Harappan Genome Lacks Ancestry from Steppe Pastoralists or Iranian Farmers.

A momentous day for Indian Science. Heartiest congratulations to all the scientists, and especially to Drs Vasant Shinde, Kumaraswamy Thangaraj, and @NirajRai3. Beautiful work. https://www.cell.com/action/showPdf?pii=S0092-8674%2819%2930967-5

1/n Strange headline, must be said. The seminal Rakhigarhi study published today is incapable of answering the so-called Aryan question because it focuses only on the period that was 1000 years BEFORE the alleged Steppe (Aryan) Migration/Interaction. https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/rakhigarhi-dna-study-questions-aryan-invasion-theory-claims-author/articleshow/71001985.cms?from=mdr

2/n However, this remark by Prof Shinde, principal author of the Rakhigarhi study carries weight for scientists IRRESPECTIVE of any Aryan Migration later: "ALL the developments right from the hunting-gathering stage to modern times in South Asia were done by indigenous people.”

3/n The Rakhigarhi study and the remarks of its principal author Prof Shinde are important irrespective of the Aryan question, because the most concise and correct definition of the Aryan Invasion Theory comes from the theoretical physicist @indianinterest, and it is this:

n/n For me, this conclusion of the Rakhigarhi paper by its principal author @NirajRai3, is the critical distillate of the landmark study. It is a phenomenal and thrilling summary, and it heralds a glorious decade of exciting scientific research. Bravo. https://twitter.com/NirajRai3/status/1169687037122793477

THIS is how science DEMOLISHES dogma.

BRILLIANT study just published PROVES that the Rigvedic ["Mighty River"] Saraswati was INDEED a glacial- (Himalayan) and not a monsoon-fed river 9000-4500 years ago, and that it facilitated early Harappan settlement. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-019-53489-4?fbclid=IwAR2wbUWzzICAW5LXIEe30Oo3UuI8HTPzAnpyHgSeQF0W-TPp21ybhkfr8Ak

Great discovery. European cattle have substantial Indian cattle ancestry resulting from multiple gene-flow events as old as 8000 years ago. (via @NirajRai3) https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-57880-4

STUNNING find by @gyanc7 and colleagues. Mesopotamian skeletal remain dated 4,500 years-old has its genetic ancestry traced to the Indian subcontinent.

The scientists propose a link to early Bronze Age migrants from India. (via @NirajRai3) https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0073682&type=printable