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 08:20, 20 August 2026

Bhumihar Steppe ancestry ranges from 27% to 37%, SAHG/AASI from 28% to 36%, with the remainder being IVC Farmer ancestry. On average, a Bhumihar individual carries 31.32% Steppe_MLBA, 33.31% AASI (Ancient Ancestral South Indian) and 35.36% IVC-related / Indus Periphery farmer ancestry.

Across multiple genetic studies published between 2019 and 2024, Bhumihars consistently show higher Steppe-related ancestry and lower Indigenous (AHG/Onge-related proxy) ancestry than Brahmins and Rajputs. The landmark 2019 Harvard University research on South Asian caste genetics/DNA^[1], which is to date the largest and most renowned study on the genetics of Indian castes, reported disproportionately high Steppe ancestry in Bhumihars compared to Brahmins, Rajputs, Gangetic castes, and the non-Jat/Ror/Pashtun castes of North-West India and Pakistan.

The 2024 study Distinct Positions of Genetic and Oral Histories: Perspectives from India^[2] likewise identified the sampled Bihari Bhumihars as having the highest Steppe ancestry among the sampled Brahmin groups, placing them above the Brahmin Tiwari, Saryuparin and West Bengal Brahmin groups, as well as the Rajputs. Independent studies published in BMC Genomics (2020)^[3], Human Genetics (2021)^[4], bioRxiv (2022)^[5] and Genome Biology and Evolution (2023)^[6] similarly reported comparatively high Steppe-related and European Hunter-Gatherer ancestry in Bhumihars than in several other sampled caste groups, including Brahmins, Rajputs, Kambojs, Dogras, Gujjars, Nairs, Srivastavas, Reddys, Yadavs, and Bunts.

Bhumihar Genetics according to the Harvard University & David Reich

Harvard University’s professors and 114+ genetic scientists from across the globe conducted the most extensive and detailed genetic research on Indian castes & tribes, headed by David Reich, world’s leading geneticist and the director of David Reich Lab at the Harvard University.

This research, “The formation of human populations in South and Central Asia”, highlighted several points about Bhumihars as follows:

(A) “Steppe ancestry in modern South Asians is primarily from males and disproportionately high in Brahmin and Bhumihar groups"

(B) “Groups that traditionally view themselves as being of priestly status (Brahmin, Pandit, and Bhumihar) tend to have a significantly higher ratio of Central_Steppe_MLBA to Indus_Periphery_Cline ancestry than other groups”

(C) Strongest signals of Steppe ancestry in the Gangetic plains were found amongst the Bihari Bhumihars

(D) According to David Reich's genetic research, Bihari Bhumihars were found to have higher Steppe ancestry and lower AHG (Andamanese Hunter-Gatherer)-proxy Indigenous ancestry than Gangetic Plains Brahmins and Rajputs.

In the DNA research on Indian castes by Dr. David Reich, Harvard University and world's most renowned genetic scientist, Bihari Bhumihars were found to have higher Steppe ancestry than Gangetic Plains Brahmins and Rajputs. They were also found to have lower Indigenous ancestry, for which AHG (Andamanese Hunter-Gatherer) was used as a proxy, compared with Gangetic Brahmins and Rajputs.

**Model 1** Bihari Bhumihars are estimated to have **28.3%** Central Steppe_MLBA-related ancestry and **21.3%** AHG-related ancestry, compared with **Brahmin_UP (26.4% Steppe, 24.8% AHG)**, Brahmin_Tiwari (27.0% Steppe, 23.6% AHG), Brahmin_Haryana (24.0% Steppe, 18.8% AHG), and Rajputs (23.5% Steppe, 25% AHG), respectively.

**Model 2** Bihari Bhumihars are estimated to have **26.3%** Central Steppe_MLBA-related ancestry and **26.4%** AHG-related ancestry, compared with **Brahmin_UP (25.0% Steppe, 29.1% AHG)**, Brahmin_Tiwari (25.2% Steppe, 28.2% AHG), Brahmin_Haryana (23.1% Steppe, 25.2% AHG), and Rajputs (21.9% Steppe, 29.5% AHG), respectively.

How to access this research paper's ancestry spreadsheet - The exact ancestry percentages are provided in David Reich's widely cited research paper on Indian populations. Official Link - "The Formation of Human Populations in South and Central Asia."

Step 1) Scroll down and navigate to the "Supplementary Material" section at the end of the paper and there will be several downloadable files under it.

Step 2) You will find a downloadable spreadsheet file named "File (aat7487_tables1-5.xlsx)," under the "Supplementary Material" section. Download it.

Step 3) After downloading the spreadsheet mentioned in the previous step, go the the "Table S5" inside the spreadsheets and there you'll find the entire ancestry data of major Indian castes that were part of Harvard's research by Dr. David Reich.

