Indigenous peoples in India
Various indigenous groups exist in the Indian subcontinent, largest of which include the Dravidians,[1][2][3] the Austroasiatic peoples and the Sino-Tibetans. These groups constitute a significant portion of the population of the Indian subcontinent (more than 21%).
The Government of India doesn't recognise or classify indigenous peoples. The official marker Scheduled Tribe (also called Janjati or Adivasi) refers to heterogeneous tribal groups rather than indigenous peoples. Different indigenous groups populated various parts of the subcontinent at different times predating Indo-Iranian migration to those regions. Some indigenous groups like Bhils have largely Dravidic ancestry populations but speak an Indo-Aryan language.
History[edit]
The earliest peoples migrated to the southern coastal part of the subcontinent via the Coastal Migration.[4] These people referred to as Ancestral Ancient South Asians form the ancestry of the populations of modern day Dravidian tribes like Kadar and Irula tribes as well as the Andamanese peoples and the Sentinelese. Some of Ancestral Ancient South Indians mixed with Iranian hunter gatherer populations that migrated later creating Ancestral South Indians, which make up most of the non-tribal Dravidian populations in southern India. AASI makes up nearly three quarters of modern ASI populations. Around 1500 BC, Indo-Europeans migrated to India and mixed with Iranian hunter gatherers creating the Ancestral North Indians which make up the majority of the genetic make up of the modern day Indo-Aryan speaking populations. Sino-Tibetans inhabit mountainous parts of north-eastern India. The Austric peoples migrated to India sometime between 10000 and 4600 years ago and compose the modern-day Bhil, Gondi, Oraon and Austroasiatic populations although the former three speak non-Austric languages.
Andamanese and Dravidian tribes[edit]
Many modern Dravidian tribes like Kadar and Irula[5] as well as the Andamanese people are mainly composed of Ancestral Ancient South Indians. They migrated about 46000 years ago via Coastal Migrations and settled the subcontinent. Though most mixed with Iranian hunter gatherers to form Ancestral South Indians and the Indus Valley people, i.e., the modern Dravidian non-tribal people, the modern Dravidian-speaking tribes and the Andamanese people still largely contain this component.
Dravidian peoples[edit]
Most of the modern-day non-tribal native Dravidian peoples are mostly composed of the Ancestral South Indian component (see above section) — a mix of Ancestral Ancient South Indians and Iranian hunter gatherers. The IVC is generally believed to be Dravidian.[6] The Bhils show a closer genetic affinity to Dravidians and Mundas than to Indo-Europeans even though they speak Indo-European languages.
Austroasiatic peoples[edit]
Austroasiatic peoples migrated sometimes between 10000 and 4600 years to India from Southeast Asia. They include Khasi and Munda populations. Munda populations however comprise mainly Dravidian ancestry as the original Munda migrants were mostly male who intermarried with neighbouring Dravidian populations.
Sino–Tibetan peoples[edit]
Sino–Tibetans originated in upper Chinese plains (Yellow river basin) and migrated to Northeast India and Southeast Asia, and the Tibetan plateau and Himalayas. They form a majority in Northeast India except Assam was settled by Indo-Aryans and Tripura more recently in the past century.
List of Indigenous peoples[edit]
- Kalash people (genetic isolate)
- Dravidic-ancestry people speaking Dravidian languages
- Dravidic tribes
- Dravidic-ancestry people speaking non-Dravidian languages
- Nihali people (genetic isolate)
- Austroasiatic-ancestry people
- Sino-Tibetans
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ Avari, Burjor (2007). Ancient India: A History of the Indian Sub-Continent from C. 7000 BC to AD 1200. Routledge. p. 13. ISBN 978-1-134-25162-9.
- ^ Masica, Colin P. (1989). The Indo-Aryan Languages. Cambridge University Press. p. 39. ISBN 978-0-521-29944-2.
- ^ Kopstein, Jeffrey; Lichbach, Mark Irving (2005) [First published 2000]. Comparative Politics: Interests, Identities, and Institutions in a Changing Global Order (2nd ed.). Cambridge University. p. 345. ISBN 978-0-521-84316-4.
- ^ "Migrant Nation".
- ^ Cummins J, Corson D (1999). Bilingual Education. Springer. ISBN 978-0792348061. Retrieved 25 November 2008.
... over one million speakers each: Bhili (Indo-Aryan) 4.5 million; Santali (Austric) 4.2 m; Gondi (Dravidian) 2.0 m; and Kurukh (Dravidian) 1.3 million ...
- ^ Narasimhan, Vagheesh M.; Patterson, Nick; Moorjani, Priya; Rohland, Nadin; Bernardos, Rebecca; Mallick, Swapan; Lazaridis, Iosif; Nakatsuka, Nathan; Olalde, Iñigo; Lipson, Mark; Kim, Alexander M.; Olivieri, Luca M.; Coppa, Alfredo; Vidale, Massimo; Mallory, James (2019-09-06). "The formation of human populations in South and Central Asia". Science. 365 (6457): eaat7487. doi:10.1126/science.aat7487. ISSN 0036-8075. PMC 6822619. PMID 31488661.