Bhumihars show the highest Steppe ancestry among Brahmin groups in the 2024 genetics/DNA research

The 2024 research Distinct Positions of Genetic and Oral Histories: Perspectives from India applied qpAdm modeling to find the proportions of Steppe and Onge-related (AASI or the indigenous Indian component) ancestry and Bhumihars of Bihar came out to have the highest Steppe ancestry (29.0%) among the Brahmin groups, more than Brahmin Tiwari (27.9%), Saryuparin Brahmins (26.1% Steppe), and West Bengal Brahmins (22.3% Steppe). Their estimated Steppe ancestry was also higher than that of the sampled Rajputs (20.8% Steppe) and Khatris (26.9% Steppe).

Conversely, Bhumihars displayed the lowest Onge-related ancestry (20.7%) among the Brahmin groups in the dataset, lower than Brahmin Tiwari (23.4%), Saryupari Brahmins (22.8%), West Bengal Brahmins (30.6%), Rajputs (21.9%) but the Khatris (11.6%) have even lower Onge related ancestry than Bhumihars. Khatris showed nearly half the amount of Onge-related ancestry compared to Gangetic Brahmins and the Bihari Bhumihars.

How to access this and view the spreadsheet from the research paper: Official Link: "Distinct positions of genetic and oral histories: Perspectives from India, 2024"

Step 1) Go to the link of the research paper and navigate to the "Supplementary Materials" section, click on it, and there you'll find the "Supplementary Tables" in the form of an Excel Sheet / Spreadsheet. You have to download the table file named "supplements/498959_file03.xlsx"

Step 2) Inside the spreadsheet, go to the table number 'S6' to find the spreadsheet of the ancestry qpAdm runs from the research posted below.

Research Paper 3

According to a 2020 research, Bhumihars show higher Steppe ancestry compared to other caste groups such as Kshatriyas, Kurmis, Tharus, Srivastavas, Yadavs, Nais, Thakurs, and Brahmins sampled in the research.

Source: The story of the lost twins: decoding the genetic identities of the Kumhar and Kurcha populations from the Indian subcontinent - BMC Genomics, 2020

Research Paper 4

According to a 2021 research, Bihari Bhumihars have higher Eastern European Hunter Gatherer, Western Steppe and Central Steppe than other groups like Kambojs, Dogras, Haviks and Brahmins. This research showed results of 3 different models.

Source: Dissecting the genetic history of the Roman Catholic populations of West Coast India - Human Genetics, 2021

Research Paper 5

According to a 2022, research Bhumihars have higher Steppe_MLBA ancestry than other groups like Kambojs, Gujjars, Nairs, Brahmins, Dogras, Srivastavas, Reddys, Yadavs, Bunts etc sampled in the research.

Source: Genetic affinities and sub-structuring in Coorg population of Southern India - 2022

Research Paper 6

According to a 2023 research, Bihari Bhumihars were found to be having higher Steppe_MLBA ancestry than other groups like Kambojs, Gujjars, Nairs, Brahmins, Dogras, Srivastavas, Reddys, Yadavs, Bunts etc sampled in yet another research.

Source: Genetic Affinities and Adaptation of the South-West Coast Populations of India - Genome Biology and Evolution, 2023

Geneticist Razib Khan's comments on Bhumihar genetics and their Steppe/AASI ancestry

Razib Khan, a popular American geneticist and science writer, has stated in his official Blog that Bhumihars have higher levels of Steppe ancestry and moderate AASI ancestry compared with the average Indian and the average Bihari.

Source/Link - Razib Khan's official Blog

Summary

Genetic studies published between 2019 to 2024 suggest that the Bhumihars carry a slightly higher proportion of Bronze Age Steppe ancestry compared to other upper castes of the Indo-Gangetic plains and beyond, except for Jats, Rors and Pashtuns.

Researchers suggest this pattern stems from early historical admixture, as occurred during the formation of all Indian castes, which was then preserved through centuries of endogamy.

References

[1] The formation of human populations in South and Central Asia Vagheesh M. Narasimhan1 *†, Nick Patterson2,3*†, Priya Moorjani4,5‡, Nadin Rohland1,2‡, Rebecca Bernardos1 , Swapan Mallick1,2,6‡, Iosif Lazaridis1 , Nathan Nakatsuka1,7 , Iñigo Olalde1 , Mark Lipson1 , Alexander M. Kim1,8, Luca M. Olivieri9 , Alfredo Coppa10 , Massimo Vidale9,11, James Mallory12, Vyacheslav Moiseyev13, Egor Kitov14,15,16 , Janet Monge17, Nicole Adamski1,6, Neel Alex18, Nasreen Broomandkhoshbacht1,6§, Francesca Candilio19,20, Kimberly Callan1,6, Olivia Cheronet19,21,22 , Brendan J. Culleton23, Matthew Ferry1,6, Daniel Fernandes19,21,22,24, Suzanne Freilich22 , Beatriz Gamarra19,21,25||¶, Daniel Gaudio19,21, Mateja Hajdinjak26, Éadaoin Harney1,6,27 , Thomas K. Harper28, Denise Keating19, Ann Marie Lawson1,6, Matthew Mah1,2,6 , Kirsten Mandl22, Megan Michel1,6#**, Mario Novak19,29, Jonas Oppenheimer1,6††, Niraj Rai30,31, Kendra Sirak1,19,32, Viviane Slon26, Kristin Stewardson1,6 , Fatma Zalzala1,6, Zhao Zhang1 , Gaziz Akhatov15, Anatoly N. Bagashev33 , Alessandra Bagnera9 , Bauryzhan Baitanayev15, Julio Bendezu-Sarmiento34 , Arman A. Bissembaev15,35, Gian Luca Bonora36, Temirlan T. Chargynov37 , Tatiana Chikisheva38, Petr K. Dashkovskiy39, Anatoly Derevianko38, Miroslav Dobeš 40 , Katerina Douka41,42, Nadezhda Dubova14, Meiram N. Duisengali35, Dmitry Enshin33 , Andrey Epimakhov43,44, Alexey V. Fribus45, Dorian Fuller46,47, Alexander Goryachev33 , Andrey Gromov13, Sergey P. Grushin48, Bryan Hanks49, Margaret Judd49 , Erlan Kazizov15, Aleksander Khokhlov50, Aleksander P. Krygin51, Elena Kupriyanova52 , Pavel Kuznetsov50, Donata Luiselli53, Farhod Maksudov54, Aslan M. Mamedov55 , Talgat B. Mamirov15, Christopher Meiklejohn56, Deborah C. Merrett57 , Roberto Micheli9,58, Oleg Mochalov50, Samariddin Mustafokulov54,59, Ayushi Nayak41 , Davide Pettener60, Richard Potts61, Dmitry Razhev33, Marina Rykun62 , Stefania Sarno60, Tatyana M. Savenkova63, Kulyan Sikhymbaeva64 , Sergey M. Slepchenko33, Oroz A. Soltobaev37, Nadezhda Stepanova38 , Svetlana Svyatko13,65, Kubatbek Tabaldiev66, Maria Teschler-Nicola22,67 , Alexey A. Tishkin68, Vitaly V. Tkachev69, Sergey Vasilyev14,70, Petr Velemínský71 , Dmitriy Voyakin15,72, Antonina Yermolayeva15, Muhammad Zahir41,73 , Valery S. Zubkov74, Alisa Zubova13, Vasant S. Shinde75, Carles Lalueza-Fox76 , Matthias Meyer26, David Anthony77, Nicole Boivin41‡, Kumarasamy Thangaraj30‡, Douglas J. Kennett23,28,78‡, Michael Frachetti79,80†, Ron Pinhasi19,22†, David Reich1,2,6,81†

[2] Biddanda A, Bandyopadhyay E, de la Fuente Castro C, Witonsky D, Urban Aragon JA, Pasupuleti N, Moots HM, Fonseca R, Freilich S, Stanisavic J, Willis T, Menon A, Mustak MS, Kodira CD, Naren AP, Sikdar M, Rai N, Raghavan M. Distinct positions of genetic and oral histories: Perspectives from India. HGG Adv. 2024 Jul 18;5(3):100305. doi: 10.1016/j.xhgg.2024.100305. Epub 2024 May 8. PMID: 38720459; PMCID: PMC11153255.

[3] Das, R., Ivanisenko, V.A., Anashkina, A.A. et al. The story of the lost twins: decoding the genetic identities of the Kumhar and Kurcha populations from the Indian subcontinent. BMC Genet 21 (Suppl 1), 117 (2020).

[4] Das, Ranajit & Ivanisenko, Vladimir & Anashkina, Anastasia & Upadhyai, Priyanka. (2020). The story of the lost twins: decoding the genetic identities of the Kumhar and Kurcha populations from the Indian subcontinent. BMC Genetics. 21. 24-28. 10.1186/s12863-020-00919-2.

[5] Mukhopadhyay, Anirban & Kumar, Lomous & Sran, Kiran & Thangaraj, Kumarasamy & Thelma, B. (2022). Genetic affinities and sub-structuring in Coorg population of Southern India. 10.1101/2022.07.20.500704.

[6] Kumar L, Chowdhari A, Sequeira JJ, Mustak MS, Banerjee M, Thangaraj K. Genetic Affinities and Adaptation of the South-West Coast Populations of India. Genome Biol Evol. 2023 Dec 1;15(12):evad225. doi: 10.1093/gbe/evad225. PMID: 38079532; PMCID: PMC10745260.

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